Melissa Francis, FOX Business Network anchor, is currently on tour for her memoir "Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter" in which she describes a troubled upbringing as a child actor at the hands of a domineering mother.
Melissa Francis was a child star on the classic "Little House on the Prairie" opens up about what it was like to seek emancipation from her mother at the age of 15.
"My mom had a power over me, over all of us, for a long time. I was hostage to her moods, her violence, her praise, her favor, all doled out in random doses and with confusing inconsistency, which had been designed to control me, training me to crave her attention like a starving dog," Francis told FOX411's Pop Tarts column.
"I became a master of managing my mother's moods. I would save pieces of good news, a good grade, a bit of gossip, to distract her when the tension was building. It was exhausting and ultimately made me so resentful."
Meanwhile, "Modern Family" star Ariel Winter, 14, is the latest child star to seek legal emancipation from a parent amid allegations of emotional abuse.
Francis says in "Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter" that the transition from teen to adult was not easy.
"I didn't have a driver's license, how would I get to school? I wasn't organized enough at 15 to pay the rent, manage my schedule, go on auditions, work and take care of my basic needs. It didn't seem possible to break free," she said. "But I realized if I was going to seize the reins from my controlling stage mother, I had to be able to take charge of my life."
