Hickman was born in Hollywood, California, to Milton and Katherine Hickman.
His father sold insurance and his mother was a housewife.
In the mid-1930s, Darryl was discovered by a dance school director and subsequently became a student there.
The following year, the famed Hollywood studio Paramount signed a contract with the child actor.
 His first film role was as Ronald Colman's son in The Prisoner of Zenda in 1937.
He attended Paramount's school in California and had classmates like Gene Nelson and Jackie Cooper.

In preparation for the 1939 Bing Crosby movie The Star Maker, Paramount casting agents, led by Leroy Prinz, interviewed over 1000 children.
Hickman won one of the parts in the film.
Pleased with Hickman's performance, Crosby notified his older brother and talent agent Everett Crosby of the young actor.
 After this, he went on to appear in multiple motion pictures throughout the 1930s and 1940s in a wide array of genres.
A busy performer, he would sometimes work at different films simultaneously.

In 1939, he was cast in 20th Century Fox's film adaption of John Steinbeck's best-selling novel from 1939 The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford.
He portrayed the role of "Winfield Joad", the youngest member of a family trying to cope with the hardships of the Great Depression.
 The film was a critical and commercial success, with Ford winning an Academy Award for Best Director, while actress Jane Darwell won for Best Supporting Actress.
Another notable role during this time included the war-time melodrama The Human Comedy, where he played a mentally slow child.
Hickman made a featured appearance as well as "Frank" in the 1942 Our Gang comedy short Going to Press.

In 1946, he played the younger version of Van Heflin's character 'Sam Masterson' in the film noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
In order to make it seem credible that Hickman looked like a young Van Heflin, the latter provided a picture of himself as a teenager to the makeup artist Wally Westmore.
 In this period he also acted alongside Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in the 1945 film Leave Her to Heaven.
Being the sole survivor among the cast, he provided extra commentary in the DVD release of the movie.
His experience of working with Tierney was mixed, considering her to have been aloof and not given her best performance.
It won Tierney an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
The year after the release of Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman was lauded by a newspaper as "one of Hollywood's top juveniles".
 Hickman later became critical of child acting, lamenting how the profession for young actors deprives them of a real childhood.
He opted to get therapeutical assistance for several years in order to come to terms with his past.
Hickman was born in Hollywood, California, to Milton and Katherine Hickman. His father sold insurance and his mother was a housewife. In the mid-1930s, Darryl was discovered by a dance school director and subsequently became a student there. The following year, the famed Hollywood studio Paramount signed a contract with the child actor.  His first film role was as Ronald Colman's son in The Prisoner of Zenda in 1937. He attended Paramount's school in California and had classmates like Gene Nelson and Jackie Cooper.
In preparation for the 1939 Bing Crosby movie The Star Maker, Paramount casting agents, led by Leroy Prinz, interviewed over 1000 children. Hickman won one of the parts in the film. Pleased with Hickman's performance, Crosby notified his older brother and talent agent Everett Crosby of the young actor.  After this, he went on to appear in multiple motion pictures throughout the 1930s and 1940s in a wide array of genres. A busy performer, he would sometimes work at different films simultaneously.
In 1939, he was cast in 20th Century Fox's film adaption of John Steinbeck's best-selling novel from 1939 The Grapes of Wrath, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. He portrayed the role of "Winfield Joad", the youngest member of a family trying to cope with the hardships of the Great Depression.  The film was a critical and commercial success, with Ford winning an Academy Award for Best Director, while actress Jane Darwell won for Best Supporting Actress. Another notable role during this time included the war-time melodrama The Human Comedy, where he played a mentally slow child. Hickman made a featured appearance as well as "Frank" in the 1942 Our Gang comedy short Going to Press.
In 1946, he played the younger version of Van Heflin's character 'Sam Masterson' in the film noir The Strange Love of Martha Ivers. In order to make it seem credible that Hickman looked like a young Van Heflin, the latter provided a picture of himself as a teenager to the makeup artist Wally Westmore.  In this period he also acted alongside Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in the 1945 film Leave Her to Heaven. Being the sole survivor among the cast, he provided extra commentary in the DVD release of the movie. His experience of working with Tierney was mixed, considering her to have been aloof and not given her best performance. It won Tierney an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The year after the release of Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman was lauded by a newspaper as "one of Hollywood's top juveniles".  Hickman later became critical of child acting, lamenting how the profession for young actors deprives them of a real childhood. He opted to get therapeutical assistance for several years in order to come to terms with his past.
Darryl Hickman