Category:Child Actors

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Child Actors (see Biography, Fiction, Cinema)

Overview

Child Actors & Second Temple Judaism

Second Temple Judaism has given to child actors two big roles--Child Jesus and Amahl.

Among the many child actors who have played the role of Child Jesus in films on the Life of Jesus, are Percy Dyer, Renato Visca, Harold Quintin Driscoll, Erik Ode, Richard Palmer, Lorenzo Monet, David Bravo, Matteo Bellina, Gianmarco Giovi, Brando Pacitto, and Adam Greaves-Neal.

The best role for trebles (in films or on the stage) is that of Amahl in the Menotti opera. Among the most notable interpreters are Chet Allen, James Sammarco, Bill McIver, Kirk Jordan and Kurt Yaghjian.

Apart for these two roles, not many opportunities have been offered to child actors. Some notable exceptions are Mickey Moore and Muriel McCormac featured by Cecil B. DeMille in 1927 as Child Mark and a Blind Girl respectively, Paola Tedesco featured as Salome by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1964, and Juliette Caton featured as the Devil by Martin Scorsese in 1988.

Most notable movies

1900s

  • Dec 23, 1902 -- The Little Match Seller (Williamson), film -- Uncredited young girl -- This British short film is the very first cinematic adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale The Little Match Girl. It is highly memorable for its pioneering use of double exposure (superimposition) to visualize the warm, comforting visions the child sees every time she strikes a match in the freezing cold.
  • Oct 17, 1903 -- Alice in Wonderland (Hepworth & Stow), film -- May Clark -- This is the historic first-ever film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's famous book. Produced in the United Kingdom, it was exceptionally long for its time (around 12 minutes). May Clark stars as a young Alice navigating early, groundbreaking special effects, such as growing and shrinking inside a room.
  • Jul 03, 1905 -- Rescued by Rover (Fitzhamon & Hepworth), film -- Barbara Hepworth & May Clark -- A massive milestone in cinema history for its innovative narrative continuity and film editing techniques. The plot centers on a baby girl (played by the producer's real-life infant daughter, Barbara Hepworth) who is kidnapped by a beggar and subsequently rescued by the family's heroic dog, Rover.
  • Jun 10, 1909 -- The Lonely Villa (Griffith), film -- Adele DeGarde & Gladys Egan -- A pioneering suspense thriller famous for perfecting the technique of parallel editing (cross-cutting). While a father rushes home, a mother and her three young daughters barricade themselves inside against thieves. The dramatic tension relies heavily on the authentic, frightened close-up performances of the children.
  • Jul 08, 1909 -- The Country Doctor (Griffith), film -- Gladys Egan -- This poignant Biograph Company drama features Gladys Egan as the gravely ill daughter of a local physician. The father faces an intense ethical dilemma when he is called away to save another community member. Egan's performance stands out as one of the earliest examples of naturalistic, deeply emotional dramatic acting by a child in American cinema.
  • Dec 13, 1909 -- A Corner in Wheat (Griffith), film -- Gladys Egan -- Considered an early silent masterpiece for its fierce social commentary against financial greed, the film highlights the devastating impact of wheat speculation on working-class families. Griffith uses children to emphasize poverty and starvation, with young Biograph star Gladys Egan delivering a powerful, visually striking performance.

1910s

  • Mar 15, 1910 -- The Actor's Children (O'Neil), film -- Orilla Smith & Yale Boss -- This American short drama is historically significant as the very first commercial release from the Thanhouser Film Corporation. It follows two young children of out-of-work actors who are evicted from their apartment and must use their own theatrical talents on the street to survive.
  • Dec 05, 1912 -- The New York Hat (Griffith), film -- Mary Pickford -- A celebrated short film showcasing the developing Hollywood "star system". Written by Anita Loos, it stars a 20-year-old Mary Pickford masterfully playing a impoverished teenage girl who becomes the target of small-town gossip when a minister buys her a fashionable hat left by her dying mother.
  • Mar 03, 1916 -- Little Mary Sunshine (King), film -- Baby Marie Osborne -- A massive commercial hit that launched five-year-old Marie Osborne as the world's very first major child movie star. The touching melodrama follows a neglected, wandering little girl who accidentally falls asleep in a car belonging to a despondent man, sparking a redemptive, heartwarming bond that transforms both of their lives.
  • Mar 05, 1917 -- The Poor Little Rich Girl (Tourneur), film -- Mary Pickford & Madge Evans -- A definitive silent masterpiece of the decade where Mary Pickford plays Gwendolyn, a lonely 11-year-old ignored by her wealthy parents and left to the care of neglectful servants. The film is visually famous for using oversized furniture sets to make the adult Pickford look authentically child-sized.
  • Nov 05, 1917 -- The Little Princess (Neilan), film -- Mary Pickford & ZaSu Pitts -- Mary Pickford delivers one of her signature performances as Sara Crewe, a wealthy, imaginative girl forced into harsh servitude at a strict boarding school after her father passes away. The acclaimed feature is celebrated for its elaborate, exotic fantasy dream sequences and its seamless use of oversized sets to make Pickford look authentically child-sized.
  • Jan 27, 1918 -- Tarzan of the Apes (Sidney), film -- Gordon Griffith -- The historic first-ever cinematic adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' legendary character. Fourteen-year-old Gordon Griffith, one of the finest and most prolific child actors of the silent era, anchors the first half of the film as the young boy Tarzan, executing daring, athletic stunt work and swing sequences in the jungle before the character grows into adulthood.
  • Mar 31, 1918 -- The Blue Bird (Tourneur), film -- Tula Belle & Robin Macdougall -- A visually stunning, avant-garde fantasy masterpiece based on Maurice Maeterlinck's famous play. It stars genuine child actors Tula Belle and Robin Macdougall as a young brother and sister who embark on a magical, expressionistic dream journey to find the Blue Bird of Happiness.
  • May 11, 1919 -- Daddy-Long-Legs (Neilan), film -- Mary Pickford & Wesley Barry -- One of Mary Pickford's most financially successful comedy-dramas, which she also produced. Pickford stars as the rebellious, high-spirited orphan Judy Abbott, movingly portraying her journey from a harshly run orphanage to her years finding independence and education in college.
  • May 13, 1919 -- Broken Blossoms (Griffith), film -- Lillian Gish -- A landmark cinematic tragedy featuring 25-year-old Lillian Gish delivering a defining performance as Lucy Burrows, a severely abused 15-year-old girl living in the slums of London. Gish's expressive physical acting—such as using her fingers to force a smile onto her face—became iconic in film history.

1920s

1930s

  • Apr 25, 1931 -- Skippy (Taurog), film -- Jackie Cooper & Robert Coogan -- A massive Pre-Code commercial success that earned a Best Picture nomination and made nine-year-old Jackie Cooper the youngest Best Actor Oscar nominee in history. Based on a popular comic strip, Cooper plays a feisty boy navigating the slums of Shantytown to help his poor friend raise money for a dog license, blending early childhood innocence with raw, heartfelt drama.
  • Nov 21, 1931 -- The Champ (Vidor), film -- Jackie Cooper -- A legendary Pre-Code sports drama that turned nine-year-old Jackie Cooper into the youngest Oscar nominee for Best Actor in history. Cooper delivers an incredibly emotional, heart-wrenching performance as Dink, a fiercely loyal boy who endlessly supports his washed-up, alcoholic boxer father.
  • May 01, 1934 -- Little Miss Marker (Hall), film -- Shirley Temple -- The breakout feature film that officially solidified six-year-old Shirley Temple as a certified Hollywood icon. Based on a Damon Runyon story, Temple plays an adorable, curly-haired toddler left as a "marker" collateral for a gambling debt with a group of cynical, hardened Broadway bookies whom she completely melts and reforms.
  • Feb 22, 1935 -- The Little Colonel (Butler), film -- Shirley Temple & Bill Robinson -- A historic musical comedy drama set in the post-Civil War South. Shirley Temple plays a spirited young girl who successfully softens her stubborn, estranged grandfather; the film is globally celebrated for its iconic staircase tap dance sequence, marking Hollywood's very first interracial dance pairing.
  • May 11, 1937 -- Captains Courageous (Fleming), film -- Freddie Bartholomew & Mickey Rooney -- A prestigious MGM adventure drama following the deep personal redemption of Harvey Cheyne, a spoiled, entitled 12-year-old millionaire's son who accidentally falls off a luxury steamship. Freddie Bartholomew brilliantly captures the boy's dramatic evolution from an arrogant brat to a humble, hardworking youth under the mentorship of a kind Portuguese fisherman.
  • Oct 15, 1937 -- Heidi (Dwan), film -- Shirley Temple & Marcia Mae Jones -- One of the most commercially successful and iconic vehicles of Shirley Temple's historic reign as Hollywood's number-one box office draw. In this heartwarming adaptation of Johanna Spyri's classic novel, Temple exhibits a rich emotional maturity as a plucky orphan who softens her gruff hermit grandfather before being wrongfully separated from him.
  • May 21, 1938 -- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Taurog), film -- Tommy Kelly & Ann Gillis -- A lavish, grand-scale Technicolor adaptation of Mark Twain's classic American novel. Discovered through a massive nationwide talent search, young newcomer Tommy Kelly perfectly captures the rebellious, free-spirited essence of Tom Sawyer as he gets into schoolyard mischief, witnesses a graveyard crime, and navigates a terrifying, suspenseful cave escape.
  • Dec 08, 1939 -- The Blue Bird (Lang), film -- Shirley Temple & Johnny Russell -- Technicolor fantasy response from 20th Century Fox to The Wizard of Oz, adapted from Maurice Maeterlinck's play. Shirley Temple breaks away from her typical sweet persona to play a selfish, ungrateful young girl who undergoes a visually stunning, magical dream journey through the past, future, and land of luxury to find the elusive Blue Bird of Happiness.
  • Aug 25, 1939 -- The Wizard of Oz (Fleming), film -- Judy Garland -- A universally revered cultural masterpiece and technical triumph celebrated for its revolutionary transition into vibrant three-strip Technicolor. A 16-year-old Judy Garland anchors the entire musical fantasy as Dorothy Gale, perfectly embodying the timeless, wide-eyed innocence of childhood longing as she journeys through a magical land to find her way home.

1940s

  • May 26, 1943 -- My Friend Flicka (Schuster), film -- Roddy McDowall -- A heartwarming and beautifully shot Technicolor Western drama adapted from Mary O'Hara's popular children's novel. A 14-year-old Roddy McDowall delivers a deeply earnest, sensitive performance as Ken McLaughlin, a daydreaming ranch boy who fights to earn his demanding father's respect by taking on the massive responsibility of taming and nursing a wild, injured mustang filly.
  • Oct 27, 1943 -- The Children Are Watching Us (De Sica), film -- Luciano De Ambrosis -- A pivotal precursor to Italian Neorealism that views a collapsing marriage entirely through the eyes of a four-year-old boy named Prico. Luciano De Ambrosis delivers a devastatingly quiet, heartbreaking performance as a vulnerable child shuffled between indifferent relatives and a boarding school following his mother's extramarital affair.
  • Mar 02, 1944 -- The Curse of the Cat People (von Fritsch & Wise), film -- Ann Carter -- A highly unique, atmospheric, and critically acclaimed psychological fantasy-thriller produced by legendary horror auteur Val Lewton. Seven-year-old Ann Carter delivers a spellbinding, deeply poignant performance as Amy Reed, a lonely, highly imaginative young girl who retreats from her strict father's harsh misunderstandings into a dreamworld where she befriends the gentle ghost of her father's deceased first wife.
  • Nov 22, 1944 -- Meet Me in St. Louis (Minnelli), film -- Margaret O'Brien -- A landmark Technicolor musical masterpiece from MGM that seamlessly integrates its musical numbers into a nostalgic narrative. Seven-year-old Margaret O'Brien delivers an unforgettable, scene-stealing performance as "Tootie" Smith, a mischievous young girl fascinated by morbid Halloween games, earning a special Academy Juvenile Award for her extraordinary emotional range.
  • Dec 14, 1944 -- National Velvet (Brown), film -- Elizabeth Taylor & Jackie 'Butch' Jenkins -- A classic, high-spirited sports drama that catapulted a 12-year-old Elizabeth Taylor to global stardom. Taylor is utterly convincing as Velvet Brown, a determined young girl in rural Sussex who wins a wild horse in a raffle and sacrifices everything to train it for England's prestigious Grand National race.
  • Apr 02, 1946 -- Shoeshine (De Sica), film -- Franco Interlenghi & Rinaldo Smordoni -- A tragic and blistering masterpiece of Italian Neorealism that follows two young street boys in Rome working as shoeshine partners. Their dreams of buying a horse shatter when they get entangled in a petty crime ring and are sent to a harsh juvenile prison, brutally exploring the destruction of childhood innocence in a fractured post-WWII society.
  • Dec 18, 1946 -- The Yearling (Brown), film -- Claude Jarman Jr. -- A beautifully shot, heart-wrenching Technicolor adaptation of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Twelve-year-old Claude Jarman Jr. gives a deeply poignant breakout performance as Jody Baxter, a lonely pioneer boy in the 1870s Florida scrublands who must make a devastating coming-of-age choice regarding his beloved pet deer.
  • May 02, 1947 -- Miracle on 34th Street (Seaton), film -- Natalie Wood -- A universally beloved Christmas classic that captures a masterful performance by eight-year-old Natalie Wood. Wood brilliantly plays Susan Walker, a highly sophisticated and skeptical young girl raised not to believe in fairy tales or Santa Claus, whose cynicism is slowly melted by a kind old man claiming to be the real Kris Kringle.
  • Jun 22, 1948 -- Oliver Twist (Lean), film -- John Howard Davies -- A seminal British drama celebrated for its atmospheric, noir-influenced Gothic visual style recreating the grim reality of Victorian London slums. Nine-year-old John Howard Davies gives a beautifully innocent, touching performance as the titular orphan navigating a cruel workhouse before falling into a dangerous pickpocketing street gang
  • Mar 26, 1948 -- The Search (Zinnemann), film -- Ivan Jandl -- A devastating, highly influential post-war drama filmed amidst the actual ruined cityscapes of occupied Germany. Seven-year-old non-professional actor Ivan Jandl delivers an incredibly raw, heart-wrenching performance as a mute, traumatized Czech boy fleeing a refugee camp who is befriended by a sympathetic American soldier (Montgomery Clift) while his mother frantically searches for him, earning a special Juvenile Academy Award for his work.
  • Nov 24, 1948 -- Bicycle Thieves (De Sica), film -- Enzo Staiola -- A universally revered cinematic masterpiece shot on location in post-war Rome. Eight-year-old Enzo Staiola anchors the film's moral compass as Bruno, walking tirelessly alongside his desperate, impoverished father through the city streets in a frantic search for a stolen bicycle crucial to their survival.
  • Dec 11, 1948 -- The Fallen Idol (Reed), film -- Bobby Henrey -- A masterfully crafted British suspense drama and psychological mystery written by Graham Greene. Eight-year-old Bobby Henrey gives an extraordinarily naturalistic performance as Philippe, a lonely foreign ambassador's son left in a grand London embassy who accidentally witnesses a fatal fall and inadvertently implicates his beloved, idolized butler (Ralph Richardson) in murder while trying to protect him.
  • May 17, 1949 -- The Window (Tetzlaff), film -- Bobby Driscoll -- A gripping, suspenseful film noir shot on location in New York City. Nine-year-old Bobby Driscoll delivers a masterclass in terror as Tommy, a young boy notorious for telling tall tales who witnesses a real murder but cannot get his parents or the police to believe him, leaving him entirely at the mercy of the killers.

1950s

  • Nov 09, 1950 -- Los Olvidados (Buñuel), film -- Alfonso Mejía, Roberto Cobo & Alma Delia Fuentes -- Luis Buñuel's unsparing masterpiece of Mexican social realism that blends gritty docudrama with surrealist dream sequences. The film follows a group of impoverished juvenile delinquents navigating the squalid slums of Mexico City, exploring the systemic corruption of childhood innocence through the heartbreaking, raw downward spiral of young Pedro.
  • Dec 27, 1951 -- Bellissima (Visconti), film -- Tina Apicella -- A brilliant satire of the film industry shot at Rome's iconic Cinecittà studios. Six-year-old Tina Apicella plays Maria, a working-class girl pushed relentlessly by her obsessed, fiercely protective mother (Anna Magnani) into a ruthless Hollywood-style screen test, resulting in a crushing look at the loss of childhood innocence.
  • Dec 17, 1952 -- Forbidden Games (Clément), film -- Brigitte Fossey & Georges Poujouly -- A heartbreaking classic and masterpiece of French cinema that explores the psychological coping mechanisms of children during wartime. Six-year-old Brigitte Fossey delivers a legendary, astonishingly raw performance as a young Parisian girl orphaned during a Nazi air raid who builds a secret cemetery for dead animals with a local peasant boy to process her grief.
  • Dec 25, 1952 -- The Member of the Wedding (Zinnemann), film -- Brandon deWilde & Julie Harris -- A deeply poignant Southern drama adapted from Carson McCullers' famous novel. Following his acclaimed stage run, 10-year-old Brandon deWilde delivers a wonderfully naturalistic, touching performance as John Henry Arthur, a sweet, spectacled seven-year-old boy who acts as a grounding confidant to his lonely, tempestuous adolescent cousin during a sweltering summer.
  • Apr 23, 1953 -- Shane (Stevens), film -- Brandon deWilde -- A legendary and visually stunning Technicolor Western that elevates the genre into a serious-minded exploration of frontier civilization versus violence. Ten-year-old Brandon deWilde delivers an unforgettable, Oscar-nominated performance as Joey Starrett, a wide-eyed homestead boy who develops a deep fascination and heroic idolization for a mysterious, soft-spoken former gunfighter.
  • Oct 16, 1953 -- Little Fugitive (Engel, Orkin & Rogosin), film -- Richie Andrusco -- A groundbreaking American independent masterpiece filmed on location with hidden cameras at Coney Island. Seven-year-old non-professional actor Richie Andrusco gives a remarkably raw and historic performance as Joey, a little boy who flees to the crowded beach resort after being tricked into believing he accidentally shot his older brother, heavily influencing the French New Wave movement.
  • Dec 17, 1953 -- The Little Kidnappers (Leacock), film -- Jon Whiteley & Vincent Winter -- A highly acclaimed, heartwarming British family drama set in a strict, turn-of-the-century pioneer community in Nova Scotia. Genuine child actors Jon Whiteley and Vincent Winter deliver extraordinarily authentic, non-precocious performances as two orphaned brothers who secretly adopt an abandoned baby after being forbidden from having a pet dog, earning both boys a special Juvenile Academy Award.
  • Jul 26, 1955 -- The Night of the Hunter (Laughton), film -- Billy Chapin & Sally Jane Bruce -- A critically revered, visually astonishing Southern Gothic thriller heavily influenced by German Expressionism. Child actors Billy Chapin and Sally Jane Bruce anchor the film's nightmarish, fairy-tale atmosphere as two terrified siblings fleeing down a river to escape a sinister, money-hungry serial killer posing as a righteous preacher.
  • Aug 26, 1955 -- Pather Panchali (Ray), film -- Subir Banerjee & Uma Dasgupta -- The legendary directorial debut of Satyajit Ray and the foundational first entry in The Apu Trilogy, heavily inspired by Italian Neorealism. Shot on location in rural Bengal with an untrained cast, the beautifully poetic drama captures the daily hardships, quiet resilience, and innocent wonders of a young boy named Apu and his older sister Durga growing up amidst extreme family poverty.
  • Sep 12, 1956 -- The Bad Seed (LeRoy), film -- Patty McCormack -- A chilling psychological horror-thriller adapted from a successful Broadway play that served as a definitive precursor to the "evil child" cinematic subgenre. Eleven-year-old Patty McCormack delivers a tour-de-force, Oscar-nominated performance as Rhoda Penmark, an impeccably polite, pigtailed eight-year-old girl whose mother slowly uncovers the horrific truth that her daughter is a manipulative, cold-blooded killer.
  • Oct 03, 1956 -- The Red Balloon (Lamorisse), film -- Pascal Lamorisse -- A universally adored, visually enchanting cinematic fable filmed in the Belleville neighborhood of Paris. With almost no spoken dialogue, young Pascal Lamorisse beautifully anchors the fantasy short film as a lonely boy who discovers a sentient, bright red balloon that follows him through the grey city streets, winning the Palme d'Or and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
  • Dec 25, 1957 -- Old Yeller (Stevenson), film -- Kevin Corcoran & Tommy Kirk -- A defining and deeply sentimental post-Civil War coming-of-age Western produced by Walt Disney. While teenage Tommy Kirk forms the central bond with the heroic stray dog, young Kevin Corcoran stands out as his mischievous little brother Arliss, grounding the film's emotional frontier stakes before it builds to its legendary, heart-wrenching climax.
  • Mar 20, 1959 -- Tiger Bay (Thompson), film -- Hayley Mills -- A gripping British crime thriller that launched a historic acting dynasty. In her legendary, BAFTA-winning film debut, 12-year-old Hayley Mills delivers a masterclass performance as Gillie, a tomboyish street urchin who witnesses a crime of passion and forms an unlikely, protective bond with the young fugitive sailor rather than cooperating with the investigating detective (played by her real-life father, John Mills).
  • May 04, 1959 -- The 400 Blows (Truffaut), film -- Jean-Pierre Léaud -- A universally acclaimed masterpiece and a foundational cornerstone of the French New Wave movement. In a deeply sensitive, semi-autobiographical debut, adolescent Jean-Pierre Léaud delivers an iconic, raw performance as Antoine Doinel, a misunderstood Parisian youth navigating severe parental neglect, rigid school authority, and petty street crime.

1960s

  • Jul 20, 1961 -- Whistle Down the Wind (Forbes), film -- Hayley Mills, Alan Barnes & Diane Holgate -- A complete artistic and commercial triumph of British cinema marking the directorial debut of Bryan Forbes. Set in rural Lancashire, the allegorical drama stars a 14-year-old Hayley Mills alongside a marvelous young ensemble who discover an injured, escaped murderer hiding in their barn and innocently mistake him for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
  • Nov 24, 1961 -- The Innocents (Clayton), film -- Martin Stephens & Pamela Franklin -- A masterfully claustrophobic psychological horror film based on Henry James's classic gothic novella The Turn of the Screw. Child actors Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin deliver remarkably chilling and sophisticated performances as two orphaned siblings at a remote estate whose deeply unsettling, ambiguous behavior leads their repressed governess (Deborah Kerr) to believe they are possessed by malevolent spirits.
  • May 09, 1962 -- Ivan's Childhood (Tarkovsky), film -- Nikolai Burlyayev -- Andrei Tarkovsky's visually poetic and devastating directorial debut that won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Twelve-year-old Nikolai Burlyayev delivers a raw, extraordinarily haunting performance as Ivan, an orphaned Soviet boy whose childhood innocence has been completely consumed by hatred, operating as a daring front-line military scout against Nazi forces during WWII.
  • May 18, 1962 -- Mamma Roma (Pasolini), film -- Ettore Garofolo -- A deeply gritty, poetic drama filmed on the dusty outskirts of Rome. Non-professional adolescent actor Ettore Garofolo plays Tommaso, a naive and volatile teenage boy whose fiercely protective mother (Anna Magnani), a former streetwalker, tries desperately to provide him with a respectable, middle-class life, leading to an incredibly raw and heartbreaking tragic climax.
  • May 23, 1962 -- The Miracle Worker (Penn), film -- Patty Duke -- A powerful and intensely physical biographical drama depicting the early education of Helen Keller. Sixteen-year-old Patty Duke delivers a tour-de-force, Academy Award-winning performance as the young blind and deaf Helen, capturing her feral isolation and emotional breakthrough under the fierce tutelage of her teacher, Annie Sullivan.
  • Dec 25, 1962 -- To Kill a Mockingbird (Mulligan), film -- Mary Badham & Phillip Alford -- A universally revered cinematic masterpiece adapted from Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about racial injustice in the American South. Nine-year-old Mary Badham gives an extraordinarily naturalistic, Oscar-nominated performance as the tomboyish Scout Finch, whose innocent perspective frames her father Atticus's moral crusade.
  • Oct 21, 1964 -- My Fair Lady (Cukor), film -- None -- A lavish, universally acclaimed Technicolor musical adaptation of the Broadway smash hit and George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. While the film is a masterclass in set design and musical storytelling following Eliza Doolittle's transformation, it contains no significant child actors, standing out instead for its sweeping adult performances and eight Academy Awards.
  • Mar 02, 1965 -- The Sound of Music (Wise), film -- Charmian Carr & Heather Menzies & Nicholas Hammond & Duane Chase & Angela Cartwright & Debbie Turner & Kym Karath -- One of the most commercially successful and beloved musical films of all time, set against the backdrop of WWII-era Austria. The seven Von Trapp children, ranging from teenagers to toddlers, form the emotional heart of the film as their strict, grief-stricken household is transformed by music and love.
  • Dec 19, 1968 -- Oliver! (Reed), film -- Mark Lester & Jack Wild -- A vibrant and grand British musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale that went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Eleven-year-old Mark Lester perfectly captures the angelic innocence of the titular orphan Oliver Twist, while Jack Wild delivers a legendary, Oscar-nominated performance as the charismatic street thief, the Artful Dodger.
  • Dec 10, 1969 -- A Boy Named Charlie Brown (Melendez), film -- Peter Robbins, Pamelyn Ferdin & Glenn Mendelson -- The historic first-ever feature-length animated film based on Charles M. Schulz's iconic Peanuts comic strip. Breaking standard industry traditions of utilizing adult voice-over specialists, the production exclusively cast genuine child actors to voice the characters, with Peter Robbins beautifully grounding the melancholy, resilience, and quiet dignity of Charlie Brown as he travels to New York for a national spelling bee.

1970s

  • Dec 21, 1970 -- The Railway Children (Jeffries), film -- Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett & Gary Warren -- A beautifully nostalgic British family drama based on E. Nesbit's classic novel. The film follows three affluent children whose lives are upended when their father is falsely imprisoned for treason, forcing them to move to a small cottage near a bustling countryside railway where they embark on a series of heartwarming adventures.
  • May 16, 1971 -- Walkabout (Roeg), film -- Jenny Agutter & Luc Roeg -- Nicolas Roeg's visually hypnotic survival masterpiece shot entirely on location in the Australian Outback. Luc Roeg delivers an incredibly naturalistic performance as a young city boy who, along with his teenage sister, becomes stranded in the brutal desert wilderness before being rescued and guided back toward civilization by an Indigenous Australian youth undergoing his traditional rite of passage.
  • May 25, 1971 -- The Go-Between (Losey), film -- Dominic Guard -- A critically revered Edwardian period drama adapted for the screen by Harold Pinter. Thirteen-year-old Dominic Guard delivers a sophisticated, BAFTA-winning breakout performance as Leo Colston, a naive schoolboy visiting a grand country estate who becomes an unwitting messenger delivering secret love letters between an aristocratic young woman and a local tenant farmer.
  • Jun 30, 1971 -- Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (Stuart), film -- Peter Ostrum, Julie Dawn Cole, Denise Nickerson, Paris Themmen & Michael Bollner -- A whimsical and slightly dark musical fantasy adapted from Roald Dahl's classic novel. Genuine child actors portray the five lucky golden ticket winners, with Peter Ostrum delivering a grounding performance as the honest, destitute Charlie Bucket navigating a world of pure imagination.
  • Apr 09, 1973 -- Paper Moon (Bogdanovich), film -- Tatum O'Neal -- A critically acclaimed Great Depression-era comedy-drama shot in striking black-and-white. Nine-year-old Tatum O'Neal makes a historic cinematic debut as the sharp, cigarette-smoking orphan Addie Loggins, performing alongside her real-life father Ryan O'Neal and winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress to become the youngest competitive Oscar winner in history.
  • Sep 18, 1973 -- The Spirit of the Beehive (Erice), film -- Ana Torrent & Isabel Tellería -- A hauntingly lyrical landmark of Spanish cinema that used rich, dreamlike symbolism to quietly navigate political censorship. Six-year-old Ana Torrent gives a spellbinding, profoundly quiet performance as a lonely village girl who becomes entirely obsessed with the mythical monster after a mobile screening of Frankenstein, retreating into a personal fantasy world amidst the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain.
  • Dec 18, 1973 -- Amarcord (Fellini), film -- Bruno Zanin -- An episodic, deeply nostalgic, and surreal semi-autobiographical comedy masterpiece set in the 1930s coastal town of Rimini. Bruno Zanin anchors a colorful ensemble cast as Titta, an unruly and hormone-driven teenage boy navigating the eccentricities of his family, high school, and town life under the shadow of Italian Fascism.
  • Dec 26, 1973 -- The Exorcist (Friedkin), film -- Linda Blair -- A massive cultural phenomenon and landmark supernatural horror masterpiece that became the first horror film nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. A 12-year-old Linda Blair delivers a terrifying, physically demanding, and iconic performance as Regan MacNeil, a sweet young girl who undergoes a horrific physical transformation when she becomes possessed by a demonic entity.
  • Apr 07, 1976 -- The Bad News Bears (Ritchie), film -- Tatum O'Neal, Jackie Earle Haley, Alfred W. Lutter & Chris Barnes -- A gritty and cynical Little League sports comedy celebrated for its honest, foul-mouthed humor and subversion of standard underdog tropes. Tatum O'Neal anchors the band of misfits as the gifted 12-year-old pitcher Amanda Whurlitzer, recruited by a beer-guzzling coach to help turn the losing baseball team around.
  • May 21, 1976 -- 1900 (Bertolucci), film -- Roberto Maccanti & Paolo Pavesi -- An epic, five-hour multi-generational historical saga filmed in Bernardo Bertolucci's ancestral region of Emilia. The monumental story begins at the turn of the century, utilizing young actors Roberto Maccanti and Paolo Pavesi to beautifully portray the foundational childhood friendship of two boys born on the same day—one a wealthy landowner's grandson, the other a peasant—before class warfare divides them.
  • May 27, 1976 -- Bugsy Malone (Parker), film -- Scott Baio, Jodie Foster, John Cassisi & Florrie Dugger -- A stylized, tongue-in-cheek British-American gangster musical comedy that serves as the feature directorial debut of Alan Parker. The film is entirely unique for its ensemble cast composed exclusively of child and teenage actors playing adult 1920s Prohibition-era mobsters, using whipped-cream "splurge guns" instead of real weapons.
  • May 03, 1979 -- The Tin Drum (Schlöndorff), film -- David Bennent -- A visionary, Oscar-winning West German anti-war masterpiece based on Günter Grass's Nobel Prize-winning novel. Twelve-year-old David Bennent delivers an astonishing, fiercely intense performance as Oskar Matzerath, a brilliant boy who willfully arrests his own physical development as a bizarre protest against the rise of the Nazi regime and the hypocrisy of the adult world.
  • Dec 19, 1979 -- Kramer vs. Kramer (Benton), film -- Justin Henry -- A multi-Academy Award-winning legal drama that captured the shifting cultural landscape of divorce, parenting, and gender roles in late 1970s America. Seven-year-old Justin Henry delivers an incredibly naturalistic and heartbreaking performance as Billy Kramer, becoming the youngest person ever nominated for a competitive Oscar (Best Supporting Actor).

1980s

  • Sep 26, 1980 -- Pixote (Babenco), film -- Fernando Ramos da Silva & Jorge Julião -- A visceral, internationally acclaimed landmark of Brazilian cinema. Utilizing a cast of real, non-professional street children, the raw docudrama follows a preteen boy named Pixote who escapes a nightmarish juvenile reformatory only to navigate the corrupt and brutal underworld of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Fernando Ramos da Silva's haunting, naturalistic performance earned global cinematic praise, drawing direct artistic comparisons to Italian Neorealism and Los Olvidados.
  • Jun 11, 1982 -- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Spielberg), film -- Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore & Robert MacNaughton -- A universally adored science fantasy masterpiece that tracks the secret, profound emotional bond between a lonely suburban boy and a stranded alien. Shot in rough chronological order to ensure authentic emotional reactions, the film captures the absolute essence of childhood innocence, wonder, and heavy goodbyes.
  • Nov 18, 1983 -- A Christmas Story (Clark), film -- Peter Billingsley, Ian Petrella, Scott Schwartz & Zack Ward -- A universally beloved holiday comedy classic based on the semi-autobiographical writings of Jean Shepherd. Nine-year-old Peter Billingsley delivers an iconic, pitch-perfect performance as Ralphie Parker, a determined 1940s boy on a humorous quest to convince his parents, his teacher, and Santa Claus that a Red Ryder BB gun is the ultimate Christmas gift.
  • Apr 06, 1984 -- The NeverEnding Story (Petersen), film -- Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway & Tami Stronach -- A sweeping international fantasy classic adapted from Michael Ende's famous novel that brilliantly utilizes a meta "book within a book" narrative. The young cast beautifully explores themes of childhood grief, escapism, and the raw power of human imagination as a young boy reads his way into saving a collapsing magical kingdom.
  • Jun 22, 1984 -- The Karate Kid (Avildsen), film -- Ralph Macchio -- An immensely popular coming-of-age martial arts drama that became a massive cultural phenomenon. A 22-year-old Ralph Macchio stars as Daniel LaRusso—masterfully capturing the raw vulnerability, anger, and eventual discipline of a bullied teenage outsider who learns the true philosophy of karate and self-defense from an unassuming handyman mentor (Pat Morita).
  • Jun 07, 1985 -- The Goonies (Donner), film -- Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, Jeff Cohen & Ke Huy Quan -- The definitive, high-energy 1980s ensemble adventure comedy produced by Steven Spielberg. It showcases a charismatic, fast-talking group of neighborhood misfit kids who follow an ancient pirate map into booby-trapped subterranean caverns to unearth a hidden fortune and save their family homes.
  • Dec 12, 1985 -- My Life as a Dog (Hallström), film -- Anton Glanzelius & Melinda Kinnaman -- A beloved Swedish masterpiece that follows twelve-year-old Ingemar (played with incredible naturalism by Anton Glanzelius) who is sent to a rural country village to live with relatives while his mother is terminally ill. The film expertly explores childhood resilience, grief, and growing pains as the boy copes by comparing his life to the Soviet space dog Laika.
  • Aug 08, 1986 -- Stand by Me (Reiner), film -- Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman & Jerry O'Connell -- A deeply nostalgic, bittersweet coming-of-age drama based on Stephen King's novella The Body. The plot tracks four young friends hiking down Oregon railroad tracks in search of a missing boy's body, serving as an emotionally raw, critically acclaimed exploration of childhood trauma, mortality, and unmatched friendship.
  • Feb 01, 1987 -- Where Is the Friend's House? (Kiarostami), film -- Babek Ahmed Poor & Ahmed Ahmed Poor -- A cornerstone of the New Iranian Cinema filmed entirely with non-professional child actors. The beautifully quiet, poetic narrative follows eight-year-old Ahmed, who accidentally takes home his classmate's school notebook. Defying his mother's orders to avoid a harsh punishment for his friend, he embarks on an arduous, determined journey across winding rural villages to return it.
  • Sep 25, 1987 -- The Princess Bride (Reiner), film -- Fred Savage -- A delightfully brilliant, postmodern fantasy-comedy masterpiece that uses a unique metafictional framing device. An eleven-year-old Fred Savage anchors the film's heartwarming reality as a sick, skeptical contemporary boy who slowly forgets his video games and becomes entirely captivated by the sweeping, swashbuckling story of true love read aloud by his grandfather.
  • Oct 18, 1987 -- Au Revoir les Enfants (Malle), film -- Gaspard Manesse & Raphael Fejtö -- A deeply moving, autobiographical Holocaust drama directed by Louis Malle. Young actors Gaspard Manesse and Raphael Fejtö deliver profoundly authentic and quiet performances as two brilliant boys attending a Catholic boarding school in occupied France who form a secret, intellectual bond before the devastating reality of the Nazi regime shatters their sanctuary.
  • Dec 09, 1987 -- Empire of the Sun (Spielberg), film -- Christian Bale -- An epic, deeply moving WWII coming-of-age drama showcasing 12-year-old Christian Bale in his legendary, critically acclaimed breakout debut performance. Bale plays a wealthy, privileged British boy living in Shanghai who becomes separated from his parents and must rely on pure wit to survive years inside a harsh Japanese internment camp.
  • Dec 25, 1987 -- Pelle the Conqueror (August), film -- Pelle Hvenegaard & Max von Sydow -- A visually stunning, epic Danish-Swedish drama that won both the Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Twelve-year-old newcomer Pelle Hvenegaard delivers a deeply moving, award-winning breakout performance as young Pelle, a Swedish immigrant boy who must endure harsh prejudice, social isolation, and backbreaking farm labor in 19th-century Denmark while clinging to his dreams of a better life.

Sep 13, 1988 -- Salaam Bombay! (Nair), film -- Shafiq Syed & Hansa Vithal -- Mira Nair's electric and deeply empathetic directorial debut shot on location in the gritty underbelly of Mumbai's slums. Utilizing real street children who participated in intensive theatrical workshops prior to filming, the narrative follows an abandoned 11-year-old boy named Krishna working as a tea delivery boy while navigating a chaotic world of survival, theft, and marginalized street companions.

  • Nov 17, 1988 -- Cinema Paradiso (Tornatore), film -- Salvatore Cascio -- A magnificent, Oscar-winning tribute to the magic of the movies shot in the Sicilian village of Palazzo Adriano. Eight-year-old Salvatore Cascio delivers a luminous, globally beloved performance as "Totò," a mischievous altar boy who forms a life-altering bond with an aging movie house projectionist.
  • Aug 16, 1989 -- Uncle Buck (Hughes), film -- Macaulay Culkin, Gaby Hoffmann & Jean Louisa Kelly -- A commercial blockbuster comedy written and directed by John Hughes that highlights brilliant, snappy comedic chemistry between John Candy and a sharp young cast. Six-year-old Macaulay Culkin steals the show with his fast-paced, interrogation-style dialogue, directly paving the way for his mega-stardom in Home Alone the following year.

1990s

  • Feb 16, 1990 -- The Witches (Roeg), film -- Jasen Fisher -- A dark, eccentric British fantasy film produced by Jim Henson that serves as a beloved adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic novel. Child actor Jasen Fisher delivers an engaging and highly physical performance as Luke, a brave young boy who uncovers a terrifying secret coven of witches and must stop them even after being physically transformed into a mouse.
  • Nov 16, 1990 -- Home Alone (Columbus), film -- Macaulay Culkin -- A massive cultural and box office phenomenon that turned eight-year-old Macaulay Culkin into a global superstar. Culkin plays Kevin McCallister, an accidental latchkey kid who must single-handedly defend his suburban home from a pair of bumbling burglars using an array of inventive, painful homemade booby traps.
  • Jul 03, 1991 -- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (Cameron), film -- Edward Furlong -- A revolutionary science-fiction action blockbuster celebrated for ushering in modern CGI filmmaking. In his acting debut, 13-year-old Edward Furlong plays the rebellious future leader of humanity, John Connor, who is protected by a reprogrammed cyborg while forming a unique father-figure relationship with the machine.
  • Mar 04, 1992 -- The Stolen Children (Amelio), film -- Giuseppe Ieracitano & Valentina Scalici -- A highly acclaimed, gritty neo-neorealist drama that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. Non-professional child actors Giuseppe Ieracitano and Valentina Scalici give raw, profoundly authentic performances as two traumatized, neglected siblings escorted across Italy on an unauthorized cross-country journey by a sympathetic carabiniere.
  • Aug 11, 1993 -- Searching for Bobby Fischer (Zaian), film -- Max Pomeranc -- Steven Zaillian's critically acclaimed directorial debut chronicles the sensitive true story of Josh Waitzkin, a seven-year-old chess prodigy from New York City. Max Pomeranc delivers a remarkably grounded and quiet performance as the young boy torn between the aggressive, win-at-all-costs coaching of a rigid instructor and his own inherent decency and love for street-style speed chess.
  • Aug 13, 1993 -- The Secret Garden (Holland), film -- Kate Maberly, Heydon Prowse & Andrew Knott -- An exquisitely atmospheric and gothic adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic 1911 novel. Ten-year-old Kate Maberly delivers a beautifully mature and moving performance as Mary Lennox, an unloved orphan sent to live at her uncle's forbidding Yorkshire estate who uncovers a long-locked, forgotten garden that helps heal her own trauma and revitalizes her sickly, bedridden cousin.
  • Aug 05, 1994 -- The Little Rascals (Spheeris), film -- Bug Hall, Travis Tedford & Brittany Ashton Holmes -- A playful, modernized feature-length adaptation of Hal Roach's classic Our Gang shorts. The production relied entirely on a charismatic young ensemble cast, capturing pure childhood innocence and slapstick humor as the members of an anti-girl clubhouse attempt to sabotage a young romance.
  • Nov 18, 1994 -- Léon: The Professional (Besson), film -- Natalie Portman -- A sleek, highly influential French-produced action thriller set in the gritty underbelly of 1990s New York City. In a phenomenal, star-making cinematic debut, an eleven-year-old Natalie Portman delivers a tour-de-force performance as Mathilda, a fiercely independent 12-year-old girl who enlists the help of an eccentric, solitary hitman to learn his dangerous trade and avenge the murder of her little brother.
  • May 10, 1995 -- A Little Princess (Cuarón), film -- Liesel Matthews -- Alfonso Cuarón's critically acclaimed, visually exquisite American directorial debut. Eleven-year-old Liesel Matthews stars as Sara Crewe, a wealthy, imaginative girl who is forced into a life of harsh servitude at a strict boarding school during WWI, relying on her resilient inner dignity and storytelling to survive.
  • Aug 02, 1996 -- Matilda (DeVito), film -- Mara Wilson -- A beloved, dark yet whimsical adaptation of Roald Dahl's classic book. Nine-year-old Mara Wilson delivers an iconic performance as Matilda Wormwood, an exceptionally brilliant and neglected child prodigy who discovers she possesses psychokinetic abilities, using them to stand up against her abusive parents and a tyrannical school principal.
  • Sep 13, 1996 -- Fly Away Home (Ballard), film -- Anna Paquin -- A visually breathtaking family adventure drama inspired by actual events and celebrated for its Oscar-nominated cinematography. Following her historic Academy Award win, a thirteen-year-old Anna Paquin gives a deeply emotional, understated performance as Amy Alden, a grieving young girl who finds healing after a tragedy by becoming the surrogate mother to a flock of orphaned Canada geese, eventually piloting an ultralight aircraft to lead them on a 500-mile winter migration.
  • Feb 01, 1997 -- Children of Heaven (Majidi), film -- Amir Farrokh Hashemian & Bahare Seddiqi -- A universally acclaimed Iranian masterpiece that became the first film from Iran nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Shot on location in Tehran using hidden cameras, the heart-wrenching plot tracks a young boy who loses his sister's only pair of shoes, forcing them to share his sneakers in secret before he enters a regional footrace to win her a new pair.
  • Dec 20, 1997 -- Life Is Beautiful (Benigni), film -- Giorgio Cantarini -- A deeply moving, multi-Oscar-winning tragedy filmed across Arezzo and Rome. Five-year-old Giorgio Cantarini plays Giosué, a young boy protected from the grim horrors of a Nazi concentration camp by his fiercely devoted father, who uses his vibrant imagination to convince the boy that their internment is merely a complex game with a real tank as the prize.
  • Jan 16, 1998 -- Central Station (Salles), film -- Vinícius de Oliveira -- A deeply touching, BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated Brazilian masterpiece in the humanist tradition of Italian Neorealism. Discovered as a real-life ten-year-old airport shoeshine boy, newcomer Vinícius de Oliveira delivers a phenomenal, globally acclaimed performance as Josué, a cynical orphan navigating the bustling Rio de Janeiro train station who forms a transformative, redemptive bond with a bitter, retired schoolteacher on a cross-country journey to find his estranged father.
  • Aug 06, 1999 -- The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan), film -- Haley Joel Osment -- A critically revered psychological thriller famous for its monumental twist ending. Eleven-year-old Haley Joel Osment delivers a masterclass in dramatic acting as Cole Sear, a deeply troubled boy haunted by terrifying supernatural visions of dead people, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor

2000s

  • May 19, 2000 -- Billy Elliot (Daldry), film -- Jamie Bell -- A critically revered British coming-of-age drama set against the gritty backdrop of the violent 1984 UK miners' strike. In a historic breakout debut, 13-year-old Jamie Bell delivers a powerhouse, deeply expressive performance as a working-class boy who discovers an unexpected passion for ballet, making him the youngest person ever to win the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
  • Nov 04, 2001 -- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Columbus), film -- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint & Emma Watson -- A massive global commercial success that launched one of the most successful franchises in cinema history. The young trio brilliantly embodies J.K. Rowling's beloved characters, capturing the wonder, friendship, and heavy responsibility of a young boy discovering his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday.
  • Aug 30, 2002 -- Whale Rider (Caro), film -- Keisha Castle-Hughes -- A beautifully shot New Zealand drama that explores traditional Maori culture and gender roles. Eleven-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes delivers a fiercely emotional, Oscar-nominated breakout performance as Paikea, a determined young girl fighting for the love of her stern grandfather and struggling to fulfill her destiny as the leader of her tribe.
  • Feb 13, 2003 -- City of God (Meirelles & Lund), film -- Alexandre Rodrigues, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva & Leandro Firmino -- A gritty, fast-paced Brazilian crime epic shot on location within the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Utilizing an ensemble of untrained, non-professional neighborhood children and teenagers, the film chronicles the violent evolution of a crime-ridden slum across decades, anchored by the perspective of young boys trying to survive the environment.
  • May 14, 2003 -- I'm Not Scared (Salvatores), film -- Giuseppe Cristiano & Mattia Di Pierro -- A tense and visually stunning psychological thriller filmed across the sun-drenched, golden wheat fields of Basilicata. Ten-year-old Giuseppe Cristiano gives a brilliant performance as Michele, a young boy who accidentally discovers a terrified, blindfolded child held captive in a hidden underground pit, leading him to unearth a horrific, dark secret harbored by the adults in his small village.
  • Mar 17, 2004 -- The Chorus (Barratier), film -- Jean-Baptiste Maunier -- A sweeping and massively successful musical drama that became a cultural phenomenon in France. Set in a bleak, strict boarding school for troubled boys in 1949, the film features a standout, breakout vocal performance from Jean-Baptiste Maunier as Pierre Morhange, a fiercely defensive rebel with the angelic voice of a prodigy who is reformed through choral music.
  • Jun 04, 2004 -- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Cuarón), film -- Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint & Emma Watson -- The critically acclaimed third installment of the global fantasy franchise, widely celebrated for transitioning the series into a darker, visually sophisticated tone. The central young trio steps into early adolescence with marked emotional maturity as Harry discovers a dangerous fugitive connected to his tragic past has escaped prison.
  • Aug 07, 2004 -- Nobody Knows (Kore-eda), film -- Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura & Momoko Shimizu -- A deeply sensitive and heart-wrenching Japanese drama inspired by the true events of the 1988 Sugamo child abandonment case. Twelve-year-old Yûya Yagira delivers a masterclass performance—becoming the youngest Best Actor winner in the history of the Cannes Film Festival—as the eldest of four young half-siblings who must quietly run an apartment and survive entirely on their own after their mother abandons them.
  • Sep 03, 2004 -- Finding Neverland (Forster), film -- Freddie Highmore -- A touching biographical drama tracking J.M. Barrie's creative journey toward writing Peter Pan. Eleven-year-old Freddie Highmore delivers a heartbreakingly sensitive, critically praised performance as Peter Llewelyn Davies, a lonely, grieving boy whose imagination is reawakened through his profound friendship with the eccentric playwright.
  • Dec 10, 2004 -- A Series of Unfortunate Events (Silberling), film -- Emily Browning & Liam Aiken -- A lavishly designed, gothic dark comedy fantasy based on the popular book series by Lemony Snicket. Young actors Emily Browning and Liam Aiken anchor the film's macabre atmosphere with incredibly sharp performances as two brilliant, resilient orphaned siblings constantly using their wits to escape a villainous relative trying to steal their fortune.
  • Dec 07, 2005 -- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Adamson), film -- Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley & Anna Popplewell -- A grand, epic fantasy blockbuster that beautifully balances cutting-edge CGI with authentic emotional depth. The four young leads deliver highly grounded performances as the Pevensie siblings, who accidentally stumble through a magical wardrobe portal into a mythical land locked in eternal winter.
  • Jan 20, 2006 -- Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton & Faris), film -- Abigail Breslin -- A landmark independent tragicomedy that became a massive box office hit and critical darling. A seven-year-old Abigail Breslin steals the show with her deeply endearing and Oscar-nominated breakout performance as Olive Hoover, a sweet girl who brings her deeply dysfunctional family together on a chaotic road trip.
  • Dec 11, 2007 -- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Herman), film -- Asa Butterfield & Jack Scanlon -- A devastating and deeply moving historical drama exploring the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp through the naive eyes of childhood. Eight-year-old Asa Butterfield delivers a profoundly innocent performance as Bruno, the camp commandant's son, who strikes up a forbidden fence-line friendship with a captive Jewish boy.
  • Aug 28, 2009 -- The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (Craven), film -- Max Records -- A visually striking and dark urban fantasy adventure based on Maurice Sendak's classic picture book Where the Wild Things Are. Nine-year-old Max Records anchors the entire film as Max, a lonely, rambunctious boy who runs away from home in a wolf costume to become the crowned king of a mystical island inhabited by giant, emotionally complex creatures.

2010s

  • May 18, 2011 -- The Kid with a Bike (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne), film -- Thomas Doret -- A gritty, emotionally direct French-Belgian co-production that serves as a modern spiritual successor to Bicycle Thieves. Newcomer Thomas Doret gives a powerful, physically explosive performance as Cyril, a turbulent 12-year-old boy abandoned by his father who aggressively searches for his lost bicycle while desperately clinging to the kindness of a local hairdresser.
  • Nov 23, 2011 -- Hugo (Scorsese), film -- Asa Butterfield & Chloë Grace Moretz -- Martin Scorsese's visually stunning love letter to early cinema and 3D technology. Based on Brian Selznick's novel, it stars Asa Butterfield as a twelve-year-old orphan secretly maintaining the clocks at a Parisian railway station who unravels a mechanical mystery surrounding a broken automaton.
  • Jun 27, 2012 -- Beasts of the Southern Wild (Zeitlin), film -- Quvenzhané Wallis -- An extraordinary magical realism drama that made six-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee in history. Wallis plays Hushpuppy, a fiercely resilient girl living in an isolated Louisiana bayou community who must find the courage to navigate environmental collapse and her father's fading health.
  • Jul 11, 2014 -- Boyhood (Linklater), film -- Ellar Coltrane & Lorelei Linklater -- A monumental, unprecedented cinematic experiment written and directed by Richard Linklater. Shot in short bursts over a twelve-year span with the exact same cast, it charts the intimate, realistic evolution of a young Texas boy growing from a six-year-old dreamer into an independent young adult.
  • Oct 16, 2015 -- Room (Abrahamson), film -- Jacob Tremblay -- A deeply poignant and claustrophobic adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel. Seven-year-old Jacob Tremblay delivers a masterclass performance as Jack, a five-year-old boy who escapes a lifelong captivity in a tiny garden shed and must experience the overwhelming sensory reality of the outside world for the very first time.
  • Dec 10, 2015 -- Heidi (Gsponer), film -- Anuk Steffen -- A beautifully shot, highly acclaimed German-Swiss period drama that became the most successful Swiss film at the international box office. Young newcomer Anuk Steffen gives a remarkably naturalistic, luminous performance as the spirited orphan Heidi, capturing her profound love for the freedom of mountain life and her touching emotional bond with her gruff grandfather.
  • Oct 06, 2017 -- The Florida Project (Baker), film -- Brooklynn Prince & Valeria Cotto -- A vibrant yet gritty slice-of-life masterpiece directed by Sean Baker. Shot largely on 35mm film, it brilliantly follows the joyful, blissfully ignorant summertime adventures of a precocious six-year-old girl living with her struggling mother at a budget motel just outside the gates of Walt Disney World.
  • Sep 20, 2018 -- Capernaum (Labaki), film -- Zain Al Rafeea & Boluwatife Treasure Bankole -- Nadine Labaki's visceral, emotionally shattering Lebanese neo-realist masterpiece filmed entirely on the streets of Beirut. Real-life Syrian refugee child actor Zain Al Rafeea delivers a powerhouse, globally acclaimed breakout performance as a hardened, fiercely protective 12-year-old boy living in severe poverty who takes a stand to sue his own parents for the crime of bringing him into a world of neglect.

2020s

  • Nov 06, 2020 -- The Life Ahead (Ponti), film -- Ibrahima Gueye & Sophia Loren -- A poignant and gritty contemporary drama streaming on Netflix shot entirely in the seaside city of Bari. Twelve-year-old newcomer Ibrahima Gueye delivers a masterclass breakout performance as Momo, a cynical Senegalese orphan who forms an unlikely, deeply moving intergenerational bond after being taken in by a fierce Holocaust survivor.
  • Dec 25, 2020 -- Soul (Docter & Powers), film -- None -- A critically adored, Oscar-winning animated masterpiece that explores the deep existential meaning of life, passion, and human connection. Although it features a middle-aged protagonist and contains no primary child actors, the narrative revolves heavily around a cynical, unborn soul named 22 who must experience the simple joys of a child's sensory world on Earth to find her purpose.
  • Jun 02, 2021 -- Petite Maman (Sciamma), film -- Joséphine Sanz & Gabrielle Sanz -- A magical, exquisitely gentle fantasy drama that relies entirely on its spectacular young leads. Real-life identical twin sisters Joséphine and Gabrielle Sanz deliver highly naturalistic, deeply touching performances as an eight-year-old girl mourning her grandmother who ventures into the woods and strikes up a friendship with a mysterious peer who turns out to be her own mother as a young child.
  • Sep 02, 2021 -- C'mon C'mon (Mills), film -- Woody Norman -- A tender, humanist drama shot in exquisite black-and-white. Eleven-year-old British child actor Woody Norman delivers a brilliant, highly acclaimed breakout performance as Jesse, an energetic, emotionally intelligent boy who forms a transformative intergenerational bond with his radio journalist uncle during a cross-country trip across America.
  • Feb 11, 2022 -- The Quiet Girl (Bairéad), film -- Catherine Clinch -- A critically revered coming-of-age drama that made history as the first Irish-language film nominated for an Academy Award. Newcomer Catherine Clinch gives a spellbinding, deeply moving performance as Cáit, a quiet, neglected nine-year-old girl who opens up and beautifully blossoms when she is sent to live with loving foster parents for a summer in rural Ireland.
  • May 21, 2022 -- Aftersun (Wells), film -- Frankie Corio -- A melancholic, masterfully crafted indie drama celebrated as one of the best films of the decade. Ten-year-old Frankie Corio delivers a luminous and naturalistic performance as Sophie, a sharp eleven-year-old girl enjoying a rare, sun-washed vacation at a Turkish resort with her loving father while entirely unaware of his secret, heavy emotional struggles with depression.
  • Oct 05, 2022 -- Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical (Warchus), film -- Alisha Weir -- A high-energy, vibrant cinematic adaptation of the Tony and Olivier Award-winning stage musical. Twelve-year-old Alisha Weir delivers a tour-de-force performance as the telekinetic child prodigy Matilda Wormwood, leading a fiercely talented young ensemble cast in a triumphant musical revolution against their tyrannical school principal.
  • Sep 08, 2024 -- The Wild Robot (Sanders), film -- Kit Connor -- An instantly classic, visually spectacular animated feature that fuses CGI with a hand-painted digital sketch aesthetic. The plot centers on a shipwrecked robot who must override her programming to adapt to nature and raise an orphaned gosling named Brightbill (voiced by Kit Connor as a youth), creating a profound and deeply emotional exploration of parenthood, growth, and survival.
  • Oct 20, 2024 -- The Children's Train (Comencini), film -- Christian Cervone -- A sweeping, emotionally gripping historical drama streaming on Netflix that explores Italy's post-WWII "Happiness Trains" initiative. Newcomer Christian Cervone gives a brilliant performance as Amerigo, a seven-year-old boy sent from the severe poverty of Naples to live with a host family in the north, sparking a bittersweet journey of musical self-discovery and identity.

Most Famous Child Actors

Born in the 1880s

Born in the 1890s

Born in the 1900s

Born in the 1910s

Born in the 1920s

Born in the 1930s

Born in the 1940s

Born in the 1950s

Born in the 1960s

Born in the 1970s

Born in the 1980s

Born in the 1990s

Born in the 2000s

Awards

Shirley Temple (1934) - Deanna Durbin (1938) - Judy Garland (1939) - Margaret O'Brien (1944) - Peggy Ann Garner (1945) - Claude Jarman (1946) - Ivan Jandl (1948) - Bobby Driscoll (1949) - Jon Whiteley / Vincent Winter (1954) - Hayley Mills (1960)

Dennis Christopher (1979) - Justin Henry (1980) - Ricky Schroder (1981) - Henry Thomas (1982) - C. Thomas Howell (1983) - Anthony Michael Hall (1984) - Sean Astin (1985) - Peter Billingsley (1986) - River Phoenix / Fred Savage / Patrick Dempsey / Corey Feldman (1987) - Christian Bale / Corey Feldman / Corey Haim / Lukas Haas (1988) - Sean Astin (1989) - Macaulay Culkin (1990) - Ethan Randall (1991) - Elijah Wood (1992) - Edward Furlong / Jason James Richter / Mason Gamble (1993) - Brad Renfro (1994) - Wil Horneff (1995) - Lucas Black (1996) - Blake Heron / Kevin Zegers (1997) - Miko Hughes (1998) - Haley Joel Osment (1999) - Rob Brown (2000) - Anton Yelchin (2001) - Tyler Hoechlin (2002) - Jeremy Sumpter (2003) - Jamie Bell (2004) - Josh Hutcherson (2005) - Logan Lerman (2006) - Josh Hutcherson (2007) - Nate Hartley (2008) - Max Records (2009) - Jaden Smith (2010) - Dakota Goyo (2011) - Tom Holland (2012) - Miles Elliot (2013) - Reese Hartwig (2014) - Jared Breeze / Steele Stebbins / Michael Grant (2015) - Julian Feder (2016) - Jacob Tremblay (2017) - Christopher Convery (2018) - Christian Convery (2019)

Diane Lane (1979) - Diane Lane (1980) - Kristy McNichol (1981) - Aileen Quinn (1982) - Roxana Zal (1983) - Molly Ringwald (1984) - Meredith Salenger (1985) - Laura Jacoby (1986) - Lisa Bonet / Maia Brewton / Christa Denton / Lea Thompson (1987) - Mayim Bialik / Kristy Swanson / Hayley Taylor-Block (1988) - Winona Ryder (1989) - Robin Weisman (1990) - Thora Birch (1991) - Alisan Porter (1992) - Thora Birch / Ariana Richards / Christina Vidal (1993) - Anna Chlumsky (1994) - Anna Chlumsky (1995) - Michelle Trachtenberg (1996) - Mara Wilson (1997) - Lindsay Lohan / Jena Malone (1998) - Kimberly J. Brown (1999) - Elizabeth Huett (2000) - Scarlett Johansson / Emma Watson (2001) - Alexa Vega (2002) - Jenna Boyd (2003) - Emmy Rossum (2004) - Dakota Fanning (2005) - Keke Palmer (2006) - AnnaSophia Robb (2007) - Dakota Fanning (2008) - Abigail Breslin (2009) - Hailee Steinfeld (2010) - Chloë Grace Moretz (2011) - Kathryn Newton / Quvenzhané Wallis (2012) - Sophie Nelisse / Loreto Peralta (2013) - Quvenzhané Wallis (2014) - Quinn McColgan / Liv Southard (2015) - Sofia Rosinsky (2016) - Savannah Liles (2017) - Chalet Lizette Brannan (2018) - Lexy Kolker (2019)

Noah Hathaway (1984) - Barret Oliver (1985) - Carrie Henn (1986) - Kirk Cameron (1987) - Fred Savage (1988) - Adán Jodorowsky (1989/90) - Edward Furlong (1991) - Scott Weinger (1992) - Elijah Wood (1993) - Kirsten Dunst (1994) - Christina Ricci (1995) - Lucas Black (1996) - Jena Malone (1997) - Tobey Maguire (1998) - Haley Joel Osment (1999) - Devon Sawa (2000) - Haley Joel Osment (2001) - Tyler Hoechlin (2002) - Jeremy Sumpter (2003) - Emmy Rossum (2004) - Dakota Fanning (2005) - Ivana Baquero (2006) - Freddie Highmore (2007) - Jaden Smith (2008) - Saoirse Ronan (2009) - Chloë Grace Moretz (2010) - Joel Courtney (2011) - Suraj Sharma (2012) - Chloë Grace Moretz (2013) - Mackenzie Foy (2014) - Ty Simpkins (2015) - Tom Holland (2016) - Tom Holland (2017) - Tom Holland (2018/2019) - Kyliegh Curran (2019/2020) - Finn Wolfhard (2021/2022)

Jonathan Lipnicki (1996) - Jurnee Smollett (1997) - Ian Michael Smith (1998) - Haley Joel Osment (1999) - Jamie Bell (2000) - Dakota Fanning (2001) - Kieran Culkin (2002) - Keisha Castle-Hughes (2003) - Freddie Highmore / Emmy Rossum (2004) - Freddie Highmore / Dakota Fanning (2005) - Paul Dano / Abigail Breslin (2006) - Ahmad Khan Mahmoodzada / Nikki Blonsky (2007) - Dev Patel (2008) - Saoirse Ronan (2009) - Hailee Steinfeld (2010) - Thomas Horn (2011) - Quvenzhané Wallis (2012) - Adèle Exarchopoulos (2013) - Ellar Coltrane (2014) - Jacob Tremblay (2015) - Lucas Hedges (2016) - Brooklynn Prince (2017) - Elsie Fisher (2018) - Roman Griffin Davis (2019) - Alan Kim (2020) - Jude Hill (2021) - Gabriel LaBelle (2022)

External links

Subcategories

This category has the following 200 subcategories, out of 268 total.

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