Top 10 Best Child Stars

The mere mention of the term child star can illicit a myriad of reactions. We marvel over a child with talent, adore their cuteness and are amazed about what they have achieved at such a young age. Unfortunately, child stars contend with a host of issues and a good many of them succumb to the pitfalls of stardom. Some turn to drugs and alcohol to deal with adult sized problems they incur while minors. Others may find it difficult to live up to achievements gained as youngsters and face insecurities that can plague them for life. For those that do endure and make a successful transition to adult actor the rewards are great, causing even more strain on a child to succeed. Films will always have roles for children, so for better or worse, there will always be child stars. What then, makes for a good child star? Is it the quality of their work or the quality of the person they become? Is it their pop culture status or the longevity of their career? The answer will be different for everyone, and different for every child star. This is just one version of many possibilities.

10. Jackie Coogan

Most notable as Uncle Fester in The Addams Family, Coogan began his career in film and on vaudeville at the age of three. Reported to have earned upwards in the amount of $4 million dollars during his childhood, he discovered that his mother and stepfather had frivolously spent most of it away. Coogan sued in 1938, but recovered only a small portion of his earnings. In response, California passed the California Child Actor’s Bill in 1939. Also known as The Coogan Act, it required 15% of a child’s earnings to be set aside in trust and addressed work hours and schooling. Since then, the law has undergone a series of revisions that has given even greater support for child actors, their earnings and labor issues. While not as expansive as it should be, it does offer some protection otherwise not available to child actors.

9. Heather O’Rourke

Long before Haley Joel Osment saw dead people, Heather O’Rourke declared, “They’re here!” as Carol Anne Freeling in Steven Speilberg’s Poltergeist, thus ensuring her entry into iconic popular culture. Having beaten out Drew Barrymore for the role, she would go on to star in both sequels. Throughout her short career, she appeared in a variety of well-known television shows such as Happy Days, Fantasy Island and CHiPs. Her tragic death at the age of twelve cut short a promising career.

8. Tatum O’Neal

The youngest person to win an Oscar at the age of ten for her portrayal of grifter Addie Loggins in Paper Moon, O’Neal followed up her win with well received roles in The Bad News Bears and International Velvet.  Her career waned in the late 1980s and 1990s and her well-publicized struggles with drugs and her turbulent relationship with father, Ryan O'Neal, became fodder for the tabloids. While she still grapples with addiction issues, she has recently revived her career appearing in a variety of television series and a stint on that often used comeback vehicle, Dancing with the Stars.

7. Neil Patrick Harris

Maybe most fondly remembered for his role as child prodigy, Doogie Howser, M.D., Harris transitioned into a versatile talent that includes appearances on stage, film, and television, as well a noteworthy performance as Emmy Award host in 2013. Having a seemingly satisfied personal life, he is often vocal about the happy family he shares with partner David Burtka. In a Season 4 episode of How I Met Your Mother, his nod to his former status, when Barney laments, “Call me crazy, but child actors were better in the 80s,” makes us love him all the more.

6. River Phoenix

The talented Phoenix was ten years old when he began appearing in commercials. In 1986, he burst on the scene starring in the highly acclaimed Stand By Me. Venturing into riskier roles as he matured, he starred in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho as a gay narcoleptic prostitute. Also an accomplished musician, his band Aleka’s Attic had signed to Island Records but was dropped after the band’s recordings failed to impress Island executives. His foray into drugs betrayed his appearance of a clean living, environmentally conscious vegan. He died of a drug overdose on October 31, 1993, therefore ending his bright future that was sure to have included more stellar performances.

5. Drew Barrymore

Member of the legendary Barrymore family, Drew Barrymore is well known for her tumultuous childhood. She survived stints in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse to become almost universally beloved for her survival from it and her subsequent Hollywood comeback. She was seven years old when she played Gertie in E.T., one of the most critically and financially successful films of all time. Coping with an unstable home life, she became a fixture at nightclubs at the tender age of eleven. In 1992, she starred in Poison Ivy and then a made-for television movie about Joey Buttafuoco mistress Amy Fisher. Her career took an upswing after performances in Boys on the Side and Scream. She has gone on to star in many Hollywood blockbusters and her production company, Flower Films, has found great success with films such as Charlie’s Angels, Never Been Kissed and cult classic, Donnie Darko. After a marriage that lasted three months and a second divorce from actor Tom Green, she recently gave birth to her second child with husband Will Kopelman. She has described her childhood as wacky and has called finally being part of a family a “miracle.”

4. Mickey Rooney 

As far as longevity is concerned, Mickey Rooney has every, and possibly, all child stars beat for all time. His career spanned ninety years and included hundreds of roles. Best-known for playing Andy Hardy in over a dozen films, he was nominated for several Golden Globes and Academy Awards. Eight marriages, bankruptcy, and issues with drugs and alcohol complicated his personal life before his turn to religion in 1975. With his children and estranged wife currently fighting over his estate, reported to be $18,000 at his death in April 2014 but worth more in terms of royalties and memorabilia potential, it’s yet another sad chapter in the legacy of child stars.

3. Jodi Foster

Taxi Driver earned Foster an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the age of thirteen, although she had been acting in television and commercials since she was three. After Taxi Driver, she starred in Disney’s Freaky Friday for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe. In addition to a slew of other awards and nominations, she has won two Oscars. She is fluent in French and took time out of acting to attend Yale, completing her Bachelor’s degree in literature. Most notoriously, she is known for being the target of obsessed fan John Hinckley, Jr. who claims he shot then President Ronald Reagan in an effort to impress her. Foster weathered the transition and built a solid career as an adult actor being credited in over seventy-five films. She recently married her partner and is mother to two sons. Her well-rounded life makes her a positive role model for all child stars.

2. Macaulay Culkin

Culkin is yet another child star that suffered from a volatile home life. His breakout role in the Home Alone series made him an international star. Subsequent roles, including one that earned him a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor, were less successful or satisfying for the young actor and he announced his retirement in 1994. After a return to acting in 2003, he has been involved in lower profile movies and experimental projects such as The Wrong Ferrari. He has received very public attention for marrying at the age of eighteen and for an arrest for drug possession in 2004. The recent one-upmanship being raged with Ryan Gosling, has endeared him to the public once again.

1. Shirley Temple

Her dimples and curly locks propelled Temple to stardom in 1934 with a role in Bright Eyes at the age of six. For a nation that had suffered through the Depression, she was a welcome respite from doom and uncertainty. Her look, licensed for merchandise ranging from dolls to clothing, purportedly netted at least forty-five million dollars and of course, she has a non-alcoholic drink named after her. A staunch Republican, Richard Nixon appointed her U.S. delegate to the U.N. in 1969 and she would go on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She survived breast cancer and remained married to her husband for fifty-four years before his death in 2005. Temple was the brightest and most iconic child star of her day. Attempts at her level of success have been emulated, but rarely achieved, by thousands upon thousands of child actors.