# Most famous child actor (family argument in process) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2021, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888 "2021-09-01T09:24:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/1 "2021-09-01T09:24:06Z")
So, I reckon Shirley Temple is the most famous child actor, and my daughter is nominating Macaulay Culkin for the spot. There is serious cred hanging here… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/2 "2021-09-01T09:36:46Z")
Start by insisting on a definition of how to measure “famous”. That should reveal the fatuity of the argument. ---
**Author:** ![bryanmaguire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bryanmaguire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bryanmaguire)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/3 "2021-09-01T09:38:23Z")
You also need to clarify your question by asking “most famous when?”. Most famous at the peak of their fame or most famous now. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/4 "2021-09-01T09:39:07Z")
You’re both wrong, it’s Danny Cooksey. Actually, in all seriousness, I think Miley Cyrus might be in the running too. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/5 "2021-09-01T09:39:14Z")
This is always going to be generational. I mentioned Shirley Temple in the office the other day and one of my colleagues (aged 25) had never heard of her. How about Judy Garland? Daniel Radcliffe? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/6 "2021-09-01T09:42:30Z")
Shirley Temple was the first name to pop into my mind, but if we’re looking at more modern eras, I’d say the Olsen Twins, Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, or Finn Wolfhard ought to be in the running. ---
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/7 "2021-09-01T11:11:26Z")
Mickey Rooney? ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/8 "2021-09-01T11:37:00Z")
Ron Howard? ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/9 "2021-09-01T11:41:34Z")
I agree that it’s a generational thing. My first thought was Jay North followed by Ron Howard (1960s). But Shirley Temple (1930s) has them beat. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/10 "2021-09-01T11:47:02Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Mickey Rooney? Really? 😲 I think of him as a fat old man. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/11 "2021-09-01T12:01:40Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > > [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > > > Mickey Rooney? > > Really? 😲 I think of him as a fat old man. - [Wiki.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Rooney) > Rooney first performed in [vaudeville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaudeville) as a [child actor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_actor), and made his film debut at the age of 6 years. He played the title character in the popular “[Mickey McGuire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_McGuire_(film_series))” series of 78 short films, from age 7 to 13. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/12 "2021-09-01T12:06:25Z")
I thought of Shirley Temple. I’m 47, far too young to have actually watched any of Shirley Temple. I wouldn’t have thought of Macaulay Culkin, to me he just seems like a kid who was in a movie or two. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/13 "2021-09-01T13:00:36Z")
I’m in my mid-thirties. If I had to mention Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, or Ron Howard in conversation I might feel I had to give a reference for who they are. Everybody knows who Shirley Temple was, even people who never saw one of her films. Your 25 year old colleague was just having a bad day. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/14 "2021-09-01T13:06:36Z")
Most famous child star? Shirley Temple, no doubt. Most famous child _actor_? Not as clear cut. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/15 "2021-09-01T13:13:51Z")
We also need to define “child actor”. Ron Howard or Emma Watson, for instance, both got their starts as children, but continued to have quite successful careers as adults. Do they count as “child” actors? Or Miley Cyrus was certainly a successful child celebrity, and she did do some acting, but she was much more known for her singing (even her acting was mostly playing a singer who was basically just herself, for the sake of showing off her singing). Does she count as a child “actor”? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/16 "2021-09-01T13:39:47Z")
Alfalfa, Spanky, Buckwheat, and Stymie were the first ones who came to my mind ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/17 "2021-09-01T13:41:28Z")
Those are child roles, not child actors. If you can’t even remember the actors’ names, then you can scarcely say that they’re famous. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/18 "2021-09-01T13:49:19Z")
I need to know their names?!? 😲 I’d recognize them anywhere! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/19 "2021-09-01T13:51:48Z")
Jackie Coogan, famous for his child role in the Charlie Chaplin film “The Kid”. [![](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/ef/25/14ef25e670b469612a017bb25040017b.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/ef/25/14ef25e670b469612a017bb25040017b.jpg) He turned into an…interesting-looking adult. [![](https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/747/addF46.jpg) ](https://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/747/addF46.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/20 "2021-09-01T13:53:03Z")
Definitely Shirley Temple based on the number of years, the percent of the population that recognized her and the number of products and styles that she inspired. She was an American institution even as an adult. A close second is the Dione Quintuplets. Deanna Durbin was far more famous than Miley Cyrus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888.md?page=2)