# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/81 "2021-09-02T01:41:48Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Nope. Even with the imdb link, it’s completely unfamiliar to me. “Fa-ra-ra-ra-ra, Ra-ra-ra-ra”? (Seriously, it’s not that good.) ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/82 "2021-09-02T04:23:09Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > But Howard started out as Opie, moved on to Happy Days. . . ??? Excuse me? I thought he started out in film, either as the kid in _Shane_ or as the lisping kid (Oh, oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a … comin’ down the street…] in _The Music Man_ (the original). In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if his first role was in some commercial for baby products before that. –G! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/83 "2021-09-02T04:27:31Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > I thought he started out in film, either as the kid in _Shane_ or as the lisping kid (Oh, oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a … comin’ down the street…] in _The Music Man_ (the original). > > In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if his first role was in some commercial for baby products before that. He was, indeed, Winthrop in _The Music Man_ (1962), when he was 8, but _The Andy Griffith Show_ started two years earlier, in 1960, and he was with that show from its start. However, Howard also had several TV roles prior to _The Andy Griffith Show_. (The boy in _Shane_ was Brandon deWilde; that film came out in 1953, a year before Ron Howard was born.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/84 "2021-09-02T04:36:18Z")
I remember Ron Howard from the movie “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” (1963, with Glenn Ford and Shirley Jones), before he was Opie. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/85 "2021-09-02T04:37:11Z")
He actually started playing Opie on _The Andy Griffith Show_ three years earlier (see my previous post). ---
**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 2, 2021, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/86 "2021-09-02T04:37:56Z")
They just started showing _ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ on the CHCH Retro block. SE1 EP 1, where Aunt Bee moves in with Andy and Opie, was on Wednesday afternoon, between _ **The Prisoner** _, _ **Hawaii Five-O** _, _ **The Danny Thomas Show** _, and _ **Get Smart** _. My God, I love working from home! 😊 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/87 "2021-09-02T04:43:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He actually started playing Opie on _The Andy Griffith Show_ three years earlier (see my previous post). 🤦‍♀️ You’re right, of course! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/88 "2021-09-02T04:45:19Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > You’re right, of course! Don’t feel too bad – until I started looking at IMDB and Wikipedia ten minutes ago, I was certain that he had been in _The Music Man_ prior to playing Opie, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/89 "2021-09-02T04:47:29Z")
First that came to my mind was definitely Shirley Temple, too. Perhaps because Macauley Culkin was a one-shot wonder. (or two shots, if Home Alone 1 and 2 are treated as separate movies). ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/90 "2021-09-02T04:58:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > @SciFiSam, you live outside the U.S., yes? I suspect that _A Christmas Story_ may not be well-known outside of the U.S. It was not a big hit when it was originally released, and became kind of a cult classic due to repeated showings on TV during the holidays. Well, outside the US _and_ Canada, perhaps. It’s shown frequently here in Canada in December. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/91 "2021-09-02T05:29:10Z")
> [@Grestarian](#): > > I thought he started out in film, either as the kid in _Shane_ or as the lisping kid (Oh, oh, the Wells Fargo Wagon is a … comin’ down the street…] in _The Music Man_ (the original). [hijack] I frequently catch myself singing “Oh the Amazon Prime Truck is a — comin’ down the street…”[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/92 "2021-09-02T13:54:07Z")
She’ll be the one with her tongue sticking out. That’s her thing. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/93 "2021-09-02T15:52:33Z")
If this question had been asked 15-20 years ago the answer would have definitely been Dakota Fanning. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/94 "2021-09-02T16:15:12Z")
Who’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/95 "2021-09-02T16:18:14Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Practically everyone I know watches Home Alone at Christmas, especially those who have kids. Wow. I don’t know anyone (besides you, I guess) who does. We watch _The Nightmare Before Christmas_, or a _Star Wars_ movie, or just whatever. _Home Alone_ is, uh, not appealing. ---
**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 2, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/96 "2021-09-02T17:02:44Z")
In the early 40s Bobby Breen and Luana Patten were better known than Culkin at his peak of fame. Few would recall them today. I suspect Culkins’ fame will suffer the same fate. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/97 "2021-09-02T17:08:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Who’s that? In the early 2000’s if there was a movie that starred a little girl, she was the girl. Especially if it also starred a critically acclaimed older actor like Sean Penn or Denzel Washington. ---
**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 2, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/98 "2021-09-02T17:10:25Z")
News to me! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/99 "2021-09-02T17:11:19Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > In the early 40s Bobby Breen and Luana Patten were better known than Culkin at his peak of fame. Few would recall them today. I suspect Culkins’ fame will suffer the same fate. Agreed. I remember when Haley Joel Osment was the flavor of the day (much like Dakota Fanning mentioned above). Both are still working, were highly regarded in their child-acting heyday and I think were more seriously respected than Culkin. Culkin was slightly more of a pop culture figure which gives him some legs, but not nearly as prolific or as iconic as a Temple. ---
**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 2, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888/100 "2021-09-02T17:11:24Z")
Never heard of her. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-famous-child-actor-family-argument-in-process/949888.md?page=6)