I think part of the reason why so many Americans watch A Christmas Story at Christmas (and why the networks show it) is because it’s very much a sequence of vignettes, only loosely tied together. If you have 40 minutes between when you put the ham in the oven and when guests start arriving, or whatever, you can flip to the station showing the 24-hour Christmas Story marathon, and catch a few of those vignettes, without really missing anything from the parts you don’t see. You’re not “in the middle of the story”, or “missing the ending”, or whatever.
But yeah, the fact that most folks don’t know the star’s name says that, just because Home Alone might be well known, doesn’t mean its star is, either.
The first name that popped into my head was Fred Savage, and I’m surprised he hasn’t at least been mentioned yet. I mean being the youngest actor to ever win an Emmy has to count for something (although technically now he’s tied with the girl from Stranger Things).
ETA: Correction – I should have said youngest ever Emmy nominee. Checking his IMDB page I realized he didn’t actually win.
And that’s how they were originally told/written by Jean Shepherd as well. “A Christmas Story” is parts of at least a couple of his story collections. It’s actually a pretty impressive accomplishment to tie them all together into a coherent movie if you have read the stories.
As for the OP, I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Kurt Russell yet. As a kid, he was Disney’s most prominent star of the late 60s-1970s, and has kept acting ever since, racking up an impressive list of roles.
Shirley Temple is the first thing that came to my mind, and I’ve never seen any of her movies. Unlike Culkin her movies were based around her, and they were Shirley Temple movies, not movies with her role being more important.
Ron Howard, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney might be good choices but are more famous for their adult work, not their work as kids. Ditto Jodie Foster.
Temple was more like John Wayne or Bob Hope in this regard.
I think Judy Garland is most famous for Wizard of Oz. She was 16 at the time, so just barely a child actor. But, in a twist, she was the third choice for the role: the first choice was Shirley Temple.
I’ve heard of it (and the actor) but it is almost the worst Christmas movie ever made and I never re-watch it. It has two good scenes (you will shoot your eye out/ kids tongue getting stuck to the pole) and rest of it is endless and boring.
Temple is the most famous child actor; Culkin is famous for being a child actor, which is not the same thing. Wil Wheaton is in the same boat as Culkin.
I feel Neil Patrick Harris deserves a mention here, despite his childhood show fading into the mists of time. Didn’t he have a similar issue to Coogan, with his parents basically spending all his earnings?
He was 16 when he started on Doogie Howser, 15 when he started acting at all. I’m not sure that really counts as a child actor. Don’t think he was ripped off by his parents - he seems to be very close to them.
This Fabulous Century, a set of Time/Life books from about 50 years ago, had a year-by-year chart of the top ten actors from 1930-1939. It showed the rise and fall of Joe E. Brown, Clark Gable, Mae West and Bette Davis. Shirley Temple dominated that decade like no actor has dominated any decade since. No other child star comes close.
SAG rules are restrictive for actors under 18, so 16 and 17 year old actors have to be famous, very good, or in continuing roles. It is much cheaper for a production company to hire a 19 year old who looks 16 than a real 16 year old.
FWIW I remembered Peter Billingsley’s name, but then I remember a lot of useless stuff. I also remember Jonathan Lipnicki, Roman Griffin Davis (who nabbed a Best Actor Oscar nomination at age 12)…hell, I even remember Peter Ostrum, who had one role and grew up to be a veterinarian.
When I looked them up for something I was writing once I was surprised by how much work kids are allowed to do even under the “restrictive” rules for minors. In any case, loads of those young actors apply for and get legal emancipation, so they’re, in most respects, treated as adult actors.