# The best and worse child actors (movies and/or TV) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811 "2012-12-12T07:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/21 "2012-12-12T16:53:44Z")
Jackie Cooper was an excellent child actor, doing an outstanding job in the original _Treasure Island_ with Wallace Beery. Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcy as two members of the Dead End Kids. They were probably teens at that point. Spanky and Our Gang members were all pretty good. Shirley Temple was the world’s darling when she was little, and very mature for her age. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney made a lot of teen films together and both were good actors. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/22 "2012-12-12T17:01:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The best child actor I can think of was Hayley Mills, the late John Mills’s daughter. Her debut in the thriller _Tiger Bay_ was superb. She went on to be quite a sensation in the early '60s, in both the UK and the US. I first saw her in the original _Parent Trap_, playing the twins Sharon and Susan. I was so in love with her growing up. And you can see her naked butt in the movie _The Family Way_ (as an adult you pervs). ---
**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:** [December 12, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/23 "2012-12-12T17:09:42Z")
Patty Duke was also quite good playing identical cousins Cathy and Patty Lane. From what I’ve read, her debut in _The Miracle Worker_ blew the critics away. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/24 "2012-12-12T17:37:54Z")
I thought young Christian Bale was pretty amazing in _Empire of the Sun_. I’m also impressed with how Kiernan Shipka has grown as an actress. However, her co-star and on-camera boyfriend, Marten Weiner (creator/director Matt Weiner’s son), is one of the worst actors, child or adult, that I’ve ever witnessed. They should just roll a mannequin into frame and have someone off-camera read his lines; it would be a more emotional scene. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/25 "2012-12-12T17:43:45Z")
Angus Jones in _2.5 Men_ had good comic timing (or direction) when he was little. He might still be okay, but they’ve made the character too dumb to live. _Roseanne_’s son wasn’t very good but they never focused an episode on him, so he was easy to ignore. Darlene (Sara Gilbert) was awesome but she wasn’t acting – that’s her personality. The first Becky wasn’t too bad, the second Becky (Sarah Chalke) quite good. The little girl in _Forbidden Games_ is the best I’ve ever seen in a movie, and there’s another French movie – forgot the title – starring a four-year-old whose mother dies. The title of the movie is the little girl’s name. Anyone know it? Oh, and the boys in _400 Blows_. Maybe bad acting is difficult to notice when I’m reading subtitles, but I’ve never seen a bad child actor in a non-English movie. Bran in _Game of Thrones_ is quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/26 "2012-12-12T17:51:45Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > Kiernan Shipka plays Sally Draper on _Mad Men_; she is excellent. Unfortunately saddled with playing against that Weiner kid sometimes who is pretty dire. Edit: I see **corkboard** beat me to it but it needs to be restated anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/27 "2012-12-12T18:02:46Z")
Freddie Highmore was an adorable Charlie Bucket and also held his own pretty well with more serious subjects in _Finding Neverland_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/28 "2012-12-12T18:06:30Z")
Jake Lloyd [/thread] His acting in “The Phantom Menace” was so wooden, some people called him “Mannequin Skywalker.” He wasn’t too bad in “Jingle All the Way,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/29 "2012-12-12T18:49:55Z")
Natalie Portman was great in _Leon: The Professional_. Anna Paquin won an Oscar at age 11 for _The Piano_, and was also very good in _Fly Away Home_. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/30 "2012-12-12T18:52:43Z")
From the previews, the kids in **Parental Guidance** suck ass. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/31 "2012-12-12T18:56:51Z")
I had to look up his name, but I remember being blown away by Huckleberry Fox, who played the younger son in _Terms of Endearment_. I see that he is no longer in the biz but has become an agricultural researcher. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/32 "2012-12-12T19:08:08Z")
Another vote for Manny from **Modern Family** as the worst. I cringe watching him butcher his great lines. The other kid his age blows him out of the water. Older TV, the two kids from the **Twilight Zone** episode “The Bewitching Pool” made it completely unwatchable. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/33 "2012-12-12T19:09:40Z")
I liked Max Pirkis in “Master and Commander” and “Rome”. Growing up, I liked Rusty Hamer in “Make Room for Daddy”. Unfortunately, he didn’t have success as an adult and committed suicide at age 42. ---
**Author:** ![mambocrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@mambocrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mambocrow)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/34 "2012-12-12T19:09:57Z")
I’ll nominate Hunter Carson as the worst child actor I can remember seeing, for his role in the remake of “Invaders from Mars” (1986). I kept thinking, while watching this movie, that this kid must be related to one of the producers, or that somebody involved in the production of the remake owed someone else a favor and this role was it. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/35 "2012-12-12T19:18:50Z")
Jackie Coogan was great in Chaplin’s **The Kid**. You’d never guess from watching it that he’d grow up to be Uncle Fester. I agree with the Barone twins being the worst actors ever. Forehead girl from **Night of the Hunter** was pretty bad, too. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/36 "2012-12-12T19:21:35Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I agree with the Barone twins being the worst actors ever. That’s assuming that they weren’t supposed to act like that. They were acting a lot like real kids. I wonder if they intended to have twins on the show or just hired twins to share the workload and decided to put them both on. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/37 "2012-12-12T19:23:35Z")
Anyone mentioned Tatum O’Neil in _Paper Moon_ yet? She was never remotely as engaging in anything she has done since, but that one at least was a strong performance. > [@PoorYorick](#): > > As an aside, I _never_ liked Shirley Temple as a child star. Yes, I said it. \*Way \*too saccharine. To be fair, I think that comes down as much to the writing as anything else. They were aggressively going for sickly sweet, which I guess worked then but tends to be a bit much for jaded modern audiences. At least if they’re not in the mood for nostalgia. By contrast some kudos to Natalie Wood, who deserves her plaudits in _Miracle on 34th Street_. But again by writing her as precocious and a bit cynical ( but not unrealistically so ) I think it echoes modern sensibilities a bit more. So when we get the sweet fantasy ending it still resonates without becoming too syrupy. > [@Anaamika](#): > > I can’t stand Dakota Fanning. Honestly I haven’t seen her in much except in that remake of _War of the Worlds_ where I mostly remember her repeated high-pitched shriek :D. But I thought her little sister Elle was pretty decent in _Super 8_. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/38 "2012-12-12T19:23:59Z")
John Adames in [Gloria](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUGV9f53CUQ) baffles me. Was John Cassevettes’ compounding the futility of Gena Rowland’s efforts to save this kid from the mob by making him so richly deserving of death? ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/39 "2012-12-12T19:24:07Z")
Danny Lloyd was great in The Shining. ---
**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:** [December 12, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811/40 "2012-12-12T19:30:09Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > That’s assuming that they weren’t supposed to act like that. They were acting a lot like real kids. I wonder if they intended to have twins on the show or just hired twins to share the workload and decided to put them both on. AFAIK, they needed twins to echo Ray’s real life. They got the job because they knew somebody on the show- their sister, who actually can act (American Splendor). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-and-worse-child-actors-movies-and-or-tv/643811.md?page=3)