My Favorite Child Stars Of All Time
Before you chime in with "But you forgot...":
Mara Hobel in Mommie Dearest. She hung tough alongside Faye just like Tina did with Joan.
No, I didn't.
These are my personal favorites.
Feel free to tell me yours.
"The Goodbye Girl" said "Hello, girl" to funny and likable Quinn Cummings.
Huckleberry Fox was extremely endearing in "Terms of Endearment." His cuteness had real poignancy.
I worship at Shirley's Temple. She was the all-time best child star, with humor, smarts, professionalism, curls, and dimples.
Baby Peggy was a sassy silent star with a wicked wit far beyond her years.
Tatum O'Neal found out that stardom is only a paper moon, but she proved to be talented and charismatic enough for a lifetime of lens grabbing.
Pre-"Blossom," Mayim Bialik (left) was a divine Bette Midler mini-me in "Beaches."
Anyone who could look at Cosby's Keisha Knight Pulliam and not go "Awww" wasn't human.
Billy Mumy was great on "Lost in Space" and priceless in two Twilight Zones--one where he talks to his dead grandmother on the phone and another where he's a pint-sized tyrant who terrorizes the grownups.
When Gary Coleman hosted a party for me at a NYC club in the '90s, he really learned about diff'rent strokes!
Rupert Grint is the real star of "Harry Potter."
Haley Joel Osment: "I see precocious people!"
Jodie Foster was outrageously brilliant and wave-making even then.
Bonita Granvile was sort of the original Patty McCormack, with a hint of Macaulay Culkin.
Matthew Garber was genius in Mary Poppins! He died at 21 after eating raw meat in India!
Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. I just love this kid!
Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin was the original honey boo boo child.
![parent_trap-1961[1].jpg](http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/parent_trap-1961%5B1%5D.jpg)
Hayley Mills was doubly delightful in the original Parent Trap.
So was Lindsay Lohan in the remake. Remember when two Lindsays were even better than one?
Natalie Wood's charm was a miracle on ANY street.
Smiling baby monkeys in homeless chic. The Olsens are weird but riveting.
Jackie Cooper was an amazingly real and powerful movie performer who started in the Our Gang flicks. Oh, I also want to include the entire Our Gang cast, plus Anissa Jones from Family Affair, Patty Duke, Jane Withers, Brooke Shields, Ron Howard, Linda Blair, Anna Paquin, Justin Henry, Charles Herbert, Butch Patrick, Jonathan Lipnicki, Robbie Rist, Mason Reese, Rodney Allen Rippy, Liz Taylor, Roddy McDowall, Judy Garland....
Brandon DeWilde always had an otherworldy quality I liked in movies like "Member of the Wedding" and "Shane," if not necessarily in this dog thing.
And look how he grew up.
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