My Favorite Child Performances

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3.
Patty Duke, The Miracle Worker



An extraordinary performance that blindsided Angela Lansbury by winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. It's so hard to believe that this is the same actress who four years later would give that dreadful performance as Neeley O'Hara in Valley of the Dolls.



2.
Judy Garland, The Wizard of OZ



I'm sure there are those who thought this performance was going to be #1...sorry if you're disappointed, but as I mentioned earlier, #1 was already decided the minute I began the thread and inspired the thread. No denying the greatness of this performance though...Garland had to fight tooth and nail for this role and proved she was up to the challenge...one of the most enchanting performances by an actor under the age of 18. She even won a juvenile version of the Academy Award for the performance.

Well, I hope your curiosity is properly piqued, but before I announce # 1, I would like to acknowledge a few honorable mentions that didn't make the list:

Quinn Cummings, The Goodbye Girl
Lindsey Lohan, Mean Girls
Roddy McDowell, How Green was My Valley
Veronica Cartwright, The Birds
Mark Lester, Oliver!
Aileen Quinn, Annie
Hayley Mills, That Darn Cat
Kevin Corcoran, Old Yeller

Drum Roll Please....
My Absolute Favorite Child Performance:



1.
Natalie Wood, Miracle on 34th Street



This performance continues to entertain and fascinate almost 60 years later and is one of the primary reasons this film maintains its iconic status. Wood is absolutely enchanting as little Susan Walker...the little girl wise beyond her years whose whole belief system is challenged when she is forced to ponder the possibility that a kindly bearded gentleman (Edmund Gwenn) that her mother (Maureen O'Hara), who is an executive at Macy's hired just might be Santa Claus, even though Susan's mother has already informed her daughter that Santa does not exist. Wood delivers a pitch perfect performance here, rich with intelligence, humor, and sweetness. Wood manages to be adorable without being cloying and gives Susan an intelligence that doesn't make her obnoxious. Gwenn won the supporting actor Oscar for his Kris Kringle, but Wood should have won for supporting actress...kudos to director George Seaton, who has to get some credit for pulling this incredible performance from this child.



Hope you enjoyed the list.



Some cuties there
Enjoyed the list immensely but my favourite is not in your list and that's Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun which I still think is his best performance . I love that film, and Bale plays Jim to perfection.




Indeed he was SC!

Gideon I liked your honourable mentions. I share your love of Hayley Mills, and I remember vividly seeing Oliver on its release with my best friend. We were in pieces seeing Mark Lester singing Where Is Love.



A really good one, which I found scary as hell to be honest, is Mhairi Anderson in The Daisy Chain.



David Bennent, The Tin Drum (1979)
Linda Blair, The Exorcist (1973)
Jodie Foster, Taxi Driver (1976)
Patricia Gozzi, Sundays and Cybele (1962)
Kara Hayward, Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Zoé Héran, Tomboy (2011)
Alex R. Hibbert, Moonlight (2016)
Dafne Keen, Logan (2017)
Sue Lyon, Lolita (1962)
Ursula Parker, Take Me to the River (2015)
Sunny Pawar, Lion (2016)
Natalie Portman, Leon (1994)
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement (2007)
Jaroslava Schallerová, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
Lucia Snieg, Kept and Dreamless (2005)
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit (2010)
Shirley Temple, Bright Eyes (1934)
Jacob Tremblay, Room (2015)
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Annika Wedderkopp, The Hunt (2012)



Without reading the responses, one's found very well done. Curious if any of these made your list?


Ivana Baquero - "Pan's Labyrinth"(12 yrs old)

Tatum O'Neal - "Paper Moon" (10 yrs old)

Brooklynn Prince - "The Florida Project" (8 yrs old)

Elsie Kate Fisher - "Eighth Grade" (14 yrs old)

Heather Matarazzo - "Welcome to the Dollhouse" (13 yrs old)

Lucas Haas - "Testament" (7 yrs old)














A prominent actress, Anushka Sen https://highnations.com/anushka-sen/ is a Indian actress, model and social media influencer. She was born on 4 july,2002 in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.