My Favorite Child Performances

River Phoenix better make this list!

32.
Claude Jarman Jr., The Yearling



A classic coming of age story which features a charming and often moving performance by this young actor who pretty much disappeared after this.

31.
Mae Whitman, Hope Floats



Just like Huckleberry Fox in Terms of Endearment, every time I watch the scene where she begs for her father to take him with her when he leaves, I totally lose it.

30.
Ralph Macchio, The Outsiders



The Karate Kid is probably what this actor is best known for, but this is the standout performance in his career for me...Macchio doesn't make a false move as the tortured gang pet of the Greasers whose unconditional friendship with Ponyboy (C. Thomas Howell) is the heart of this film.

29.
Jonathan Lipnicki, Jerry Maguire



Another one of those darling child performances by another child who literally disappeared from Hollywood after it happened.

28.
Hayley Mills, The Parent Trap



The only thing better than one Hayley Mills was two.

or what's going to happen?

27.
Jared Rushton, Big



Rushton was very funny as Billy, Josh's best friend, who has become a 35 year old man (Tom Hanks) courtesy of Josh's wish on a Zoltar machine. Rushton is very effective playing a character who initially enjoys the perks of having an adult best friend, but is resentful when Josh's adult life doesn't allow him to spend as much time with Billy as he'd like.

26.
Mara Hobel, Mommie Dearest



Hobel was, at times, chilling as Christina Crawford, adopted daughter of film icon Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) in this camp classic. Hobel does some stare downs with Dunaway that could melt ice and I found her performance way more effective than Diana Scarwid as the adult Christina.

I know he's playing a teenager, and I'm seeing a few other older performers here, too -- like James Spader -- but Alan Ruck was actually 29/30 years old when he played Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hardly a child performance, but whatever, just thought I'd mention it.

As I said in my opening thread, I am also honoring performances where the character was 18 years old or under and the actor was convincing in the role and I believe Ruck was.

25.
Jennifer Elise Cox, The Brady Bunch Movie & A Very Brady Sequel



Though she was well into her 20's when she played the role, Cox perfectly inhabited the role of the slightly neurotic middle Brady daughter. Unlike the other five actors playing the Brady kids in the two movies, Cox doesn't physically resemble the originator of the role, Eve Plumb, at all, but the voice, the mannerisms, the walk, the attitude...dead solid perfect.

24.
Molly Ringwald, Sixteen Candles



Checked her IMDB page to make sure and Ringwald was actually still a teenager when she burst onto the scene as John Hughes' cinematic muse playing Samantha Baker, the sensitive teen who is upset that her family seems to have forgotten her 16th birthday and dealing with her crush on the high school hunk (Michael Schoeffling).

23.
Ricky Schroeder, The Champ



Little Ricky Schroeder's performance in this 1979 remake of the Jackie Cooper-Wallace Beery classic is the best thing about this movie.

22.
Ross Malinger, Sleepless in Seattle



Malinger is perfection as the son of a widower (Tom Hanks) who knows Dad better than Dad knows himself and is determined to help Dad find what he needs.

21.
Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon



With the aid of her dad Ryan O'Neal and director Peter Bogdonovich, O'Neal became the youngest Oscar winner in history with this charming performance as a very young con artist.

I can't believe this girl is 45 years old now. Molly Ringwald is 47. So weird that Jan from The Brady Bunch Movie and Molly Ringwald are practically the same age.

That's mind-blowing that Molly Ringwald is 47 years old.

20.
Doug McKeon, On Golden Pond



In one of his first major screen roles, McKeon more than held his own with acting heavyweights like Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Fonda, and Dabney Coleman. The evolution of the relationship between Henry Fonda and McKeon's characters was lovely to watch.

19.
River Phoenix, Running on Empty



I had no doubts that this actor would end up on this list, but deciding for which film caused major angst...I finally decided on his Oscar-nominated performance as a teen who is bitter about the life he has to live because his parents (Judd Hirsh, Christine Lahti) are on the run. RIP, Mr. Phoenix.