List of Crap #130: Top 50 Kid Stars, Prodigies, and Beyond

[George-2.0]

#41: Johnny Whitaker
24 points on 3 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #15 (stethacantus)

John Orson Whitaker, Jr. (born December 13, 1959) is an American actor notable for several performances for film and television during his childhood. The redheaded Whitaker was best known for playing Jody Davis on the television series Family Affair from 1966 to 1971. He later went on to star in the 1973 Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday morning children's series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters

Other career highlights: In 1965 he originated the role of Scotty Baldwin on General Hospital, In 1966, he acted in a major feature film, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, which also starred Brian Keith, the actor who would later play Whitaker's uncle in Family Affair. In 1969 Johnny played the lead in Hallmark's The Littlest Angel, and portrayed the title character in the 1973 musical version of Tom Sawyer.

But of course, the role that matters most to Rifftrax fans, was his comeback performance in 2013s stellar, A Talking Cat!?!

Of note: Whitaker was Dana Plato's manager.




#40: Wil Wheaton
25 points on 1 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (RVR II)

Richard William "Wil" Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor, blogger, and writer. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me, Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers and Bennett Hoenicker in Flubber. Wheaton has also appeared in recurring voice acting roles as Aqualad in Teen Titans, Cosmic Boy on the Legion of Super Heroes and Mike Morningstar/Darkstar in the Ben 10 universe. He also appeared regularly as a fictionalized version of himself on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory and in the roles of Fawkes on The Guild, Colin Mason on Leverage and Dr. Isaac Parrish on Eureka. Wheaton was also the host and co-creator of the YouTube board game show TableTop.




#39: The Runaways
25 points on 1 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (Fred Garvin)

The Runaways were an all-female teenage American rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", "Hollywood", "Queens of Noise" and a cover version of the Velvet Underground's "Rock & Roll". Never a major success in the United States, the Runaways became a sensation overseas, especially in Japan.

The primary line-up: Lita Ford, Sandy West, Jackie Fox, Joan Jett, and Cherie Currie, were 15 to 16-years-old when they joined the band in 1975, 16-17 for the June 1976 release of their debut album (Jett turned 18, three months after its release), so for that time period, they qualify under the rules.

A biographical film about the band, inspired by Currie's memoir, was released in 2010. Jett was one of the executive producers. Actresses Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning starred as Jett and Currie, respectively.

[George-2.0]

And that's your Friday trio.

I grew up seeing Johnny Whitaker, everywhere, it seemed he was always guesting on some show in the late 60s and early 70s. My favorite character on Family Affair was Mr. French, but, he's not a child - and while Johnny was no longer a kid when he made the cat movie, that was the cherry on the career sundae.

[George-2.0]

I'm going to post Saturday's entries early, as I have a crapload of things to do this weekend. I'm not sure I'll post any for Sunday, if not I'll be back with another 3 on Monday night.



#38: Robin Johnson
25 points on 1 of  lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (stethacantus)

Robin Johnson (born May 29, 1964) is an American actress. Johnson grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City. She graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1982 and is best known for Times Square (1980), After Hours (1985) and Splitz (1982).

She was asked to audition for Times Square (1980) after being noticed in the street by someone connected with the production company. When she signed to do the movie, she also signed with the organization that produced the movie and they promised to develop more projects for her but never did.




#37: River Phoenix
25 points on 1 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (ColeStratton)

River Jude Phoenix (August 23, 1970 – October 31, 1993) was an up-and-coming movie star when he died suddenly of drug-induced heart failure in 1993 at the age of 23. His brief career was marked by critically-acclaimed performances in films such as Stand by Me (1986), Running on Empty (1988) and Gus Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho (1991, with Keanu Reeves).

Phoenix was the eldest of five children whose itinerant parents were members of a radical Christian group called the Children of God (later known as The Family). His family lived in communes in Oregon, Texas, Puerto Rico and Venezuela before settling in Florida. Pursuing entertainment careers for their children, the parents moved the family to Los Angeles, where Phoenix began getting television jobs in the early 1980s. Although his first feature film was 1985's Explorers (with young Ethan Hawke), it was his stand-out performance in the ensemble drama Stand by Me that gained him national recognition. Phoenix was labeled a promising young actor and his career took off. He co-starred with Harrison Ford in both The Mosquito Coast (1986) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and earned an Oscar nomination for his performance in Running on Empty. His other films include Little Nikita (1988, with Sidney Poitier), Dogfight (1991) and Sneakers (1992, with Robert Redford).

Note: River was 17 during the shooting of Little Nikita, Jimmy Reardon, and most likely, Running on Empty, so those (along with Stand By Me, The Mosquito Coast, and others) would be included for consideration under the rules of the LoC.




#36: Pamela Franklin
25 points on 1 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #1 (George-2.0)

Pamela Franklin (born 3 February 1950 in Yokohama, Japan) is a British actress. She is best known for her role in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969), for which she won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as scoring a BAFTA nomination.

Franklin made her acting debut at the age of 11 in the film The Innocents (1961). Other noteworthy roles from this eligible period include The Third Secret (1964), The Nanny (1965 - with Bette Davis), and Our Mother's House (1967).

She later established herself as a scream queen in the '70s by appearing in the films Necromancy (1972) and The Legend of Hell House (1973).  Her last film role was in The Food of the Gods (1976), although she made television appearances until 1981.

[George-2.0]

As for this trio.... I'm running out things to say about Times Square and its actors, this is the 3rd LoC I've hosted that it/they have made the 50. If Robin makes it a 4th time in a future LoC, all I'll have left in me will be a name and a picture and a write-up that says, "Yup, Robin Johnson" 

On the other hand, this a first LoC placement for Pamela Franklin. She's one of my favorite actresses, kid or otherwise. She was superb in Jean Brodie -- when you can hold your own in scenes with the great Maggie Smith, that's saying something. I'm not sure how she got typecast as a scream queen (though she did play a few creepy kids in the 60s), and she said it was mistake to do TV, according to her, things like The Love Boat killed her movie career.

BTW, Rifftrax, you MUST do "Food of the Gods!"

[RVR II]

And my #1 came in at #40?? Yeesh

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I forgot Wil Weaton was in Stand By Me, although looking at my list he even if I had remembered he probably would have only been 24 or 25.

[ColeStratton]

And my #1 came in at #40?? Yeesh

Mine was at #37, so I feel your pain. Pretty surprised I was the only one who had River Phoenix on their list. He was so amazing and it always makes me sad to see him on screen as I can't help but think about what amazing work he would have gone on to do.

[stethacantus]

As for this trio.... I'm running out things to say about Times Square and its actors, this is the 3rd LoC I've hosted that it/they have made the 50. If Robin makes it a 4th time in a future LoC, all I'll have left in me will be a name and a picture and a write-up that says, "Yup, Robin Johnson"

If Rock and Roll movie had won the LoC, hen guess which one I would have no choice but to submit as my #1?

Information on Robin Johnson is sparse, considering how few films ant television she did during her acting career. I would have mentioned that Times Square is her only performance as a child. ( about 15 years old when she filmed it. ) The film's producer Robert Stigwood was so impressed with her performance that he dubbed her the new John Travolta. ( Travolta had parted ways with Stigwood after his three picture deal, so at the time Stigwood was looking for a replacement. ) Robin was signed to his agency exclusively, which meant she could not act or sing for anyone other than RSO. Stigwood announced he had several movie projects lined up for Robin, and that she would be recording her first album for RSO. Plans for a sequel to Grease was already in the works. Stigwood wanted to turn Grease into a franchise with the same high school but in different erase and different casts of students.  Grease 2 was supposed to take place in the 1960s, and was to begin filming a couple of months after Times Square was released. Robin was to play the lead as the head of the Pink Ladies, and Andy Gibb was to be a male version of Sandy, as well as Robin's love interest. The film got held up. Andy developed a drug problem and was cut. When they finally got around to filming Grease 2 a couple of years later, Alan Car had stepped down as the director and handed the film off to Patricia Birch, who decided she wanted to recast all the students in the film, giving the role promised to Robin to her discovery Michelle Pfeiffer. None of the other movie projects Stigwood announced Robin would be in materialized, and no album was ever released ( and as far as I can tell, never recorded. ) Meanwhile, her contract prevented her from accepting offers from other producers, and she was forced to turn down roles in other films. Since she wasn't making movies, she wasn't being paid. After graduating from high school, she spent a couple of years working in a bank, waiting for Stigwood to put her in a movie. When Stigwood allowed her to be recast in Grease 2,  it broke a clause that in turn allowed her out of her contract. A new agent attempted to find her work, but in the two years Stigwood kept her to himself, all the offers had dried up.  Splitz, which she made when she was about 19, was one of those independent movies  where they cast known actors in small roles juts to secure financing from investors. Robin agreed to do it and to be billed as the star, but was just barely in it, and didn't play the lead character. That same year she was hired  as part of the cast of  the soap opera The Guiding Light where she played the troubled teenager Darcy Dekker, her final juvenile role.  From there she began taking adult roles ( such as a hooker who helps Crocket and Tubbs crack a case in an episode of  Miami Vice ), then signed a contract with Universal Television that put her in a short lived spy series on NBC, then once again being kept from acting while waiting for her Universal contract to expire.  Most of her career was spent signed to production deals that lead to nothing, which is why her filmography is so sparse.

Trini Alvarado wasn't bound to any production deals, so therefor had done a lot of movies. Siskel and Ebert dubbed her an up and coming major star in the 90s after being impressed by her acting in a couple of movies, which didn't really happen. Even though she is one of the stars in my favorite film Times Square, she probably would have been outside of my top 5 if not for her being in another one of my favorite films Dreams Don't Die, a television movie where she played the girlfriend of a teenage graffiti artist. Her final role as a child actress was the Mel Gibson film Mrs Soffel . A couple of her adult films worth mentioning are Satisfaction which was supposed to launch the career of Justine Bateman both as a movie actress and recording star, but didn't.  And American Friends, a period romantic comedy with her and Michael Palin of Monty Python. ( A film notable because Palin's other co-star was John' Cleeses ex Connie Booth. )

Johnny Whitaker only made three lists? That one is shocking. He was such a big deal in the early 70s. My reason for having him on my list were two major television shows that were my favorites as a kid. The Littlest Angle was a television movie that they aired every Christmas, until they stopped sometime in the early 70s. I barely remember the film. But from what I do remember, Johnny plays a Shepherd in biblical times, who while playing runs off the side of a cliff and ends up  in heaven where he meets Herman Munster. And that is all I can remember from the movie. But I remember it being a favorite, and would watch it's rebroadcast every year. The other show aired a couple of years later, and I remember much more of it. It was a live action Saturday Morning kids show called Sigmund and the Sea Monsters made by Sid & Marty Kroft who had made H.R. Puff n Stuff, The Bugaloos and Lidsville before it.  Pretty much all of the Sid & Marty Croft shows were about kids who fall into a vortex that takes them to a magic land with talking magic creatures and some sort of witch or wizard that is out to get the kid. In other words, they all ripped off The Wizard of Oz ( and yet Sid & Marty Kroft were able to successfully sue McDonalds because they claimed Mayor McCheese and other McDonald Land characters ripped off Puff & Stuff. )  Sigmund & the Sea Monster was their first series to break the formula, as it takes place in our world, and there is no malevolent magician trying to kill the cast every week. Johnny and his little brother, who live near the beach,  are left by their parents one summer, with just the maid ( or aunt? ) Zelda to take care of them. ( I don't think it is ever explained why their parents abandon them. ) One day while on the beach Johnny finds Sigmond, a young sea monster who was cast out by his family for some reason, and Johnny and his brother decide to sneak him back in their house to live with them.  ( And yet, the Kroft brothers never sued Steven Spielberg  for using the identical premise for E.T. ) Each week the brothers would have a little adventure with Sigmond while trying to keep Zelda from finding out they had a seaweed creature as a pet.   The adventures usually involved going into the sea monster's land ( which is the easily findable caves right on the same public beach the humans play on every day, yet no one knows the sea monsters are there, )  after which Johnny would sing a song, because Johnny Whitaker was suppose to also be a recording star, although I am pretty sure he never had any top 40 hits.

[George-2.0]

Thanks for the info, and if anyone else wants to add to the bios and such, please do so. As I said when I volunteered to take over hosting, I was going to do quick and easy work.

It seems whenever we have one of these LoCs I get in the mood to watch the movies, shows, and whatever from the topic at hand. And that's held true with this one. For example, been catching several Pamela Franklin movies I've not seen - A Tiger Walks, a Disney movie she made as a youth, and Screamer, a TV production from the 70s in which she was very good. Also, Kino's having a sale, and among those BDs I purchased was And Soon the Darkness. In looking up the movie I spotted this advert from the past... (The movie was released in 1970, but I wonder what year it aired on TV?)

[George-2.0]

#35: Jackie Coogan
25 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #5 (stethacantus)

John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) began performing as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited role in the 1917 film Skinner's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in the Orpheum Theatre, a vaudeville house in Los Angeles, on the stage doing the shimmy, a then-popular dance.

Jackie was a natural mimic and delighted Chaplin with his abilities. Chaplin cast him in a small role in A Day's Pleasure (1919). The following year, Chaplin cast him as the abandoned child raised by his Tramp character in the silent comedy-drama The Kid (1921). In 1922, Coogan played the title role in Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd. Jackie was one of the first stars to be heavily merchandised. Peanut butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines were among the Coogan-themed merchandise on sale.

Coogan continued to act throughout his life, later earning renewed fame in middle age portraying the bumbling Uncle Fester in the 1960s television series The Addams Family.




#34: Neil Patrick Harris
25 points on 3 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #14 (ColeStratton)

Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, comedian, writer, and producer. He is known primarily for his comedy roles on television and his dramatic and musical stage roles.

Harris began his career as a child actor and was discovered by playwright Mark Medoff at a drama camp in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Medoff later cast him in the 1988 drama film Clara's Heart, starring Whoopi Goldberg. Clara's Heart earned him a Golden Globe nomination. The same year, he starred in Purple People Eater, a children's fantasy.

On television, he is known for playing the title character on Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989–1993, he was 16-17 in the shows first 2 seasons), Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother (2005–2014, for which he was nominated for four Emmy Awards), and Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017–2019).

Harris is also known for his role as the title character in Joss Whedon's musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (2008) and a fictional version of himself in the Harold & Kumar film series (2004–2011). His other films include Starship Troopers (1997), Beastly (2011), The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), and Gone Girl (2014). In 2014, he starred in the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, for which he won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.




#33: Saoirse Ronan
26 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #8 (CJones)

Saoirse Una Ronan (born 12 April 1994) is an Irish and American actress. Primarily noted for her roles in period dramas since adolescence, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including one Golden Globe Award and nominations for four Academy Awards and five British Academy Film Awards.

Ronan made her acting debut at age 9 in 2003 on the Irish medical drama series The Clinic and had her breakthrough at 13 in the role of a precocious teenager in Joe Wright's Atonement (2007), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She followed this with starring roles of a murdered girl seeking closure in Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (2009) and a teenage assassin in Hanna (2011), and the supporting role of a baker in Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). She garnered critical acclaim for playing a homesick Irish immigrant in 1950s New York in Brooklyn (2015), the eponymous high school senior in Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird (2017), and Jo March in Gerwig's Little Women (2019). She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for all three performances, and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Lady Bird.

On stage, Ronan portrayed Abigail Williams in the 2016 Broadway revival of The Crucible. In the same year, she was featured by Forbes in two of their 30 Under 30 lists. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her tenth on its list of the greatest actors of the twenty-first century.

[stethacantus]

Of course you can't mention Jackie Coogan without mentioning Coogan's Law. Along with the Chaplin films, and his biggest hit Peck's Bad Boy, Coogan earned millions of dollars. Since children could not legally own money or property until they were 21, his father put all of his earnings into a trust fund that Jackie could not access until his 21st birthday. Five months before his 21st birthday Jackie was in a car with another former child star ( and costar with Jackie in the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn films ) Junior Durkin, ranch hand Charles Jones and his father, on the way home from a hunting trip. On a mountain pass another vehicle ran them off the road and Jackie's father drove the car off the side of a cliff. Jackie was the sole survivor of the accident. His mother remarried a few months later, and his new step father discovered Jackie's trust fund and claimed legal ownership over it as Jackie's parent. When Jackie reached his 21st birthday a few weeks later, he discovered the fund had been completed depleted. The stepfather ( along with his mother ) spent most of it. $250, 000 was still left, but Jackie's step father insisted the money was his as he was Jackie's legal parent prior to his 21st birthday.  Jackie had to sue his step father for the $250,000, but even though he won the lawsuit, most of the money was deducted for court costs and lawyers fees for both sides. The Hollywood community was outraged at Jackie's plight, and pressured the legislature to pass the Coogan Law, which requires the producer hiring a child actor to set aside at least 15% of his earnings in a trust fund that his parents can't touch. Coogan's Law has been updated several times as parents have found ways around it to access and spend their child's money. At least one other child actor on my list had his entire fortune spent by his parents during the 80s.

[ColeStratton]

Of course you can't mention Jackie Coogan without mentioning Coogan's Law. Along with the Chaplin films, and his biggest hit Peck's Bad Boy, Coogan earned millions of dollars. Since children could not legally own money or property until they were 21, his father put all of his earnings into a trust fund that Jackie could not access until his 21st birthday. Five months before his 21st birthday Jackie was in a car with another former child star ( and costar with Jackie in the Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn films ) Junior Durkin, ranch hand Charles Jones and his father, on the way home from a hunting trip. On a mountain pass another vehicle ran them off the road and Jackie's father drove the car off the side of a cliff. Jackie was the sole survivor of the accident. His mother remarried a few months later, and his new step father discovered Jackie's trust fund and claimed legal ownership over it as Jackie's parent. When Jackie reached his 21st birthday a few weeks later, he discovered the fund had been completed depleted. The stepfather ( along with his mother ) spent most of it. $250, 000 was still left, but Jackie's step father insisted the money was his as he was Jackie's legal parent prior to his 21st birthday.  Jackie had to sue his step father for the $250,000, but even though he won the lawsuit, most of the money was deducted for court costs and lawyers fees for both sides. The Hollywood community was outraged at Jackie's plight, and pressured the legislature to pass the Coogan Law, which requires the producer hiring a child actor to set aside at least 15% of his earnings in a trust fund that his parents can't touch. Coogan's Law has been updated several times as parents have found ways around it to access and spend their child's money. At least one other child actor on my list had his entire fortune spent by his parents during the 80s.

Also many people don't realize that actor Keith Coogan is Jackie's grandson. He nearly made my list as I loved him in Hiding Out and Toy Soldiers and other things (also he's now a friend that I run into from time to time).

[George-2.0]

#32: Clint Howard
26 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #3 (RVR II)

Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American character actor. Second son born to American actors, Rance and Jean Howard and is the younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. He began his career when he was two, appearing in five episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, playing Leon, a toddler in a cowboy outfit who wandered around Mayberry and silently offered people a bite of his sandwich, to which they would respond, "No thanks, Leon."

Clint has over 200 acting credits, appearing in feature films including The Waterboy and Apollo 13, as well as playing characters on television such as Mark Wedloe on Gentle Ben, Stanley on The Baileys of Balboa (1964–1965), Steve on The Cowboys (1974), and as Creepy Rodney on My Name Is Earl (2006–2008). He has appeared in many films directed by his brother, Ron, and had a small role in Walt Disney Pictures' The Jungle Book. Clint also was lead singer and frontman of his band, The Kempsters (you can hear them in this clip... https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2j8f2, and recently has found success in his pursuit of making custom snowglobes.




#31: Macaulay Culkin
26 points on 3 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #15 (Pak-Man)

Macaulay Carson Culkin (born, August 26, 1980) is an American actor, musician, and podcaster. Regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars" and on E!'s list of the "50 Greatest Child Stars".

Macaulay began acting at age four, and appeared in roles on stage, television, and movies throughout the 1980s. He made film debut in the drama Rocket Gibraltar (1988), and was later cast alongside actor John Candy in the comedy film Uncle Buck (1989).

Culkin rose to prominence as a child actor starring as Kevin McCallister in the first two films of the Christmas franchise Home Alone series, for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. He also starred in the films My Girl (1991), The Good Son (1993), The Nutcracker (1993), Getting Even with Dad (1994), The Pagemaster (1994) and Richie Rich (1994). He has been nominated for the MTV Movie Awards and Young Artist Awards.

Culkin took a break from acting in 1994, and he made his return in 2003 with a guest appearance on the television show Will & Grace, a role in the film Party Monster (2003), and several funny cameos on the Jim Gaffigan Show (2015-16). He wrote an autobiographical book titled Junior, which was published in 2006.




#30: Sarah Gilbert
27 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #12 (Pak-Man)

Sara Gilbert (born Sara Rebecca Abeles; January 29, 1975) is an American actress, director, and producer. Following appearances in television movies (Calamity Jane in 1984) and a commercial for Kool-Aid, at 13 she landed her best-known role as Darlene Conner on the ABC sitcom Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018), for which she received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

At age 17 she made the film Poison Ivy, wrote a Roseanne episode story (the teleplay was written by the Guild Writers for the show) called "Don't Make Me Over", and did voice work on an episode of The Simpsons (Entertainment Weekly named Sara Gilbert's role as Laura Powers as one of the sixteen best guest appearances on that series)

She later co-hosted the CBS daytime talk show The Talk and had a recurring role as Leslie Winkle on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.

Note: Her maternal grandfather was The Honeymooners creator Harry Crane. Her two siblings on her mother's side, Melissa Gilbert and Jonathan Gilbert, were stars of Little House on the Prairie.

[George-2.0]

I didn't care for Home Alone, and wasn't on that bandwagon, but I thought Culkin would show up on more than 3 lists.

Two that slipped my mind as I was making my list, but are good picks: Gilbert was a hoot as Darlene, and Clint, yeah I grew up seeing him on Gentle Ben, Andy Griffith, and Trek ("TRANYA!"). My favorite adult performance, and it's also one my favorite movies otherwise, was as Eaglebauer in Rock and Roll High School (which would have made my rock movie list had we done that).

[George-2.0]

#29: Mickey Rooney
27 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #11 (Fred Garvin)

Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor, comedian, radio entertainer, and producer. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until his death, he appeared in more than 300 films, and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era.

Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child, and made his film debut at the age of 6 years. He played the title character in the popular "Mickey McGuire" series of 78 short films, from age 7 to 13. At 14 and 15, he played Puck in the play and subsequent film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. At the age of 16 he began playing Andy Hardy, and gained recognition at 17 as Whitey Marsh in Boys Town. At 19, he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award for his leading role in Babes in Arms and became the second-youngest nominee in the category; he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939.




#28: Danny Bonaduce
27 points on 2 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #9 (RVR II)

Dante Daniel Bonaduce (born August 13, 1959) is an American actor, comedian, radio personality, television personality, and professional wrestler. Bonaduce is the son of veteran TV writer and producer Joseph Bonaduce (The Dick Van Dyke Show, One Day at a Time, and others). Bonaduce became famous as a child actor of the 1970s on the TV sitcom The Partridge Family. He co-starred as Danny Partridge, the wisecracking, redheaded middle son of the singing family band (headed by Shirley Jones), and he played the fictional pop group's bass guitar player.

Since then, Bonaduce has starred in several other TV series, including the VH1 reality show Breaking Bonaduce in 2005, radio shows in Los Angeles and Philadelphia and has been hosting a morning talk/music show at Seattle radio station KZOK-FM since November 14, 2011.




#27: Chloë Grace Moretz
27 points on 3 of 8 lists - Highest Ranking: #7 (Pak-Man)

Chloë Grace Moretz (born February 10, 1997, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the supernatural horror film The Amityville Horror (2005), the drama series Desperate Housewives (2006–07), the supernatural horror film The Eye (2008), the drama film The Poker House (2008), the drama series Dirty Sexy Money (2007–08), the romantic comedy film 500 Days of Summer (2009) and the children's comedy film Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010).

Moretz's breakthrough came in 2010 with her critically acclaimed performances as Hit-Girl in the superhero film Kick-Ass and as a child vampire in the horror film Let Me In. She then starred in Martin Scorsese's historical adventure film Hugo (2011), Tim Burton's horror comedy film Dark Shadows (2012), the satirical sitcom 30 Rock (2011–13), reprised her role as Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass 2 (2013), and played Carrie White in the supernatural horror film Carrie (2013). In 2014, Moretz starred in the award-winning drama film Clouds of Sils Maria, the teen romantic drama If I Stay and the vigilante action film The Equalizer.

Post age-17 films include Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, and the remake of Susperia. She received good notices for her acting in The Miseducation of Cameron Post. From March 25 through April 27, 2014, Moretz made her Off-Broadway debut in The Library, directed by Steven Soderbergh