Top 10 Old Hollywood Child Stars

The child of actors, Brandon deWilde was on Broadway and winning awards by the time he was seven. Most American moviegoers would know him from “Shane.” The 1953 western starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur got the ten-year-old an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His echoing calls at the end has become an iconic movie quote. deWilde’s career would actually flourish throughout the rest of his adolescence. Roles in high-profile movies like “Hud,” co-starring Paul Newman, would keep him in the public eye. However, because of his boyish looks, deWilde was never taken seriously as a lead. He was killed in a car accident at the untimely age of 30.

While his name may be lost to modern audiences, Bartholomew was at one time the second-highest-paid child star behind Shirley Temple. In his heyday, he starred alongside movie greats like Spencer Tracy, Greta Garbo, W.C. Fields, and Judy Garland. Family squabbles over his money would rob him of most of the fortune he had amassed in his childhood career. Like many golden-era actors, contract disputes, studio hopping, and eventual service in World War II brought his career to a screeching halt. He would later find only modest success as an actor for television before turning to producing.

Talk about getting an early start. Margaret O’Brien was only four when she was signed to a contract with MGM. By the time she scored her most famous role in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” she was already a pro. Her role as Tootie Smith earned her a special Juvenile Oscar. Her career continued in classics such as “The Canterville Ghost” and the 1949 adaptation of “Little Women,” but she failed to crossover into adult stardom. Years later, her sharp memories of working with some of the motion picture greats made her a delightful recurring guest on the TCM channel.

One of the original minted Disney child stars, the British-born Hayley Mills is the daughter of renowned actor John Mills. Talent must have run in the family. Hayley secured a Juvenile Oscar with “Pollyanna” in 1960, and originated the dual leading roles in “The Parent Trap,” which would be famously played by Lindsay Lohan in the 1998 remake. Mills made several more movies for Disney, but voluntarily left the studio to take on more adult roles. Though she never really found superstardom as an adult, she’s worked consistently over the past several decades. She even starred in the original series that would later become “Saved by the Bell.”

One of the original stars of “Our Gang,” the ensemble that would later become known as “The Little Rascals,” Jackie Cooper found early success in short films. At MGM, he would act alongside that studio’s biggest male star, Wallace Beery, whom Cooper once said was so jealous of his early success that the veteran actor would deliberately try to upstage him. His biggest triumph may be “Skippy,” a 1931 comedy about a child going up against a villainous dogcatcher. “Skippy” earned the nine-year-old actor an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. As of 2023, he still holds the record as the youngest nominee in that category. He found later success on TV, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

The future star of “West Side Story,” “Splendor in the Grass,” and “Inside Daisy Clover” made her screen debut at four. Her first leading role was in the holiday classic “Miracle on 34th Street,” where she played Susan Walker. The young actress was once described by famed director Orson Welles as “so good” it was “terrifying.” She would appear in over twenty films before coming of age, and even scored a regular role on the sitcom “The Pride of the Family.” Her Oscar-nominated turn in “Rebel Without a Cause” marked the sixteen-year-old actress’ transition into more mature roles.

Though her performances in racy adult roles would eclipse her early work, there was an entire generation who knew Elizabeth Taylor only as the lovable horse girl from “National Velvet.” If her breakout performance remained her most famous, it still would’ve been an admirable career, but she continued making appearances in light-hearted MGM fare for the next few years. Soon, she would be cast in more mature teenage roles that required her to be more seductive than the good-girl parts she had been playing. By 1950, she had already begun taking on the more mature roles that would make her one of Hollywood’s most beautiful and controversial stars.

Beginning his career in Vaudeville, Mickey Rooney had one of the most enduring careers of any star of the Old Hollywood era. He made his screen debut in silent short films before making the transition to talkies. His sixteen performances as Andy Hardy, the all-American boy next door, cemented him as one of the country’s most famous actors. Many of the Andy Hardy movies paired him with his most famous co-star at MGM, the uber-talented Judy Garland. Though his success would wax and wane like any star’s, he was still acting at the time of his death in 2014.

Considering how fraught and punishing her time at MGM was, it’s hard to imagine just how young Judy Garland was when she began her career. She was only thirteen when they signed her. Her mistreatment at the studio didn’t stop her from becoming one of its biggest stars. Her pairings with other young stars like Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew launched her into her defining role, “The Wizard of Oz,” at just sixteen years old. Her career would only become more legendary from there. Considering her tragic story, it’s a testament to her immense talent that she was one of the few performers on this list to achieve even greater fame as an adult.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Roddy McDowall
This “Planet of the Apes” Actor Was an Established Star by the Age of 12

Jackie Coogan
One of Hollywood’s First Child Stars, His Experiences Led to New Legislation for Child Actors

Deanna Durbin
Once a Judy Garland Rival, This Musical Star Is Credited with Saving Universal from Ruin

Jerry Mathers
The Beav Was Easily One of America’s Most Famous Child Stars in the Late ‘50s & Early ‘60s

Patty Duke
By 18 Years Old, She Had Been on Broadway, Won an Oscar, & Headlined a Sitcom

Some of the child performers on this list became bigger names as adults, but Shirley Temple is still the quintessential child star. The famously curly-haired actress made her name in cheaply-made, melodramatic musicals that charmed Depression Era audiences and made a killing at the box office. Before she retired from films at the ripe old age of 22 years old, she had carved out a spot among Hollywood’s brightest headliners. Her work in the public eye continued in an unexpected arena: politics. She served as a U.S. ambassador and the Chief of Protocol under President Gerald Ford. Although politics probably wasn’t as glamorous as Hollywood, who’s to say it wasn’t just as exciting or exhausting as a career on the screen?