Amazing Child Actor Performances of the Past 100 Years

Subir Banerjee was 8 years old when he played the boy Apu in Satyajit Ray’s critically acclaimed film “Pather Panchali” (“Song of the Little Road”) about rural life in a Bengal village. Banerjee would spend virtually his entire adult life outside of films before returning in the movie “Achal: The Stagnant” in 2012.

Jean-Pierre Léaud, the son of an actress and scriptwriter, had already made a film when François Truffaut sought young actors to appear in the “The 400 Blows.” Léaud‘s ability to improvise landed the 14-year-old the part in the French classic, “The 400 Blows.” He would go on to appear in four other Truffaut movies.

Rony Clanton’s screen debut came at age 17 when he played Duke in “The Cool World,” about the difficulties of life in a Harlem ghetto. His other film appearances included “The Cotton Club,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” and “The Royal Tenenbaums.” Clanton has also appeared in the long-running period television series “Boardwalk Empire,” “HIll Street Blues,” and “Law and Order.”

Tatum O’Neal became the youngest person to win a competitive Academy Award at 10 years old for her portrayal of a child swindler in the film “Paper Moon,” which also starred her father, Ryan O’Neal. Her subsequent film career included star turns in “Little Darlings” and “The Bad News Bears.”

Linda Blair’s part as the young girl possessed by a demon in “The Exorcist” was not her first role, but it was her most famous one. The 14-year-old won a Golden Globe for her performance. She later appeared in the very successful television films “Born Innocent” and “Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic,” and spoofed her Exorcist role in the send-up “Repossessed.”