Children Who Won Oscars!

Anna Paquin

When it comes to mature actors we can expect them to get a nomination for their roles. But when it comes to children, they are less expected to be nominated or to win an Oscar because they are not experimented enough. Despite that, a few child-actors have won Oscars:

• Shirley Temple in 1934, she was 6-year-old (she received a non-competitive, honorary Oscar as well as Deanne Durbin and Mickey Rooney in 1938, Judy Garland in 1939 and Margaret O’Brien in 1944, along with 7 others in the following 16 years)

Shirley Temple in 1934

• Patty Duke, for ‘The Miracle Worker’, in 1962, she was 16-year-old.

Patty Duke in 1962

• Tatum O’Neal, for ‘Paper Moon’, in 1973, she was 10-year-old.

Tatum O'Neal in 1973

• Anna Paquin, for ‘The Piano’, in 1994, she was 11-year-old.

Anna Paquin in 1994

It’s probably overweliming to be nominated to the Oscars as a child. To be where the grwon-ups are and to compete with them is a huge challange. Here there are a few children who were nominated, but didn’t win an Oscar:

• Patty McCormack, for ‘The Bad Seed’ in 1956;
• Mary Badham, for ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ in 1962;
• Jodie Foster, for  ‘Taxi Driver’ in 1976;
• Quinn Cummings, for ‘Goodbye Girl’ in 1977;
• River Phoenix,  for ‘Running on Empty’ in 1988;
• Haley Joel Osment, for ’The Sixth Sense’ in 1999;
• Keisha Castle-Hughes, for ‘Whale Rider’ in 2004;
• Abigail Breslin, for ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ in 2007.

Let’s just hope that on Sunday, Hailee Steinfeld, at 14-year-old, will win an Oscar for her performance in ‘True Grit’.