Sal Mineo & Natalie Wood at the Oscars for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) one of only two years wherein two minors were nominated. The other is 1973As Sunny Pawar (Lion) can attest this Oscar season, being a cute kid with a preternatural gift in front of the cameras can only get you so far. A little further if you're a girl but still, the point is: it's not easy to be Oscar nominated when you're a minor. Think of the famous or iconic minor performances that DIDN'T snag nominations: Natalie Wood in Miracle on 34th Street, Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, Evan Rachel Wood in thirteen, Jacob Tremblay in Room and so on.
On this 18th day before the Oscars let's quickly survey all the actors who managed a nomination before their 18th birthday!
There are 21 of them in total ... and almost 2/3rd of that number come from the Supporting Actress category which won't shock anyone who knows the Oscars and their double standards for men and women. But a few other statistics revealed might be more of a surprise...
BEST ACTOR / BEST ACTRESS
Jackie Cooper in Skippy (1930) -- 9 years old. Youngest ever nominated for leading actor by a margin of 10 years
Quvenzhané Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) -- 9 years old
Keisha Castle-Hughes in Whale Rider (2003) -- 13 years old
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Justin Henry in Kramer vs Kramer (1979) -- 8 years old. The youngest nominee in any category of all time
Haley Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense (1999) -- 11 years old
Brandon de Wilde in Shane (1953) -- 11 years old
He died very young (at only 30) but since he was also great in Hud (1963) when he was just 21 maybe a comeback could have eventually happened if he hadn't died.
Jack Wild in Oliver! (1968) -- 16 years old
Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) -- 17 years old
He was nominated again at 22 for Exodus (1960), the youngest man ever to receive two Oscar nominations (just ahead of Mickey Rooney who accomplished it by 23.) He also died young at 37.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tatum O'Neal in Paper Moon (1973) -- 10 years old WINNER.
The youngest of all time in any category (not counting special "juvenile Oscars" of course). Of course she's a lead appearing in every scene but one in the movie.
Mary Badham in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) -- 10 years old.
She quit acting just a few years later.
Quinn Cummings in The Goodbye Girl (1977) -- 10 years old
Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine (2006) -- 10 years old
Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed (1956) -- 11 years old
Anna Paquin in The Piano (1993) -- 11 years old WINNER
The only minor to ever win a Supporting category while actually being supporting! She lost the Golden Globe for this performance but later won it as an adult for headlining HBO's True Blood.
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement (2007) -- 13 years old
Recently nominated again for Brooklyn (2015) she's one of only 6 teenage actors (including 18 and 19 year olds who aren't included in this list's criteria) to receive second nominations in their 20s -- the others are Natalie Wood, Jodie Foster, Sal Mineo, Angela Lansbury, and Mickey Rooney. She's in legendary company already!
Bonita Granville in These Three (1936) -- 14 years old
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit (2010) -- 14 years old
Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver (1976) -- 14 years old
The most successful child star of all time within the specific context of the Oscars as she was nominated as a child star and then won twice in her twentysomething years. No other teenage nominee has ever won the competitive Oscar as an adult.
Linda Blair in The Exorcist (1973) -- 15 years old
Patty Duke in The Miracle Worker (1962) -- 16 years old WINNER
Category fraud but that's always been more prevalent for child performances even before adults started doing it egregiously. She later won an Emmy for a television remake of the same film, but taking on the Anne Bancroft role instead
Natalie Wood in Rebel Without a Case (1955) -- 17 years old
One of the rare child stars (along with Jodie Foster and Elizabeth Taylor) to be even more successful as an adult movie star. She was nominated twice more but sadly never won.
Are any of these among your favorites from their years?
And notice all the "bad girls" listed from demon possessed (Blair) to imps (Paquin) to liars who destroy people's lives (Ronan, Granville) to delinquents (O'Neal, Wood, Foster). Curious, right?