15 Talented Kid Actors Who’ve Been Nominated For Oscars

In 1931, 9-year-old Jackie Cooper became the youngest Best Actor nominee when he was nominated for his role in the 1931 movie, Skippy.

Now there’s an Oscar-nominated face! Patty McCormack got a good Best Supporting Actress nomination at the age of 12 for her performance in 1956’s The Bad Seed.

In 1963, at the 35th Academy Awards, 16-year-old Patty Duke won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Miracle Worker.

In 1963, 10-year-old Mary Badham was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Jean Louise “Scout” Finch in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.

In 1974, Tatum O’Neal became the youngest Oscar winner ever at the age of 10. O’Neal won that year’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1973 movie, Paper Moon.

In 1974, 15-year-old Linda Blair possessed a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her head-turning performance in 1973’s The Exorcist.

In 1976, 14-year-old Jodie Foster was nominated Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 1976’s Taxi Driver. She lost to Beatrice Straight. But 12 years later, she won an Oscar for The Accused in 1988 and Silence of the Lambs in 1992.

Justin Henry was 8 years old when he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer. He remains the youngest nominee in any Oscar category.

Before True Blood, Anna Paquin was an 11-year-old Oscar winner. In 1994, she won for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Jane Campion’s The Piano, alongside Holly Hunter.

In 2000, 11-year-old Haley Joel Osment was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 1999’s The Sixth Sense. Osment lost the Oscar to Michael Caine for his role in The Cider House Rules.

In 2004, 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Whale Rider.

In 2011, Hailee Steinfeld was 14 years old when she scored the Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in 2010’s True Grit.

In 2013, Quvenzhané Wallis became the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee for 2012’s The Beasts of the Southern Wild. The Annie actress is also the first African American child star to earn an Oscar nomination.