In response to P.D. King's post about Ron Howard. I would agree he was a fine child actor. I think you mentioned something about Shirley Temple. ..The two of them can't be fairly compared. Shirley was a big screen movie star, Ron was a small screen star. Shirley was popular in a time when the country was coming out of the Depression and she gave people a release from their every day lives. Ron was performing in the sixties when we were living in a time of prosperity. In 1933-34 Shirley outdrew every Hollywood actor on the big screen including, Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Katherine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, and Clark Gable. Why she never got an Oscar for performing I'll never know. As far as child actors of 60's and 70's on television I have to agree no other male child measured up to Opie Taylor. Most were given lines that were beyond there years and were saddled with worn out catch phrases. "You got it Dude." the Olsen twins, On Full House or "Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Willis ?" Gary Coleman, on Different Strokes. The kids on Leave it to Beaver sometimes sounded like they were reading their lines. The kid on Dick Van Dyke, talked to loud. But when we look at the female child actresses we have to consider Melissa Gilbert (Laura Ingalls) of Little House. Michael Landon was supposed to be the star but Melissa stole the show. No other female child actress could measure up to her...And like Ron Howard went on to become an award winning director, Melissa Gilbert became a fine adult actress in her own right. So I give Ron Howard the best male child actor recognition in the last 50 years but I also recognize Melissa Gilbert as the best female child actress.
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