Hollywood Child Stars

The Littlest Oscar Nominees

Abigail Breslin
Abigail Breslin, born September 16, 1996, is the fourth youngest child actress to be nominated for an academy award. The film Little Miss Sunshine, has already earned her a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award in 2007, and since its release in the summer of 2006, has garnered praise across the globe, including a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and a Grammy nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album. Abigail Breslin is actually the fifth youngest child actor to receive an oscar nomination. At the age of eight, Justin Henry was nominated for his performance along side Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer. Winning the academy award for Best Actress would make Abigail Breslin the second youngest female actor to receive an oscar; Tatum O’Neal was the first.

Tatum O’Neal
The youngest actress to ever win an academy award is Tatum Beatrice O’Neal, born on November 5, 1963. She won the oscar at the age of ten for her excellent performance in the film Paper Moon , released in 1973. The film received awards and nominations from almost every prestigious award organization, and not only did Tatum win the Oscar, but she also won the Golden Globe for best actress. Despite her initial success, her life has been pitted with troubles. In her autobiography, she accuses her father (who played the lead male role in “Paper Moon”) of abuse. She has battled a heroin addiction for most of her life.

Mary Badham and Quinn Cummings
Both Mary Badham (born in 1952) and Quinn Cummings (born in 1967) received academy award nominations for their starring roles in To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) and The Good-bye Girl (1977). Both girls were ten years old at the time, but neither one received the oscar. Mary Badham, who starred alongside Gregory Peck, has since retired from acting and has become an art restorer. She continues to travel and speak of her experiences as a child actress on the set of “To Kill A Mockingbird". In 2005, Quinn Cummings started a highly praised blog called “The QC Report” where she recounts her experiences as a thirty-something career-mom.

More on Abigail Breslin
Biography
Oscar Nominee