Marguerite, I tend to agree with you, but to be fair you're comparing child actors from completely different eras. Ron was a young actor where venues small and exposure was limited. Between Ron's time and that of the Olsen twins the internet and cable/satellite options exploded, talent pools, as a result were thinned. Fifty or sixty years ago the cream truly rose to the top. The likes of Macaulay Culkin and the Olsen twins, et al, would have remained unknowns when Ron was Opie. Let's bring "Our Gang" into the conversation. What made them different was that they were 'natural' children, at least during the Hal Roach days (the abominable MGM days were different). They didn't act, they were themselves, even using their own real names. Shirley Temple auditioned to be in "Our Gang", but was turned away because of her acting skills, not in spite of it. The most endearing scene, and short, (in my opinion) for the "Our Gang" comedies was Bobby 'Wheezer' Hutchins in "Dogs is Dogs". Could Shirle y Temple, either Olsen, or Macaulay have made that short work? Absolutely not. A young Ron Howard? Very likely, but honestly, probably not quite as well. But the days of child actors like Ron are gone, never likely to be seen again.
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