Who is the youngest person to win an Oscar?

The answer is: Tatum O’Neal

When it comes to child actors, the results can be... well, let's say mixed. But Tatum O'Neal's performance in "Paper Moon" wasn't just good for a kid - it was literally Oscar-worthy, setting what appears to be an unbreakable record.

Born in 1963 to Hollywood veterans Ryan O'Neal and Joanna Moore, Tatum had acting in her blood. Her journey to stardom began at eight when a director cast her in a small role for a film adaptation of the book 'Addie Pray.' Despite being her first time in front of a camera, she impressed everyone on set.

But it was her next role that would write her name in the history books. At just 10 years old, O'Neal starred alongside her father in "Paper Moon," a Depression-era tale about a con man and an orphan whose unlikely partnership turns into something deeper during a cross-country journey. Shot in black and white to capture the Dust Bowl's stark reality, the film proved that sometimes keeping it in the family pays off.

The Academy agreed - O'Neal didn't just win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, she also snagged the Golden Globe for Most Promising New Female Star. In the half-century since her historic win, only Anna Paquin has come close to breaking the record, winning the same award in 1993 for "The Piano."

While O'Neal stepped back from acting during most of the '80s, she's continued to work steadily since then, appearing in the TV series "Rescue Me" and films like "The Runaways," "The Ascent," and "Troubled Waters." But when you've already reached the pinnacle of acting achievement before middle school, maybe you don't have anything left to prove. After all, fifty years later, no one has managed to break her record.