Haley Joel Osment

Born: 10 April 1988
Where: Los Angeles, California

This American child star has proven himself perhaps the best young actor of his generation.

The son of actor Eugene Osment and teacher Theresa Osment, Haley was chosen for a Pizza Hut TV advert, aged five, after a casting director spotted him in a furniture store with his parents.

In 1994, he landed a small role as Tom Hanks' son in Forrest Gump, and a starring role as Edward Asner's grandson on the TV series Thunder Alley.

Then Norman Jewison gave him his first leading role on the big screen, opposite Whoopi Goldberg and Gerard Depardieu in Bogus, and he proved completely at ease in this dramatic role.

But it wasn't until three years later that the smash hit The Sixth Sense bought the young actor to the public's attention. His performance as the haunted Cole Sear brought him an Oscar nomination at just 11 years old.

He gave another powerful performance in Pay It Forward, as well as in Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence, before voicing Mowgli in the long-in-coming sequel Jungle Book 2.