Justin Henry

No matter what else he does in life, he will always be known for this—the eight years and 276 days between the day he was born and the day he was nominated for an Oscar. He remains the youngest nominee in any category; indeed, he is younger than all but three honorary winners. (Shirley Temple, Vincent Winter, and Margaret O’Brien.) He lost to Melvyn Douglas. Douglas wasn’t even the record holder at the time, but he’s still in the top ten. It’s a curious piece of Academy history, something Justin Henry has had to deal with since, well, the year he turned nine.

I don’t know if it’s better or worse to him that basically no one I know thinks of him first from Kramer Vs. Kramer. I’m not sure most of the people I know have even seen it. However, I am Generation X—as is Henry himself—and we all know him as Mike, Samantha’s obnoxious younger brother from Sixteen Candles. It’s the sort of sassy kid role the ‘80s were so fond of presenting us, and he sells it. I remember very little of his performance as Billy Kramer, but I can hear Mike in my head informing his sister, on her birthday, that it’s sofa city for her that night as the house is swarming with relatives.

Still, he’s had a career beyond those two movies. Most of his roles are from his childhood, but he was on two episodes of ER and that is about the extent of things I’d ever heard of from his adult career. He was in a horror movie called Reaper with Danny Trejo, I guess. And he cofounded the Slamdunk Festival, one of many alternative festivals that used to exist alongside Sundance. He’s got a BA in psychology, too, and I’m hoping he’s doing okay. Investing wisely, you know?

An odd place he hold in history is being the star of the very first made-for-Disney Channel feature film, Tiger Town. I remember watching it as a kid, despite not liking baseball or most baseball movies. It aired in October, very early in the channel’s existence. I remember it very little, having probably only seen it once. The movie does, however, rely quite a lot on Henry’s acting. It’s one of his only starring roles, and it’s from even before Sixteen Candles.

I will die on the hill that I led the call for a Ke Huy Quanaissance, and maybe we can get one of those going for Justin Henry. I don’t really know what he’s up to these days, but it seems clear to me that he’s still willing to do the acting. There are several actors his age whose roles he could take over; goodness knows there are plenty of roles out there for a middle aged white dude. Especially with a record Oscar nomination under his belt since the ‘70s.