Jonathan Lipnicki

This tow-headed, bespectacled child actor came to prominence as Jeff Foxworthy's youngest child on the sitcom "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" (NBC, 1996-97) and as Ray Boyd, Renee Zellweger's son, in Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" (1996). Lipnicki particularly shone in the latter with some critics saying he was the best thing in the film. His chemistry not only with the camera, but also with Tom Cruise in the title role was magical in the real cinematic use of the word. It was no wonder that he won Cruise's heart before Zellweger's character did.

Following the success of "Jerry Maguire," Lipnicki made the rounds of talk shows and was a presenter on "The American Comedy Awards" in 1997. Barely featured on the Foxworthy series prior to "Maguire," he soon appeared in the weekly promos for the sitcom and he soon supplanted older co-star Haley Joel Osment as the "aw, isn't-he-adorable?" lure to the show. (Osment had been the cute kid flavor of the month earlier based on his appearance as Tom Hanks' son in 1994's "Forest Gump.") Lipnicki's style was not of the smooth child-actor variety (sometimes called the Patty Duke School) nor dimples and sweetness (a la Shirley Temple) nor even the going on forty type (e.g., Macaulay Culkin). Rather, his characterizations were antsy, with words sometimes swallowed--more natural than the screen had seen in years. It was as if the camera were not present with Lipnicki radiating a natural charm. While his commitment to the sitcom limited his feature career, nevertheless the studio wheelers were quickly coming up with properties to capture Lipnicki's unique qualities.