Ron Howard comes to mind, immediately and automatically, during any discussion of top television child stars. Indeed, his name should be recorded in the annals of television history as the best child star ever, not just for the 1960s, when the popular sitcom, "The Andy Griffith Show," dominated the silver screen.

Howard made Opie Taylor come alive by capturing a wide range of emotions as well as a natural innocence that might be expected in a young boy of good family living in small-town America. Opie was the kind of son everyone would love to have, but reality and honesty nevertheless shined through, thanks to Howard.

"The Andy Griffith Show" remains popular on television today, thanks in no small part to Griffith and a superb "second banana" performance by Don Knotts. Yet it's doubtful that "The Andy Griffith Show" would play as well more than four decades after it first appeared were it not for the inclusion of Howard in the cast. He wasn't just a cute kid; he was a darn good actor, even at that young age.

Other top child stars of the decade were:

2. Patty Duke. Duke, fresh from an Academy Award-winning performance in "The Miracle Worker" in 1962, starred in "The Patty Duke Show." The premise, in which Duke portrayed identical cousins, may have been contrived, but there was certainly nothing contrived about Duke's performance. Her gift for comedy proved that, as an actress, Duke had it all.

3. Marc Copage. Copage was only 6 years old when he started playing Corey Baker on the landmark sitcom "Julia." Diahann Carroll was outstanding as a widowed mother whose husband was killed in Vietnam, but Marc was the real reason many viewers kept coming back.

4. Jon Provost. True, Lassie was the real star of "Lassie," but Provost, as Timmy Martin, was the boy every red-blooded canine aspired to rescue. A "boy loves dog and vice versa" story might have turned to pure sap with inferior acting, but Provost's sterling performance captured the true bond that exists between dogs and humans.

5. Angela Cartwright. She is the only child actor on the list to enjoy double billing, due to her appearance in two hit TV series during the 1960s. In the early part of the decade, Cartwright played Danny Thomas's daughter, Linda Williams, on "Make Room for Daddy." Later, she appeared as Penny Robinson in "Lost in Space." It's difficult to imagine anyone else in either role.

6. Anissa Jones and 7. Johnny Whitaker were cute as a button as Buffy, Brian Keith's niece, and Jody, Keith's nephew, in "Family Affair." In addition to being perfect foils for butler Sebastian Cabot, they brought warmth and believability to the almost unbelievable plot of a rich bachelor accepting custody of his orphaned nieces and nephew. Tragically, Jones died at the age of 18.

8. Larry Mathews. Mathews, portraying son Ritchie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," delivered stellar performances in episodes that centered on the character. Most memorable were the ones about how Ritchie got his middle name (Rosebud) and the Petries' adoption of baby ducks.

9. Stanley Livingston. Livingston played Fred MacMurray's son Chip for the entire run of "My Three Sons." The entire cast was excellent, but Livingston had particular appeal because he, for most of the series, was the youngest son.

10. Jay North. The role of Dennis in "Dennis the Menace" was fraught with danger. After all, everyone had read the comic strip. The key was finding a young actor who could do Dennis justice. North was perfect, conveying the unintended aura of innocent menace that made the strip such a success. North was Dennis.

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