Haley Joel Osment began his career at age five with a featured appearance in a TV commercial for Pizza Hut. With his blond hair, expressive blue eyes and moon face, this juvenile player soon landed his first screen role as Forest Junior in the Oscar-winning "Forest Gump" (1994). Osment segued to TV series, playing the adorable grandson of a gruff Edward Asner in the short-lived ABC sitcom "Thunder Alley" (1994-95) followed by a two-year stint as Jeff Foxworthy's son in "The Jeff Foxworthy Show" (ABC, 1995-96; NBC, 1996-97). The busy young actor continued to land guest roles including a recurring stint as Candice Bergen's son Avery Brown on the CBS sitcom "Murphy Brown" in it final season and memorable turns as a boy genius on "The Pretender" in 1998 and a cancer-stricken boy determined to sue God on a moving episode of "Ally McBeal" in 1999. Additionally, Osment appeared in TV-movies more than holding his own acting alongside such veterans as Tom Selleck ("Last Stand at Saber River", TNT 1997), Christopher Lloyd ("The Ransom of Red Chief", ABC, 1998) and Maureen O'Hara ("Cab to Canada", CBS 1998).
Osment proved he was more than a cute sitcom actor in "Bogus" (1996), playing a newly orphaned boy who communicates with the titular imaginary character (Gerard Depardieu). In a role that could have devolved into cloying cuteness, he kept it real and believable, proving an effective scene partner for both Depardieu and Whoopi Goldberg (as his new guardian). Osment went on to deliver a sterling turn as a troubled youngster who seemingly possesses psychic abilities in the thriller "The Sixth Sense" (1999). Even those critics who had problems with the film praised the youngster's performance and he was rewarded with an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.
Osment's young career blew up after his stellar perfromance in "Sixth Sense" and he immediately took leading roles in the 2000's "Pay it Forward" and 2001's "Artificial Intelligence: AI." Both lofty projects fell way short of expectations, but Osment continued to receive positive reviews for his acting ability. He also made a departure from the blockbuster scene with the dramatic WWII film "Edges of the Lord" (2001), playing a young Jewish boy who hides from the Nazis with a group of priests. While the film has not yet been released in the U.S., it has been well received by international audiences and hailed as a triumph for the young actor.