Zachary LaVoy (sometimes credited as La Voy) is an American former child actor;Zachary Lavoy. Gerald Jones, Ph.D. Gnothe Se Auton. Child and Teen Actors in Films and Television, 1895-2015. Academy Players Directory (1989). Retrieved December 31, 2025. best known for portraying Justin Buckman in both the 1989 film Parenthood and its NBC 1990 television spin-off of the same name.
Career LaVoy was born in Illinois.The Cast of Parenthood Then and Now. August 1, 2019. Entertainment News Online. Retrieved December 30, 2025. He first starred in Ron Howard's 1989 film Parenthood as Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen's youngest son Justin Buckman. His subsequent appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at age 3 became a retrospect highlight for the show.‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’: Unflappable, supremely confident, with laser-precision timing. May 2, 2021. Review. Drunk TV. Retrieved December 30, 2025. Director Ron Howard recalled how he would keep the three-year-old's energy level high by holding him upside down during takes; which ended up becoming the defining image for the Parenthood poster. After appearing on ABC's Who's the Boss, LaVoy reprised his role of Justin Buckman on the NBC television sitcom spinoff produced by Howard; which aired from August 20, 1990, to August 11, 1991.
In 1990, LaVoy was nominated for a Young Artist Award (then Youth in Films Award) for Outstanding Performance by an Actor Under Nine Years of Age. The award went to his co-star Leaf Phoenix.
LaVoy retired from acting in 1991. In 2012, he appeared as himself in a YouTube documentary parody entitled: Child Actors: Hollywood's Punching Bags; which detailed the rise and fall of his acting career from "hitting rock bottom, redemption via Spaghetti Monster and living in his mother's basement."
In a 2013 interview, LaVoy commented: "I have never really been recognized because as I've grown up. Obviously I've gotten bigger; and I'm not that cute little cherub anymore. Looking at Jasen Fisher, looking at Ivy, looking at Alisan Porter, they all look the same. I think with me – I don't think I look the same. But apparently everyone says I do; so who am I to argue?"Exclusive! Catching Up With Parenthoods Zachary LaVoy. November 14, 2013. Snackle reunites with kids from Parenthood. Retrieved December 30, 2025.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1989 Parenthood Justin Film 1991 Who's the Boss Patrick TV series 1990-1991 Parenthood Justin Buckman TV series
YouTube Year Title Role Notes 2013 Mr. Mendo's Hack Attack The Cinema Snob YouTube series 2016 Nostalgia Critic as Zachary LaVoy YouTube series 2016 Jesus, Bro! as Zachary LaVoy YouTube series 2021 Another Cinema Snob Movie as Zachary LaVoy YouTube series
References
External links
Whatever Happened to Zachary La Voy? Foster, Tom. June 22, 2020. Tvovermind. On the set of "Parenthood". Harris, Mark. October 26, 1990. Entertainment Weekly.