- Molly Ringwald
-
Molly Ringwald 
Molly Ringwald, February 2007Born Molly Kathleen Ringwald
February 18, 1968
Roseville, California, United StatesOccupation Actress, singer, dancer Years active 1977–present Spouse Valery Lameignère (1999–2002)
Panio Gianopoulos (2007–present); 3 childrenMolly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer and dancer. Having appeared in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986), Ringwald has been frequently named the greatest teen star of all time.[1][2][3] She resumed her acting career with her role as Anne Juergens in the ABC Family show The Secret Life of the American Teenager.
Contents
Early life
Molly Kathleen Ringwald was born in Roseville, California, just outside of Sacramento, the daughter of Adele Edith (née Frembd), a housewife and chef, and Robert Scott "Bob" Ringwald, a blind jazz pianist.[4][5] Ringwald has two siblings, Elizabeth and Kelly. She started her acting career at age five, starring in a stage production of Alice in Wonderland as the Dormouse. The next year, she recorded "I Wanna Be Loved by You," a music album of Dixieland jazz with her father and his group, the Fulton Street Jazz Band.[6]
Acting career
In 1978, at the age of 10, she was chosen to play Kate in the West Coast production of Annie, performing in Los Angeles.[7]
In 1979, Ringwald appeared in the TV series Diff'rent Strokes and was selected to become a cast member of the spin-off Facts of Life. She played "Molly Parker," a perky, fun-loving student at Eastland Girls School. Although she had essentially a supporting role, one entire episode, "Molly's Holiday" revolved around her character dealing with the effects of her parents' divorce.
In 1980, Ringwald performed as a lead vocalist on two Disney albums. On the patriotic album Yankee Doodle Mickey, Ringwald sang "This Is My Country", "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America". She later performed one track on a Disney Christmas album.[8] Turning toward motion pictures, she found her breakout role in Sixteen Candles (1984). Molly Ringwald was a member of the so-called Brat Pack of 1980s teen actors.[9]
Among Ringwald's movies are The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Pick-up Artist and Fresh Horses.
In the early 1990s, Ringwald reportedly turned down the female lead roles in Pretty Woman and Ghost.[10] In 1994, she starred in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. In 1996, she played a leading role in the movie Malicious as Melissa Nelson, a disturbed woman who has an affair with a college star baseball player. 1996 saw her return to television, starring on the ABC sitcom Townies. She also made one appearance as a blind woman on the critically acclaimed cable series Remember WENN. She starred with Lara Flynn Boyle and Teri Hatcher in the 1998 made for TV movie Since You've Been Gone. In 2000, she appeared in an episode of Showtime's The Outer Limits.
In 2000, Ringwald appeared in the ensemble restaurant-themed film, In the Weeds; in 2001, she had a cameo in Not Another Teen Movie. In late 2004, she starred in the play Modern Orthodox on Broadway, opposite Jason Biggs and Craig Bierko.[11] In 2006, she starred in the TV movie The Wives He Forgot.
Ringwald has appeared in Cabaret, tick, tick... BOOM!,[12] and Enchanted April on Broadway, and in the fall and winter of 2006, she starred as Charity Hope Valentine in the national tour of the Broadway revival of the musical Sweet Charity.[13]
Ringwald is currently starring in the ABC Family network's series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which debuted on July 1, 2008,[14] playing the title teenager's mother.
Personal life
In the 1980s, Ringwald dated Adam Horovitz[15] and Dweezil Zappa.[16]
Ringwald and fellow Brat Pack member, Anthony Michael Hall, dated for a short time after filming The Breakfast Club together in 1985. Ringwald was married to Valery Lameignère, a French writer, in Bordeaux, France, on July 28, 1999; they divorced in 2002.[17] She married Panio Gianopoulos, a Greek-American writer and book editor, in 2007. They have a daughter, Mathilda Ereni (born October 22, 2003), and twins, Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos (born July 10, 2009). Her pregnancy was written into the storyline of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.[18]
In April 2010, Ringwald published her first book, Getting the Pretty Back with It Books (HarperCollins Publishers).[19]
Filmography
Features Year Film Role Genre 1982 Tempest Miranda Dimitrius 1983 Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone Niki Packin' It In Melissa Webber 1984 Sixteen Candles Samantha Baker 1985 Surviving: A Family in Crisis Lonnie The Breakfast Club Claire Standish 1986 Pretty in Pink Andie Walsh 1987 P.K. and the Kid P.K. Bayette King Lear Cordelia The Pick-up Artist Randy Jensen 1988 For Keeps Darcy Elliot Bobrucz Fresh Horses Jewel 1990 Strike It Rich Cary Betsy's Wedding Betsy Hopper 1992 Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story Alison Gertz 1993 Face the Music Lisa Hunter 1995 Baja Bebe Stone All Day Sunday Janet Gifford 1996 Bastard Children Susan Malicious Melissa Nelson 1997 Office Killer Kim Poole 1999 Requiem for Murder Anne Winslow Teaching Mrs. Tingle Miss Banks Kimberly Nancy 2000 Cut Vanessa Turnbill/Chloe The Brutal Truth In the Weeds Chloe 2001 Cowboy Up Connie Not Another Teen Movie Flight Attendant 2003 The Tulse Luper Suitcases 2006 The Wives He Forgot Charlotte Saint John (TV movie) Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front Helen McIntire (TV movie) 2008 Guest of Cindy Sherman (documentary) Short Year Title Role Genre 1994 Some Folks Call it a Sling Blade 1998 Titey voice 2000 The Translator Television Year Title Role Genre 1979–1980 The Facts of Life Molly Parker 1986 Shelley Duvall's Tall Tales & Legends: Johnny Appleseed Jenny Smith 1994 The Stand Frannie Goldsmith 1996 Townies Carrie Donovan 2006 Medium Kathleen Walsh 1 episode “The Darkness is Light Enough” 2008–present The Secret Life of the American Teenager Anne Juergens 2011 Psych 1 episode 2011 RuPaul's Drag U Herself References
- ^ "50 Greatest Teen Stars of All Time". Extra. http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2010/07/50_greatest_teen_stars_of_all_time.php. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ Davis, Laura (December 4, 2009). "Child stars: where are they now?". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/child-stars-where-are-they-now-1834150.html?action=Gallery&ino=9. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
- ^ 50 Greatest Teen Stars of All Time. TV.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
- ^ Molly Ringwald Biography (1968–). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
- ^ Ancestry of Molly Ringwald (1968–). Freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
- ^ Sacramento's Fulton Street Jazz Band's Recordings. Fultonstreetjazz.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
- ^ Karlyn, Kathleen Rowe, "'Too Close for Comfort': American Beauty and the Incest Motif", Cinema Journal, 44, Number 1, Fall 2004, pp. 69–93. University of Texas Press.
- ^ Disney Family Christmas: Various Artists, Molly Ringwald, Larry Groce: Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
- ^ Lurie, Karen. "Brat Pack". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (Gale Group). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_bio/ai_2419200128.
- ^ Monica Corcoran (29 June 2008). "Molly Ringwald: Pretty in Pucci". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-molly29-2008jun29,0,7763315.story. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ Austerlitz, Saul (December 13, 2004). "A comic Jewish duel". Haaretz. http://www.haaretz.com/culture/arts-leisure/a-comic-jewish-duel-1.143554. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ Melissa Rose Bernardo (November 2, 2001). "Tick, Tick...Boom (2001)". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,253731,00.html. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
- ^ AP. "Molly Ringwald to take 'Sweet Charity' on the road this fall", USA Today, February 27, 2006.
- ^ "Molly Ringwald's Not A Teenager Anymore!", TV Guide, July 1, 2008.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ David Hutchings (March 24, 1986). "Molly Ringwald Goes to the Head of the Teen Class with Pretty in Pink, but She'd Rather Play Grown-Up". People. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20093225,00.html. Retrieved 2010-10-30.
- ^ Agger, Michael (May 21, 2005). "Don’t You Forget About Me". nymag.com. http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/theater/10522/. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ Molly Ringwald Expecting Twins People, January 23, 2009
- ^ Molly Ringwald (May 12, 2010). "‘Getting the Pretty Back’". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/12/fashion/molly-excerpt.html. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
External links
- Molly Ringwald at the Internet Movie Database
- Molly Ringwald at AllRovi
- Broadway.com interview (October 8, 2001)
- Interview by Katie Holmes (September 1999)
Members Films Categories:- 1968 births
- Actors from California
- American child actors
- American dancers
- American female singers
- American film actors
- American musical theatre actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- Living people
- People from Roseville, California
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
