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Molly Ringwald
Ringwald in Greece, 2010
Born	Molly Kathleen Ringwald (1968-02-18) February 18, 1968 (age 56) Roseville, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, dancer, writer
Years active	1977–present
Spouse(s)	Valery Lameignère (1999–2002) Panio Gianopoulos (m. 2007)
Children	3

Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Having appeared in the John Hughes films Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986), Ringwald is part of the "Brat Pack" and has been called the greatest teen star of all time. She has also played Anne Juergens in the ABC Family show The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

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. Ringwald has two siblings, Elizabeth and Kelly, and an older brother who died before she was born. 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.

Life and career

1978-82: Career beginnings

In 1978, at the age of 10, Ringwald was chosen to play Kate in the West Coast production of Annie, performing in Los Angeles. In 1979, Ringwald appeared in the TV series Diff'rent Strokes and was selected to become part of a very large cast of the spin-off Facts of Life. She played "Molly Parker," a perky, feminist student at Eastland Girls School. One entire episode, "Molly's Holiday" revolved around her character dealing with the effects of her parents' divorce. At the beginning of the second season, the show underwent a major revamp and most of the cast, including Ringwald, were fired. Ringwald later said that Nancy McKeon replaced her to play a new character named Jo.

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. Turning toward motion pictures, she was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role in the 1982 film Tempest.

1984-86: Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink, and early success

She then rose to prominence with her breakout role in Sixteen Candles (1984). Her performance gained critical acclaim. This role led to her to win a Young Artist Award for the Best Young Actress in a Motion Picture. Following Sixteen Candles, Ringwald became a member of the so-called Brat Pack of 1980s teen actors. She came across more success with her role in another John Hughes film called The Breakfast Club released the following year, which was another role that gained her critical praise. In 1986, Ringwald starred in one more John Hughes film called, Pretty In Pink, the film was a commercial and critical success with her role being praised once again. Following Pretty In Pink, Molly stated that she wanted to have more mature roles, and she was going to star in another John Hughes film called, "Oil and Vinegar", but the film needed script rewrites and John didn't want to rewrite so the film eventually got cancelled. John offered Ringwald a role in Some Kind of Wonderful but she turned it down because she thought it was to similar to her previous roles she had with John.

1987-96: Commercial Decline

In the late 1980s, Ringwald starred in The Pick-up Artist, For Keeps, Fresh Horses and Betsy's Wedding which were all critical and commercial failures. In the early 1990s, Ringwald reportedly turned down the female lead roles in Pretty Woman and Ghost. In the mid-1990s, Ringwald, who had been educated at a French high school in Los Angeles called Lycée Français de Los Angeles and was fluent in French, moved to Paris and starred in several French movies. She returned home to the US intermittently to appear in American movies and television.

In 1994, she starred in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand. In 1996, she played a leading role in the film 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 television film Since You've Been Gone. In 1999, she played the starring role of "Li'l Bit" in Paula Vogel's play How I Learned to Drive at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. In 2000, she appeared in an episode of Showtime's The Outer Limits.

1997-08: Television roles

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. In 2006, she starred in the television film The Wives He Forgot.

Ringwald has appeared in Cabaret; Tick, tick... BOOM!; 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.

Ringwald starred in the ABC Family network's series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which debuted on July 1, 2008, playing the title teenager's mother.

Ringwald read the audiobook edition of the 2012 novel The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg.

2009-present: Writing career, Except Sometimes, and future roles

In 2010, Ringwald wrote, Getting The Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick. Which begain her writing career, which later continued with the success of When It Happens To You released in 2012. The following year, Ringwald released her her debut studio album, Except Sometimes which gained critical acclaim with many people praising Molly's vocal ability. Early in 2014, it was confirmed that Ringwald was cast as Mrs. Bailey in the upcoming movie, Jem and the Holograms (film).

Legacy

Ever since Molly starred in Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, and The Breakfast Club, many people have called her one of the greatest teen stars. She has been said to have once been John Hughes muse, as he has been said to have writtenthe script to Sixteen Candles while using Molly as the inspiration the entire time. Many critics have stated that Ringwald defined the mid 1980s with her roles in John Hughes films which have gained cultural impact and respect.

Bibliography

Ringwald has written two books:

• Molly Ringwald (2010). Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick. It Books. ISBN 0-06-180944-6., a "memoir and girlfriend-y guide to girlfriend-y things — style, food, relationships, motherhood."
• Molly Ringwald (2012). When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories. It Books. ISBN 0-06-180946-2., "a novel told in stories centered around Phillip and Greta, a couple whose marriage is floundering."

Personal life

Ringwald was married to Valéry Lameignère, a French writer, in Bordeaux, France, on July 28, 1999; they divorced in 2002. She married Panio Gianopoulos, a Greek-American writer and book editor, in 2007. They have a daughter, Mathilda (born 2003), and twins, Adele and Roman (born 2009). Her pregnancy was written into the storyline of The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Filmography

References

1. "50 Greatest Teen Stars of All Time". Extra. Retrieved 2011-04-17. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Davis, Laura (December 4, 2009). "Child stars: where are they now?". The Independent. Retrieved 2011-04-17. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
3. 50 Greatest Teen Stars of All Time. TV.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
4. Sweetbriar, BeBe (April 18, 2013). "Molly Ringwald Swings on New CD". EDGE Boston. Retrieved July 20, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
   • "BeBe: I’m from the Sacramento, California area as are you, and we did a production of ’Oliver’ together (as apart of Fagin’s gang) at Sacramento State University once upon a time." — ¶ 14.
   • "BeBe: With my experience in knowing you from way back when in the theaters of our hometown of Sacramento, I was not of course surprised with this release from you knowing your roots in jazz with your Dad...— ¶ 34.
5. Molly Ringwald Biography (1968–). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
6. . This American Life Episode 526, Transcript.
7. Sacramento's Fulton Street Jazz Band's Recordings. Fultonstreetjazz.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
8. 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.
9. Voss, Brandon (2010-04-26). "Molly Ringwald: Pretty in Print". Advocate.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
10. Disney Family Christmas: Various Artists, Molly Ringwald, Larry Groce: Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2011-05-29.
11. Gora, Susannah (2010). You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried. Three Rivers Press. p. 26.
12. Monica Corcoran (29 June 2008). "Molly Ringwald: Pretty in Pucci". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-03-06. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
13. http://www.blockbuster.com/browse/catalog/personDetails/53155
14. Austerlitz, Saul (December 13, 2004). "A comic Jewish duel". Haaretz. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
15. Melissa Rose Bernardo (November 2, 2001). "Tick, Tick...Boom (2001)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
16. AP. "Molly Ringwald to take 'Sweet Charity' on the road this fall", USA Today, February 27, 2006.
17. "Molly Ringwald's Not A Teenager Anymore!", TV Guide, July 1, 2008.
18. Melena Ryzik (May 12, 2010). "With 42 Candles, Grown-Up Advice". New York Times.
19. John Williams (August 15, 2012). "Leaning Toward the Light: Molly Ringwald Talks About Her New Novel". New York Times.
20. Agger, Michael (May 21, 2005). "Don't You Forget About Me". nymag.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
21. Molly Ringwald Expecting Twins People, January 23, 2009

External links

• Molly Ringwald at IMDb
• Template:AllRovi person
• Broadway.com interview (October 8, 2001)

Template:Persondata

• 1968 births
• 21st-century American novelists
• Actresses from California
• American child actresses
• American expatriates in France
• American female dancers
• American female singers
• American film actresses
• American memoirists
• American musical theatre actresses
• American stage actresses
• American television actresses
• American women novelists
• Living people
• People from Roseville, California
• American people of German descent
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• 21st-century women writers
• American women writers
• Writers from California