Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and translator. She began her career as a child actress on the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life (both 1979–1980) before being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her starring role in the drama film Tempest (1982). Ringwald became a teen idol following her lead roles in filmmaker John Hughes's teenage films Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Pretty in Pink (1986). These films led to the media referring to her as a member of a group of actors known as the "Brat Pack."
Ringwald's final starring roles as a teenager were in The Pick-up Artist (1987), For Keeps (1988), and Fresh Horses (1988). In the 1990s, she starred in the films Betsy's Wedding (1990) and Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999), as well as starring in multiple French films after a move to Paris. Ringwald also returned to television, with main roles as Frannie Goldsmith in the ABC miniseries The Stand (1994) and Carrie Donovan on the ABC sitcom Townies (1996). In the 2000s, she had a main role as Anne Juergens on the ABC Family series The Secret Life of the American Teenager (2008–2013).
In the 2010s, Ringwald had starring roles in the films Jem and the Holograms (2015), and Siberia (2018), and a main role as Paige Wayney on the Family Channel television series Raising Expectations (2016–2018). In the late 2010s and 2020s, she experienced a career resurgence with a recurring role as Mary Andrews on the CW series Riverdale (2017–2023), and a starring role in The Kissing Booth film series (2018–2021). Ringwald later had main roles as Shari Dahmer on the first season of the Netflix biographical anthology series Monster (2022) and Joanne Carson on the second season of the FX biographical anthology series Feud (2024).
Contents
Early life and education
Ringwald was born in Roseville, California, in 1968 the daughter of Adele Edith (née Frembd), a cook, and Robert Scott Ringwald, a blind jazz pianist. Ringwald has two siblings and an older brother who died before she was born. She is of German and Swedish descent. She started her acting career at age five, appearing in a stage production of Alice in Wonderland as the Dormouse. The next year, she recorded Molly Sings: I Wanna Be Loved by You, a music album of Dixieland jazz with her father and his group, the Fulton Street Jazz Band. Ringwald graduated from the Lycée Français de Los Angeles.
Career
In 1978 at the age of 10, Ringwald was chosen to play Kate in the West Coast production of Annie. In 1979, Ringwald appeared on the TV series Diff'rent Strokes and was selected to become part of the large cast of that show's spin-off, The Facts of Life. She played Molly Parker, a perky, feminist student at Eastland Girls School. At the beginning of the second season, the show underwent a major revamp, and most of the cast, including Ringwald, were cut from the show. 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, "The First Noel", on a Disney Christmas album, Disney's Merry Christmas Carols. Turning toward motion pictures, she got a key supporting role in the 1982 film Tempest, directed by Paul Mazursky with top casting director Juliet Taylor, and was nominated for a Golden Globe award for the role.
Ringwald rose to prominence with her breakout role in Sixteen Candles (1984). She was cast as Samantha Baker, a girl whose sixteenth birthday is forgotten by her family. Ringwald's performance gained critical acclaim; many called her acting engaging. Ringwald later said, "It is not a good idea to do remakes of great classic films" when asked if there would be a remake to Sixteen Candles. Ringwald was regarded as a member of the Brat Pack of 1980s teen actors but has said she was not really part of that group. Ringwald gained more success when she was cast in another John Hughes film, The Breakfast Club (1985), which was a commercial and critical success. Ringwald was cast as Claire Standish, a spoiled, wealthy beauty who is in detention for skipping class to go to the mall. Ringwald's performance gained strong reviews.
The following year, still in high school, she was cast as Andie Walsh in another successful Hughes film, Pretty in Pink (1986). When first asked to be in Pretty in Pink, Ringwald was reluctant, but after seeing how hard it was for the producers to find a replacement for her, she decided she would portray Andie in the film. Ringwald was offered a role in another John Hughes film, Some Kind of Wonderful (1987), but turned down the role as she felt it was too similar to the other films she worked on with Hughes. After Pretty In Pink, she wanted to act in more mature roles. Ringwald was featured on the cover of the May 26, 1986, issue of Time.
Other ventures
Ringwald has translated two books from French to English. The first was the novel Lie with Me by Philippe Besson. The second was My Cousin Maria Schneider by Vanessa Schneider, a book about the French actress Maria Schneider, whose career was largely defined by a sex scene with Marlon Brando in the film Last Tango in Paris despite her many other accomplishments as an actress.
Ringwald read the audiobook edition of the 2012 novel The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg. In 2013, Ringwald released Except Sometimes, a jazz record. It follows a tradition in jazz for the Ringwald family set by her father. "I grew up in a home filled with music and had an early appreciation of jazz since my dad was a jazz musician. Beginning at around age three I started singing with his band and jazz music has continued to be one of my three passions along with acting and writing. I like to say jazz music is my musical equivalent of comfort food. It's always where I go back to when I want to feel grounded," Ringwald said in a statement.
In 2014, Ringwald began writing an advice column for The Guardian, answering questions about "love, family, or life in general". In February 2024, Ringwald made her runway modeling debut at New York Fashion Week, walking for Batsheva.
Public image
Ringwald stated she was very aware of her public image during her teen years and she tried to be a good role model for her fans. When asked about For Keeps (1988), Ringwald said, "I didn't want to give the wrong message to teenagers. I sort of felt a certain responsibility – I mean, I was a very, very famous teenager and I thought a lot of teenagers were looking up to me and emulating me, and I really didn't want to make a movie that said in any way that having a baby at that age was going to be easy."
Personal life
In the 1980s, Ringwald dated musician Dweezil Zappa and rapper Ad-Rock of the hip-hop group Beastie Boys.
In the mid-1990s, Ringwald, who had been educated at the Lycée Français de Los Angeles and is fluent in French, moved to Paris and starred in several French movies.
Ringwald married 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 and boy-girl twins. Her pregnancy was written into the storyline of The Secret Life of the American Teenager. She was the subject of an episode in season 7 of the genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.
Filmography
Discography
Molly Sings: I Wanna Be Loved by You (1975)
Except Sometimes (2013)
Going Home Alone (2013)