Molly Kathleen Ringwald (born February 18, 1968) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. She became popular with teenage audiences in the 1980s, as a result of her starring roles in the John Hughes movies Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink.

Biography

Early life

Ringwald was born outside Sacramento, California in Roseville, California, the daughter of blind jazz pianist Robert Scott "Bob" Ringwald, and Adele Edith (née Frembd), a housewife and chef.[1][2] 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. By the time she was six years old, she had recorded I Wanna Be Loved by You, a music album of Dixieland jazz with her father and his group, the Fulton Street Jazz Band; this album has become highly collectible She attended Casa Roble High School.

Acting career

As an actress, Ringwald appeared in numerous local TV commercials and stage plays before landing a guest spot on The New Mickey Mouse Club. In 1978, at the age of 10, she was chosen to play Kate in the 2nd National touring company of the musical Annie. She later took over the role of Pepper, the toughest orphan. In 1979, Ringwald appeared in one episode of the television series Diff'rent Strokes and was selected to become a cast member of the spin-off The Facts of Life. Molly played "Molly Parker," a perky, fun-loving student at Eastland Girls School. Although essentially a supporting role, one entire episode, "Molly's Holliday" revolved around her character dealing with the effects of her parents' divorce. After the first thirteen episodes, the producers restructed the show to be more like the popular film Little Darlings, so Ringwald and three other girls were written out of the series in 1980. However, she made a final guest appearance at the start of the second season.
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" and "The Star-Spangled Banner". She later performed one track on a Christmas album. 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. The term was first coined in 1985, after Ringwald's night out with a reporter for New York Magazine. The reporter later published a sensationalist[citation needed] article designating her and fellow actors Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, and Anthony Michael Hall as the "Brat Pack".
Though she played a high school "princess" in her biggest hit, 1985's The Breakfast Club, Ringwald specialized in portrayals of moody, awkward, brainy, angst-filled characters. Her performances greatly influenced teen-oriented television and movies that would follow in the 1990s, as previous films with teenage subjects were mostly of the horror or exploitation comedy genres, and did not attempt to realistically portray teenage life. Among Ringwald's movies are Fresh Horses, The Pick-up Artist and Pretty in Pink. During the mid- to late-1980s, when Ringwald was Hollywood's top female teen, she appeared on countless covers of such publications as Tiger Beat and Teen.
Her career slowed down in the 1990s, as she appeared mainly in made-for-TV and direct-to-video B-horror films. Ringwald reportedly turned down the leading role of Julia Roberts' part in the 1990 box office smash Pretty Woman and also Demi Moore's leading role in the film Ghost. She has stated many times that she regrets turning down those roles,[citation needed]. and she has given various reasons as to why she did so. In 1995, her nude appearance in the film Malicious made some media waves due to her previous archetypical 'good girl' movie roles. Her 1996 return to television, starring on the ABC sitcom Townies, was critically praised, but low viewer ratings resulted in the show's cancellation after nine episodes.
During the 1990s, Ringwald lived in France for four years and appeared in French-language films. She performed on Broadway before moving to England to perform in stage plays in London. She also starred with Lara Flynn Boyle and Teri Hatcher in the 1998 made-for-television movie Since You've Been Gone. In 2000, she appeared in an episode of Showtime's The Outer Limits.
Ringwald appeared in Not Another Teen Movie, a parody/tribute film of many teen films, including some that featured her. In late 2004, she starred in the play Modern Orthodox on Broadway, opposite Jason Biggs and Craig Bierko. Ringwald recently appeared in an episode of the TV series Medium in the episode "The Darkness is Light Enough", as a blind woman.
In the fall of 2006, Ringwald appeared in Cabaret and Enchanted April on stage, and in the fall and winter of 2006 she stared as Charity Hope Valentine in the national tour of the Broadway revival of the musical Sweet Charity which starred Christina Applegate.[3] As of January 2007, Ringwald is with the national touring company of the musical Sweet Charity, playing the title role of Charity.

Personal life

Ringwald briefly dated actor Anthony Michael Hall during the time when they co-starred in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. During the filming of Pretty in Pink, Ringwald was dating Dweezil Zappa, son of Frank Zappa. She was romantically linked with Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz in the mid '80s. They dated for about a year. At the time, rumours incorrectly hinted at their marriage.
Ringwald married her long time fiancé, Valery Lameignère, on July 28, 1999, but they have since filed for divorce. On October 22, 2003, she gave birth to her first child, daughter Mathilda Ereni, with boyfriend Panio Gianopoulos.

Ringwald in popular culture

Ringwald was ranked #1 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Teen Stars". She was on the cover of Time magazine issue dated May 26, 1986.
The Detroit rock group Sponge had a 1995 hit "Molly", that appeared to make several clear references to Ringwald and her film career ("Sixteen candles down the drain"), even though the song's title was not mentioned in its lyrics. The band denied that the song was about Molly Ringwald.
The Molly Ringwalds[4] is the name of a popular '80s tribute cover band , claiming to hail from Sheffield, England, and who tour throughout the Southern United States.
In The Simpsons episode "I Am Furious Yellow" her name is parodied as "Molly Ringworm". In the Family Guy episode "Meet the Quagmires," Peter travels to the past and, after meeting Molly in a bar, returns to the present to find he has married her instead of Lois.
In Scrubs episode My Last Chance she is mentioned for the kiss scene from Sixteen Candles, causing J.D. and Molly Clock to make out, who are alone on a couch watching the movie.
In Code Monkeys, Todd kidnaps Molly Ringwald.