| BIOGRAPHY
Following her breakthrough in 1988's Beetlejuice, Winona Ryder
emerged as one of the most celebrated actresses of her generation.
Adept at playing characters ranging from depressed, angst-ridden
goths to Edith Wharton debutantes, the saucer-eyed, porcelain-skinned
Ryder has attained critical respect in addition to widespread
popularity.
Ryder was born in and named after the city of Winona, MN, on
October 29, 1971. The daughter of communal hippies and the goddaughter
of LSD guru Timothy Leary, she grew up on a commune in Northern
California. Ryder's family moved to Petaluma when she was ten;
following regular abuse from her classmates, who targeted her
for her unconventional, androgynous appearance (she was once jumped
by a group of boys who had mistaken her for a gay boy), she was
home schooled. At the age of 11, she joined the American Conservatory
Theatre, and was soon trying out for movie roles. An audition
for the part of Jon Voight's daughter in Desert Bloom failed to
yield a role but did land the actress an agent, and at the age
of 14, Ryder -- who had changed her last name from Horowitz --
made her film debut in Lucas (1986).
Finding popularity with her turn as a suicidal teen who has
more in common with the ghosts living in her attic than with her
yuppie parents in Tim Burton's black comedy Beetlejuice, Ryder
quickly became one of the most steadily employed actresses in
Hollywood. She continued to corner the alienated and/or confused
teen market with starring roles in a number of offbeat films,
including the 1989 cult classic Heathers, Great Balls of Fire
(in which she played Jerry Lee Lewis' 13-year-old bride), Burton's
Edward Scissorhands, and Mermaids.
The early '90s saw Ryder begin to branch out from teen roles
toward parts requiring greater maturity. Following a turn as a
taxi driver in Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991), the actress
starred in Francis Ford Coppola's lavish adaptation Bram Stoker's
Dracula and then went on to play Antonio Banderas' lover in the
critically disembowelled The House of the Spirits. Greater success
came with Martin Scorsese's 1993 adaptation of Edith Wharton's
The Age of Innocence. Ryder won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar
nomination for her portrayal of Daniel Day-Lewis' picture-perfect
wife, and in the process started getting taken seriously as an
actress capable of playing more adult characters.
A second Oscar nomination -- this time for Best Actress -- followed
the next year for Ryder's portrayal of Jo March in Gillian Armstrong's
adaptation of Little Women. The same year, the actress took on
an entirely different role in Reality Bites, in which she played
a twentysomething suffering from post-graduation angst. Similar
twentysomething angst followed in How to Make an American Quilt
(1995) but was then traded for Puritanical adultery, hair extensions,
and another turn with Daniel Day-Lewis in Nicholas Hytner's 1996
adaptation of The Crucible.
Following a starring role in the highly anticipated and almost
as highly criticized Alien Resurrection in 1997, Ryder had a turn
as the waif-ish object of Kenneth Branagh's affections in Woody
Allen's Celebrity. She managed to escape much of the criticism
leveled at both of these films, and in 1999 and 2000, she reappeared
with lead roles in two films, Girl, Interrupted, in which she
played a mental institution inmate in the female answer to One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and the supernatural thriller Lost
Souls.
Winona shed her skin once more in 2002, when she took the romantic
lead in Mr. Deeds, a typically goofy Adam Sandler vehicle. This
was a surprising move for Ryder, who, despite making a niche for
herself in nearly every imaginable genre, has rarely delved into
the world of madcap romantic comedies. Of course, 2001-2002 wouldn't
be complete without mention of Winona's inexplicable thievery;
the young millionaire was convicted for stealing $5,500 worth
of merchandise from a Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue. 2003, meanwhile,
meant more unfamiliar territory for Ryder -- she left fiction
behind for a part in The Day My God Died, a documentary, and prepared
for her anticipated 2004 role in director Milos Forman's drama
Embers.
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FILMOGRAPHY
• Mr. Deeds (2002)
• Simone (2002)
• Zoolander (2001)
• Autumn in New York (2000)
• Lost Souls (2000)
• Girl, Interrupted (1999)
• The Second Timothy Leary Tape (1999)
• Celebrity (1998)
• Alien Resurrection (1997)
• Boys (1996)
• The Crucible (1996)
• Looking for Richard (1996)
• How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
• The House of the Spirits (1994)
• Little Women (1994)
• The Age of Innocence (1993)
• Reality Bites (1993)
• Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
• Night on Earth (1991)
• Edward Scissorhands (1990)
• Mermaids (1990)
• Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael (1990)
• Great Balls of Fire (1989)
• Heathers (1989)
• 1969 (1988)
• Beetlejuice (1988)
• Square Dance (1987)
• Lucas (1986)
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