Molly Ringwald

Profile Overview

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).