Winona
Ryder Biography
Winona
Ryder has built up a reputation for being the actress to call
on for difficult roles. Her ability to see beyond the surface
and to create characters that others couldn't was built through
a life spent outside of the mainstream. Winona Laura Horowitz
was born on October 29th, 1971 in Winona, Minnesota. She was
named after the town she was born in by her hippy parents Cindy
and Michael.
Her
parents were more involved with political activism at the height
of the hippy movement than they were with drugs. This is not
to say that they were completely divorced from the hallucinogenic
side of the life. Her godfather was Dr. Timothy Leary, the L.S.D.
guru who was influential in the drug counter-culture. Her father
worked intimately with Leary, and for a time he ran a bookstore
called "Flashback Books." They were more interested
in protesting Agent Orange than in preaching the benefits of
mind alteration, however. Winona grew up in this atmosphere,
sometimes living on electricity-free compounds. When she was
eight, her parents moved back to the city. During her first
week at the new school, the tom-boyish waif was jumped by a
group of boys who mistook her for a gay boy rather than a girl.
This pummeling resulted in something good. After some time spent
learning at home, she was enrolled in the prestigious American
Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. It was while performing
onstage at the Conservatory that she was discovered. Winona
auditioned for the role of John Voight's daughter in Desert
Bloom. She didn't get the part, but she got representation in
the form of Triad Artists after they saw her tape.
Triad
soon lined her up for her first role in Lucas. Lucas wasn't
great but Winona's solid performance provided her a springboard
into further films. It was also at this point that Winona Horowitz
became Winona Ryder for the first time. When asked how she would
like her name to appear in the credits, she chose the name Ryder
from Mitch Ryder, who was one of her father's favorite musicians.
She
followed Lucas with a string of decent but unmemorable movies.
Then came her big break. She appeared in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice.
Her role as the black-clothed, angst-ridden teenager captured
the attention of late-eighties audiences. A year later, she
played a similar character in the dark high school comedy, Heathers.
The
fact that she could bring these darkly witty characters to life
so beautifully guaranteed that when Burton was casting for Edward
Scissorhands, she would be the first considered. While her role
was less angst-filled than previous outings, she did an admirable
role in this one as well. Wearing a blond wig, she played the
beauty opposite then-fiance Johnny Depp's beast. This marked
her last outing in the role of a teenager.
After
a small role in the indy film Night of Earth, her next role
would have been her biggest to date, as Michael Corleone's daughter
in Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather Part III. Unfortunately,
she had to pull out at the last minute due to a respiratory
infection brought on by exhaustion. Instead, the role was played
by the totally-inadequate-for-the-task, Sophia Coppola.
However,
Winona Ryder and Francis Ford Coppola would work together yet.
When Ryder found the screenplay for an adaptation of Bram Stoker's
Dracula, she approached Coppola and he signed on. The sexually
and sensually charged adaptation provided Ryder with her first
truly grown-up role. She followed Dracula with Age of Innocence,
which garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting
Actress. Having made two costume dramas, she signed on for a
third. Little Women had been one of Ryder's favorite novels
and her performance as Jo March resulted in another Oscar nomination,
this time for Best Actress.
Winona
Ryder Filmography
Oskur Fishman (2005)
Mary Warner (2005) .... Mary Warner
A Scanner Darkly (2006) .... Donna
The Darwin Awards (2005) .... Siri
The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004) .... Psychologist
... aka Livre de Jérémie, Le (France)
The Day My God Died (2003) (voice) .... Narrator
S1m0ne (2002) .... Nicola Anders
Mr. Deeds (2002) .... Babe Bennett/Pam Dawson
Lost Souls (2000) .... Maya Larkin
Autumn in New York (2000) .... Charlotte Fielding
Girl, Interrupted (1999) .... Susanna Kaysen
... aka Durchgeknallt (Germany)
... aka Durchgeknallt - Girl, interrupted (Germany: TV title)
Celebrity (1998) .... Nola
Alien: Resurrection (1997) .... Annalee Call
... aka Alien 4
The Crucible (1996) .... Abigail Williams
Boys (1996) .... Patty Vare
How to Make an American Quilt (1995) .... Finn Dodd
Little Women (1994) .... Jo March
Reality Bites (1994) .... Lelaina Pierce
The House of the Spirits (1993) .... Blanca Trueba de Satigny
... aka Åndernes hus (Denmark)
... aka A Casa dos Espíritos (Portugal)
... aka Geisterhaus, Das (Germany)
The Age of Innocence (1993) .... May Welland
Dracula (1992) .... Mina Murray/Elisabeta
... aka Bram Stoker's Dracula (USA: complete title)
Night on Earth (1991) .... Corky
... aka Une nuit sur terre (France)
Mermaids (1990) .... Charlotte Flax
Edward Scissorhands (1990) .... Kim
Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael (1990) .... Dinky Bossetti
Great Balls of Fire! (1989) .... Myra Gale Lewis
Heathers (1989) .... Veronica Sawyer
1969 (1988) .... Beth
Beetle Juice (1988) .... Lydia
Square Dance (1987) .... Gemma
... aka Home Is Where the Heart Is (USA: TV title)
Lucas (1986) .... Rina |
