Winona Ryder
Winona Ryder was born on Oct. 29, 1971 in Olmsted County, Minnesota. She was named after the nearby city of Winona. Her parents are Cindy Istas and Michael Horowitz. Ryder has a younger brother named Yuri, who is named after Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut who was the first human to survive space flight and orbit the Earth. Ryder also has an older half-brother, Jubal and an older half-sister, Sunyata . At the age of seven, Ryder’s family moved to a commune near Elk, California called Rainbow. The remote location had no electricity so Ryder turned to reading to occupy her time although her mother did show her some films on a screen in a barn and thus Ryder’s interest in acting was born.
Ryder’s family moved again when she was 10 years old to Petaluma, California. Due to problems she encountered at the local junior high, Ryder was home schooled and later attended the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco where she took her first acting lessons.
Her first film was 1986’s “Lucas,” her next movie was 1987’s “Square Dance.” Ryder’s performance was touted by The Los Angeles Times.
Yet, Ryder’s breakthrough role was as “Lydia Deetz” in Tim Burton’s 1988 film “Beetlejuice,” which also starred Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin and Michael Keaton. 1989 brought her the role in the cult movie, “Heathers,” co-starring with Christian Slater. That same year Ryder starred in “Great Ball of Fire,” a motion picture about the life of musician Jerry Lee Lewis in which Ryder played his 13-year-old bride.
Ryder’s other roles include 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands,” where she co-starred with then boyfriend Johnny Depp. That same ear she starred in “Mermaids,” with Cher, Bob Hoskins and a young Christina Ricci. Ryder tried her hand at more meaty material when she starred in 1992’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” where she played the dual roles of Dracula’s love interest “Mina Harker” and Dracula’s past lover “Princess Elisabeta.” Other films Ryder appeared in were 1993’s “The Age of Innocence,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis. Ryder won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and an Academy Award nomination for her role in the movie. In 1994, she starred in “Reality Bites,” opposite Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller. In 1997, she starred with Sigourney Weaver in “Alien: Resurrection.” In 1999, she starred and was the executive producer on “Girl, Interrupted,” In 2002, she appeared with Adam Sandler in the romantic comedy “Mr. Deeds.”
Ryder did have a run-in with the law in 2001 where she was caught shoplifting thousands’ of dollars worth of merchandise from Sake Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, California. In 2002, Ryder was sentenced to three year’ probation, 480 hours of community service, $3,700 in fines and $6.355 in restitution to be paid to Saks Fifth Avenue as well as the judge ordering Ryder to undergo psychological and drug counseling. The charges were reviewed in 2004 and bumped down to misdemeanors. .
Ryder has had many romances in Hollywood. She was engaged to actor Johnny Depp for four years, as well as Matt Damon for three years. She has also been romantically linked to actors like David Duchovny, Daniel Day-Lewis, Chris Noth, Christian Slater, as well as musicians such as Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, lead singer of Jamiroquai Jay Kay and lead singer of the Counting Crows, Adam Duritz.