Profile of the Day: Winona Ryder

Happy birthday to Winona Ryder! Today the actress turns 48.

Image: Winona Ryder / Karon Liu, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Ryder was born Winona Laura Horowitz on October 29, 1971 in Winona, Minnesota. Her parents named her after the city she was born in and gave her the middle name “Laura” after their friend, Laura Huxley, the wife of author Aldous Huxley. Her father worked as an archivist for Timothy Leary, a psychologists who advocated the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs. Leary was also Ryder’s godfather.

She made her big screen debut in the 1986 coming-of-age drama Lucas and in 1988, she landed the starring role in the film Beetlejuice. Over the course of her career, Ryder has tackled a diverse range of characters. Some of her biggest hits include the films Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Edward Scissorhands, and Little Women, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She currently stars in the Netflix hit science fiction-horror series, Stranger Things.

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View Winona Ryder’s Geni Profile