Winona Ryder

American screen actress who originally played quirky roles, then rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has received many accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for a Grammy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Academy Awards.

The actress entered movies at age 13 following a less-than-conventional upbringing by intellectual hippy parents who were both editors by profession, pals with Allen Ginsberg and drug guru Timothy Leary, who was her godfather.

Winona was the first child of Mike and Cindy Horowitz. Along with an older half-sister and half-brother from her mother's first marriage, she had a brother, Uri, who came five years after her. At 15, she changed her name to Ryder because it sounded more suitable for her stage ambition, presumably inspired by a Mitch Ryder album. Her household, despite being bizarre by Ozzie-and-Harriet standards, was happy and stable in its own way, and her upbringing included a four-year residence in a commune with no electricity or running water but with a heavy emphasis on books and the use of one's imagination. After she watched her mother screen some classic movies in a nearby barn (which presumably had electricity), she decided she wanted to be an actress by age eight.

After the commune, the family moved to Petaluma, a farm town near San Francisco, where there was some normalcy. Ryder, however, was mortified by Veronica, the psychedelic bus in which her parents drove her to school. "Noni" as she was called, took acting lessons while in high school. Her parents later sent her to San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, where she was spotted by talent scouts and asked to audition. The audition eventually won her an agent and a first film role, as a teen cheerleader in Lucas when she was 13.