Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder

Born 1971-10-29 (age 54) Winona, Minnesota, USA
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Biography

Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. She is the recipient of several awards, including a Golden Globe Award, and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. She is known for taking on quirky roles in her earlier films, later playing more prominent roles in the 1990s.

After Ryder's film debut in Lucas (1986), she gained attention with her performance in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988). She further rose to prominence with major roles in Heathers (1989), Mermaids (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). She garnered critical acclaim and two consecutive Academy Award nominations for her portrayals of socialite May Welland in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993) and Jo March in the fifth film adaptation of Little Women (1994). Her other films during this period were Reality Bites (1994), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), The Crucible (1996), Alien Resurrection (1997), Celebrity (1998), and Girl, Interrupted (1999), which she also executive-produced.

In 2002, Ryder starred in the critically panned box office hit Mr. Deeds, after which her career declined and she took a break from films. In 2009, she returned in the high-profile film Star Trek. In 2010, she was nominated for two Screen Actors Guild Awards: as the lead actress in the television film When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story and as part of the cast of Black Swan. She also reunited with Burton for Frankenweenie (2012). She has starred as Joyce Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror series Stranger Things (2016–2025), for which she has received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations; and in 2020, she starred in the HBO drama miniseries The Plot Against America.

Her relationship with Johnny Depp in the early 1990s and a 2001 arrest for shoplifting were both subjects of tabloid journalism. She has been open about her personal struggles with anxiety and depression. In 2000, Ryder received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Known For

Edward Scissorhands
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Star Trek
Star Trek

2009

as Amanda Grayson

Black Swan
Black Swan

2010

as Beth Macintyre / The Dying Swan

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Bram Stoker's Dracula

1992

as Mina Murray / Elisabeta

Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice

1988

as Lydia

Homefront
Homefront

2013

as Sheryl Marie Mott

Girl, Interrupted
Girl, Interrupted

1999

as Susanna

Alien Resurrection
Zoolander
Zoolander

2001

as Winona Ryder (uncredited)

Frankenweenie
Frankenweenie

2012

as Elsa Van Helsing (voice)

Heathers
Heathers

1989

as Veronica Sawyer

Little Women
Little Women

1994

as Jo March

The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence

1993

as May Welland

Mr. Deeds
Mr. Deeds

2002

as Babe Bennett

Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion

2023

as Pat (uncredited)

The Iceman
The Iceman

2012

as Deborah Kuklinski

Reality Bites
Reality Bites

1994

as Lelaina Pierce

The House of the Spirits
The House of the Spirits

1993

as Blanca Trueba

Sex and Death 101
Sex and Death 101

2007

as Death Nell / Gillian De Raisx (#101)