JON CRYER
0 for 2 as far as sitcoms are concerned. Bombed on the highly-regarded The Famous Teddy Z, went down for the count on the Friends clone Partners. Wrote, co-produced and acted in little-seen but excellently-titled indie effort The Pompatus of Love.
PATRICK DEMPSEY
Divorced the manager/wife who was some 30 years his senior. Directed the movie Ava’s Magical Adventure. Appeared in movies Outbreak (the monkey bit him and he spread the virus) and With Honors. Portrayed the young JFK in miniseries Reckless Youth.
SHANNEN DOHERTY
Where you do start? 90210. The tantrums. The sulks. The “I Hate Brenda” campaign. The terrified ex-boyfriends. The blink-and-you’ll-miss-it, too-late-it’s-gone marriage. The affair with Judd Nelson. The attempt to convert her into an icon of ironic cool in Mallrats. The failure of Mallrats. This one will run and run.
ANTHONY EDWARDS
Currently welcome in living rooms the world over as affable, dedicated Dr. Mark Greene on ER.
EMILIO ESTEVEZ
Married and divorced Paula Abdul. Found a franchise that will keep him in work for life in The Mighty Ducks.
COREY FELDMAN
Keeps on churning out the cable hits. He was a stalker in Evil Obsession. A cursed student in Voodoo. A bad guy with barely credible kickboxing skills in A Dangerous Place. 1996 marked his triumphant return to the big screen in Tales From The Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood.
DEBORAH FOREMAN
The Valley Girl herself. A Deborah Foreman Film Festival would include such titles as Lunatics: A Love Story, Lobster Man from Mars, Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat, Waxwork, Destroyer, and Friends, Lovers and Lunatics.
JAMI GERTZ
Still gorgeous. Played the light relief in Twister as Bill Paxton’s prissy, princessy therapist fiancee.
JENNIFER GREY
Entirely failed to consolidate on the worldwide goodwill garnered by her role as Baby in Dirty Dancing. A subsequent nosejob rendered her completely unrecognizable. Most substantial role to date has been one appearance on Friends as Rachel’s ex-best friend, Mindy.
COREY HAIM
Cable fans will be almost religiously aware of the dopey Fast Getaway movies he made with high-kicking Cynthia Rothrock. Like his partner in Coreydom, he keeps churning out the straight-to-video fillers (latest entries: Life 101, Demolition High). Unlike Feldman, no triumphant return to the big screen in his immediate future.
ANTHONY MICHAEL HALL
Grew into such a behemoth that he was perfect casting for the psycho jock boyfriend in Edward Scissorhands. Turned up as Will Smith’s mark in Six Degrees of Separation. Directed his own movie Hail Caesar featuring cameos from Robert Downey Jr., Judd Nelson, and the old black man accent he used in the John Hughes movies.
JOYCE HISER
Even though Just One of the Guys is broadcast so often that its star Joyce Hiser seems like a familiar face, her only notable work in the past decade has been a recurring role on L.A. Law and a part in the Michael J. Fox dud Greedy.
SUSANNAH HOFFS
To date, she hasn’t made another movie.
SAVAGE STEVE HOLLAND
Hitched his wagon up to the Fox network, producing for them, first the short-lived live-action teen spy series The Adventures of Beans Baxter, the longer lasting cartoon shows Eek! The Cat and Terrible Thunder Lizards, which evolved into Eekstravaganza, featuring the vocal talents of his most frequent collaborator, Curtis Armstrong.
C. THOMAS HOWELL
A major cable presence, usually playing some poor schlub who strays into the web of a panting seductress who bamboozles him into offing her rich, brutish husband. Briefly starred in the Aaron Spelling vampires vs. cops flop Kindred: The Embraced.
JOHN HUGHES
Devoting his energies to producing remakes of much-loved family favorites. On the way: 101 Dalmations and The Absent-Minded Professor. Fans of his 80s work are continually tantalized by rumors of a Breakfast Club sequel, though it would have to be a Next Generation, because the only way that crew would ever be together again would be in rehab. Also reportedly met with Matthew Broderick about the possibility of a Bueller Part Deux.
MICHAEL LEHMANN
The Heathers director went on to helm Hudson Hawk, The Applegates, and Airheads. He was not to see another positive review until 1996 and The Truth About Cats and Dogs.
ROB LOWE
Turned himself into the butt of the joke. Played yuppie villains for Lorne Michaels in Wayne’s World and Tommy Boy. Garnered some good reviews for his role as a deaf-mute in the gargantuan miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand.
RALPH MACCHIO
His last role of any note was in My Cousin Vinny.
KELLI MARONEY
For anyone interested in mounting a Kelli Maroney Retrospective, the giggly, gun-toting little sister from Night of the Comet starred in such films as Transylvania Twist, Not of This Earth, Big Bad Mama II, Chopping Mall, and Slayground.
ANDREW MCCARTHY
The Weekend at Bernie’s movies saved his bacon. Transformed, in the nick of time, into a surprisingly effective character actor. Turned up in films like The Joy Luck Club, Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, and Mulholland Falls. Recommended among his battery of cable movies is the super-sadistic Night of the Running Man in which his feet are boiled in pots of scalding hot water.
ILAN MITCHELL-SMITH
The little raspy-voiced star of Weird Science has been laying low since the TV series The Adventures of Superboy.
JUDD NELSON
His nineties movie work includes New Jack City, Airheads, and The Dark Backward wherein he portrayed a failed standup comedian who got a career boost when a third arm suddenly grew out of his back. Notable amongst his cable work are Blindfold: Acts of Obsession—his and Shannen Doherty’s Postman Always Rings Twice—and Flinch, in which he plays a failed actor forced to make a living portraying a shop-window mannequin. Currently seen by his biggest audience this decade in the Brooke Shields vehicle Suddenly Susan.
JERRY O’CONNELL
Stand by Me’s snivelling blimp Vern Tessio shed pounds, shot up—in height, I mean—and starred in the Fox series Sliders and the MTV movie Joe’s Apartment.
JASON PATRIC
Things have turned out well for this late bloomer. Of late, he’s been in Rush, Sleepers, Speed 2, and Christy Turlington.
JUDGE REINHOLD
Seemed stuck in the same Nice Guy career bind that briefly bedevilled Tom Hanks and Anthony Edwards. But while they found their places in the firmament, Reinhold is still in a holding pattern. Last role of note was playing Ned Flanders to Tim Allen’s Homer Simpson in The Santa Clause. Should never again appear in public sporting a moustache.
MOLLY RINGWALD
Had a lead role in The Stand, and now stars as Carrie on the ABC sitcom Townies.
CLAYTON ROHNER
The befuddled male from Just One of the Guys and Modern Girls most recently turned up in the nightmarish Pamela Anderson cable movie Naked Souls.
ALAN RUCK
Had a couple of failed sitcoms, and kept the spirit of Cameron Frye alive as the snivelling tourist on the bus in Speed. Also appeared as one of Helen Hunt’s troupe of goofball meteorologists in Twister. Currently appears in the Michael J. Fox sitcom Spin City.
MIA SARA
Did a few miniseries and appeared with Jon Cryer in The Pompatus of Love. Most memorable role to date: Dr. Kronk’s transsexual girlfriend in Chicago Hope.
ALLY SHEEDY
Last appeared on the big screen opposite a genetically-engineered killer dog in Man’s Best Friend.
CHARLIE SHEEN
Provided years of laughter and entertainment. Moving on to an entirely separate subject, his movies have included The Chase, Terminal Velocity, The Three Musketeers, The Rookie, The Arrival, the Hot Shots films, the Major League films, and All Dogs Go to Heaven 2, where he provides the voice of Charlie. He currently has a relationship with God.
CRAIG SHEF
FER
Played Brad Pitt’s brother in A River Runs Through It.
NICOLLETTE SHERIDAN
Narrowed her eyes and pouted her lips for seven seasons as Paige Matheson on Knots Landing. Played Leslie Nielsen’s love interest in Spy Hard. The dissolution of her relationship with L.A. Law actor Harry Hamlin landed her in a real-life War of the Roses scenario, marooned in her half of their spacious mansion.
HELEN SLATER
Last seen in a remake of Lassie.
CATHERINE MARY STUART
Sadly, her most prominent role to date remains the female lead in Weekend at Bernie’s.
KRISTY SWANSON
Appeared in The Phantom, Higher Learning, The Chase, The Program, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hot Shots, and Mannequin Two: On the Move. Somebody must like her …
DANIEL WATERS
The Heathers screenwriter went on to pen scripts packed with dazzling wordplay and baffling plots for Hudson Hawk, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Batman Returns, and Demolition Man.
DAPHNE ZUNIGA
Featured in Spaceballs, The Fly II, and Gross Anatomy. Best known for her four tumultuous years as Jo on Melrose Place.
PRETTY IN PINK: THE GOLDEN AGE OF TEENAGE MOVIES. Copyright © 1997 by Jonathan Bernstein. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Photos courtesy of the Everett Collection.
Photo editor: Shana Sobel
Production editor: Mary Louise Mooney
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First St. Martin’s Griffin Edition: February 1997
eISBN 9781466890626
First eBook edition: January 2015
Pretty In Pink Page 24