RYDER, WINONA

RYDER, WINONA (Winona Horowitz, 1971– ), U.S. film actress. Born in Winona, Minnesota, Ryder grew up on a commune in California. When she was 10, her parents enrolled her in acting classes at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She appeared in such popular films as: Beetlejuice (1988), Heathers (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Mermaids (1990), and Night on Earth (1991). At age 22, Ryder achieved the status of one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, with starring roles in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992) and Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence (1993), for which she received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Ryder went on to act in such films as: The House of Spirits (1993), Reality Bites (1994), Little Women (Oscar nomination for Best Actress, 1994), How to Make an American Quilt. (1995), The Crucible (1996), Alien: Resurrection (1997), Celebrity (1998), Girl, Interrupted (1999), Autumn in New York (2000), Mr. Deeds (2002), Simone (2002), and The Darwin Awards (2005). She also produced and narrated the 2003 documentary The Day My God Died about the child sex slave trade in India. In 1996 she was nominated for a Grammy for her reading of the audio book of The Diary of Anne Frank. In 1997 Ryder was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People magazine. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: N. Goodall, Winona Ryder: The Biography (1998); D. Thompson, Winona Ryder (1996). (Jonathan Licht / Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)