![]() ![]() (He was involved in the “tongue stuck to the flagpole” gambit.) Then: Robb made his acting debut in ‘A Christmas Story,’ playing Ralphie’s other friend, Schwartz. He still appears in the odd direct-to-video movie. After a questionable foray into adult films in the 1990s, Schwartz returned to the collectibles business and, in 2006, started a line of celebrity-based trading cards. Now: In 1987, Schwartz, with his father, began managing a sports and movie memorabilia collectibles store ingeniously named Baseball Cards – Movie Collectibles Etc. Then: Before being “triple dog dared” into licking a frozen flagpole as one of Ralphie’s friends, Schwartz had made his film debut in the Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason comedy ‘The Toy.’ He also studied animation and continues cartooning to this day. Later, Ian discovered a love for puppetry, which he worked on and studied around the world. Now: Petrella continued to act, and at 17, was the youngest member of the famous L.A. Interestingly, while Petrella was not recognized immediately for his strong performance, two years later he was nominated for a Young Artist Award for the role. Then: Petrella’s acting career had begun at age three but landing the role of Ralphie’s younger brother, Randy, in ‘A Christmas Story,’ was his big break. ![]() She has also appeared in more than a dozen TV movies and made guest star appearance in ‘Law and Order: SVU’ and ‘Heartland.’ After ‘A Christmas Story,’ she appeared not only in ‘Harry and the Hendersons’ but also had a memorable role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Magnolia’ as TV game show host Jimmy Gator’s wife. Now: Dillon is largely a private person, but has continued to act. ![]() Dillon’s most acclaimed prior performances had come in two Oscar-nominated performances, in ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Absence of Malice.’ She had also earned as a Golden Globe nomination for the Woody Guthrie biopic ‘Bound for Glory.’ Then: Melinda Dillon played the ever-doting mother of the Parker family and the first to warn the main character that he could lose an eye with the infamous BB gun. The highlight of this acting career (besides playing Adam Sandler’s dad in ‘Billy Madison’) came in 1990 when McGavin was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for ‘Murphy Brown.’ Now: McGavin continued to act in movies and TV until his death in 2006 at the age of 83. Then: Until ‘A Christmas Story,’ McGavin had been known primarily for his TV acting he played the title roles on ‘Mike Hammer’ and ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker,’ as well as a series regular on the western ‘Riverboat.’ McGavin stole scenes as the sailor-mouthed Parker pop, who was as delusional about his handiness with home appliances as he was about his own swearing, and in the end, he “heroically” buys the boy that air rifle. In 2009, he even directed his pals in the comedy ‘Couples Retreat.’ In 2010 he returned to his ‘A Christmas Story’ roots as executive director of ‘A Christmas Story The Musical.’ĭarren McGavin (Mr. After striking up a friendship with Vince Vaughn in the 1990 made-for-TV movie ‘CBS Schoolbreak Special: The Fourth Man’and subsequently friending Jon Favreau, Billingsley has gone on to produce several projects with them (‘Dinner for Five,’ ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Four Christmases’). Now: Billingsley has acted regularly his entire life, but much of his work recently has been on the other side of the camera. The image of him, with glasses and a smile on his face, getting pushed down a long slide by the boot of a stern department store Santa Claus is indelible. ![]() As the dumb-lucked Ralphie Parker, Billingsley delieverd one of the most famous child actor performances in film history. Then: Before fist-fighting bullies on his quest for a BB gun as Ralphie Parker, Billingsley was a child actor in well over 100 TV commercials - including him portraying Messy Marvin for Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup. Yano Anaya (Grover Dill), Dwayne McClean (Black Bart), Scott Schwartz (Flick), Patty Lafontaine (Elf), Drew Hocevar (Elf) and Jim Moralevitz (Freight Man). A Christmas Story cast reunion around the leg lamp at A Christmas Story Convention.įrom left to right Ian Petrella (Randy), Zack Ward (Scut Farkus), Tedde Moore (Miss Shields), ![]()
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