Winona-Ryder

Winona Laura Horowitz professionally known by the name Winona Ryder was born in Winona Minnesota. The name of her parents was derived from her hometown. Both her father Michel Horowitz, and mother Cynthia Palmer are authors and editors. Ryder's father was born into an ethnically Jewish family. Ryder considers her self Jewish. She has two younger half-siblings, Jubal and Sunyata. At the age of seven, Ryder was only seven her family relocated to Mendocino County California. The family lived in a place without electric power. Ryder, who loved reading at the age of 12, became a bookworm due to the fact that Ryder did not have access to television. Ryder started taking classes in acting in the American Conservatory Theatre in 1983 aged 12. In 1986 she was offered her first major-screen appearance in the film Lucas when she was just fifteen years old. Ryder experienced bullying at her high school. Her thought was that by becoming an actor her behaviour was going to be corrected. However, it didn't come to pass. Still, she kept chasing her goals. Beetlejuice which was a 1988 Tim Burton film, was her first big breakthrough. Ryder continued playing parts that proved successful in a variety of films. Ryder was nominated twice for Academy Awards one for her part as a character in The Age of Innocence (1993).