Winona Ryder is an American actress who rose to prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s, becoming one of the most recognizable faces of her generation. She is a two-time Academy Award nominee and the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Winona Laura Horowitz was born on October 29, 1971, in Olmsted County, Minnesota. She was named after the nearby city of Winona. Her father, Michael Horowitz, came from a Jewish family that had emigrated from Russia and Romania and worked as a writer and publisher, while her mother, Cindy Istas, was also a writer. She has one brother named Yuri and two half-siblings, Jubal and Sunyata. Among her family’s close friends were Timothy Leary, who was also her godfather, and the poet Allen Ginsberg.

When Ryder was seven years old, her family moved to a remote commune near Northern California. The community had no electricity, and her early exposure to cinema came through the films her mother occasionally showed her, sparking her interest in acting. At the age of ten, the family relocated to Petaluma, California. During her first week at school, she was severely bullied and assaulted by classmates who mistakenly believed she was a gay boy. In response, her parents enrolled her at the American Conservatory Theater near San Francisco, where she took her first formal steps toward an acting career.

In 1984, Ryder auditioned unsuccessfully for the film Desert Bloom, but she made her screen debut in 1986 with the film Lucas, playing a poetry-loving teenager. From this point on, she adopted the surname “Ryder,” inspired by a Mitch Ryder album her father was listening to at the time. Her breakthrough came in 1988 with Beetlejuice, in which she played the gloomy and introspective Lydia Deetz. The film was a major success and established her as a rising star.

In 1989, Ryder delivered one of her most acclaimed early performances in Heathers, portraying a sharp-witted high school student entangled in a dark satire about teenage violence. The same year, she appeared in Great Balls of Fire!, followed by a highly successful collaboration with Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands in 1990. Throughout the early 1990s, she continued to build a diverse filmography with roles in Mermaids, Night on Earth, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Ryder achieved a major career milestone in 1993 with her role in The Age of Innocence, directed by Martin Scorsese. Her performance earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an Academy Award nomination. In 1994, she starred as Jo March in Little Women, which brought her a second Academy Award nomination, this time for Best Actress.

She continued her successful run with films such as Looking for Richard, The Crucible, and Alien: Resurrection. In 1999, she appeared in both Girl, Interrupted and Being John Malkovich, further demonstrating her range. In the early 2000s, she starred in Autumn in New York, Mr. Deeds, and S1m0ne. During this period, Ryder faced personal and legal difficulties, including a widely publicized shoplifting incident in 2001, which temporarily slowed her career.

After a quieter period, Ryder returned to prominence in the late 2000s and 2010s. She appeared in Star Trek (2009) as Amanda Grayson and received renewed acclaim for her role as Joyce Byers in the Netflix series Stranger Things, which introduced her to a new generation of audiences.

Throughout her life, Ryder has been frequently featured in “most beautiful” and “most influential” lists, including People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.” She has had several high-profile relationships, including engagements to Johnny Depp and relationships with musicians and actors such as David Pirner, Matt Damon, and Val Kilmer. Ryder is also the owner of the music label Roustabout Studios.

Filmography:
Actor
2017 – Destination Wedding (Lindsay) (Feature Film)
2016 – Stranger Things (Joyce Byers) (TV Series)
2015 – Show Me a Hero (Vinni Restiano) (TV Series)
2015 – Experimenter (Sasha Menkin Milgram) (Feature Film)
2014 – Turks & Caicos (Melanie Fall) (TV Film)
2013 – Homefront (Sheryl Mott) (Feature Film)
2012 – The Letter (Martine) (Feature Film)
2012 – The Iceman (Deborah Pellicotti) (Feature Film)
2012 – Frankenweenie (Elsa Van Helsing – Voice) (Feature Film)
2011 – The Dilemma (Geneva Backman) (Feature Film)
2010 – Black Swan (Beth Macintyre) (Feature Film)
2009 – Star Trek (Amanda Grayson) (Feature Film)
2009 – The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (Sandra) (Feature Film)
2008 – The Informers (Cheryl Moore) (Feature Film)
2007 – The Ten (Kelly La Fonda) (Feature Film)
2006 – A Scanner Darkly (Donna Hawthorne) (Feature Film)
2002 – S1m0ne (Nicola Anders) (Feature Film)
2002 – Mr. Deeds (Babe Bennett) (Feature Film)
2000 – Autumn in New York (Charlotte Fielding) (Feature Film)
1999 – Being John Malkovich (Self) (Feature Film)
1999 – Girl, Interrupted (Susanna Kaysen) (Feature Film)
1998 – Celebrity (Nola) (Feature Film)
1997 – Alien: Resurrection (Annalee Call) (Feature Film)
1996 – Looking for Richard (Lady Anne) (Feature Film)
1996 – The Crucible (Abigail Williams) (Feature Film)
1995 – How to Make an American Quilt (Finn Dodd) (Feature Film)
1994 – Little Women (Jo March) (Feature Film)
1994 – Reality Bites (Lelaina Pierce) (Feature Film)
1993 – The House of the Spirits (Blanca Trueba) (Feature Film)
1993 – The Age of Innocence (May Welland) (Feature Film)
1992 – Dracula (Mina Murray) (Feature Film)
1991 – Night on Earth (Corky) (Feature Film)
1990 – Edward Scissorhands (Kim Boggs) (Feature Film)
1990 – Mermaids (Charlotte Flax) (Feature Film)
1989 – Heathers (Veronica Sawyer) (Feature Film)
1989 – Great Balls of Fire! (Myra Gale Brown) (Feature Film)
1988 – Beetlejuice (Lydia Deetz) (Feature Film)
1987 – Square Dance (Gemma) (Feature Film)
1986 – Lucas (Rina) (Feature Film)

Source: Biyografiler.com