Ally Sheedy

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**Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy** (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress and author. Following her film debut in 1983's *Bad Boys*, she became known as one of the Brat Pack group of actors in the films *The Breakfast Club* (1985) and *St. Elmo's Fire* (1985). She also acted in *WarGames* (1983) and *Short Circuit* (1986). For her performance in Lisa Cholodenko's *High Art* (1998), Sheedy won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.

## Early life

Sheedy was born **Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy** in New York City on June 13, 1962 and has two siblings, brother Patrick and sister Meghan. Her mother, Charlotte (née Baum), is a writer and press agent who was involved in women's and civil rights movements, and her father, John J. Sheedy, Jr., is a Manhattan advertising executive. Sheedy's mother is Jewish, whereas her father is of Irish Catholic background. Her maternal grandmother was from Odessa, Ukraine. Her parents divorced in 1971.

She attended the Bank Street School for Children, followed by Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School in New York City, graduating in 1980. She started dancing with the American Ballet Theatre at age six and was planning to make it a full-time career. However, she gave up dance in favor of acting full-time, then she started studying acting with acting teacher Harold Guskin. At age 12 she wrote a book, *She Was Nice to Mice*. The book was published by McGraw-Hill Education and became a best-seller.Template:Dead link On June 19, 1975, she appeared on the game show *To Tell the Truth*.

At age eighteen, Sheedy relocated to Los Angeles, California, where she enrolled in the drama department at the University of Southern California. Sheedy concurrently began her acting career, and intermittently completed three years' worth of courses toward a BFA degree in acting.

## Career

Template:BLP sources section Sheedy started acting in local stage productions as a teenager. After appearing in several television films in 1981, as well as three episodes of the television series *Hill Street Blues*, she made her feature film debut in *Bad Boys* (1983), starring Sean Penn, where she played Penn's humiliated girlfriend. The 1980s were her most active period, with roles in popular films such as *WarGames*, *The Breakfast Club*, *St. Elmo's Fire*, *Short Circuit*, and *Maid to Order*. Sheedy was offered the lead female role in Top Gun and passed it in saying no one wants to watch Tom Cruise in fighter jets.

Sheedy starred alongside Radha Mitchell in the 1998 independent film *High Art*, about a romance between two women and the power of art. Her performance in *High Art* was recognized with awards from the Independent Spirit Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and National Society of Film Critics.

In 1999, Sheedy took over the lead role in the off-Broadway production of the musical *Hedwig and the Angry Inch.* She was the first cis-gender female to play the part of the genderqueer Hedwig, but her run ended early amid "mixed" reviews, according to *E! News*. That same year, she was cast as a lead actress in *Sugar Town*, an independent film, which featured an ensemble cast of actors and musicians.

She was reunited with *Breakfast Club* co-star Anthony Michael Hall when she became a special guest star on his television show *The Dead Zone*, in the second-season episode "Playing God," from 2003.

Sheedy has also appeared in the episode "Leapin' Lizards" of *C.S.I.* in which she played a woman who murdered her boyfriend's wife while mixed up in a cult. On March 3, 2008, Sheedy was introduced as the character Sarah, in the ABC Family show *Kyle XY*. In 2009, she played the role of Mr. Yang on the USA Network television show *Psych* (in the third season finale), a role that she reprised in the fourth season, fifth season, and seventh season finales.

## Personal life

Sheedy dated Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora for less than a year in the 1980s. She stated in *Los Angeles Times* that the relationship led her to abuse drugs, a claim Sambora denied. In 1985, Sheedy was admitted to Hazelden Foundation and in the 1990s was treated for a sleeping pill addiction, an experience which she drew on for her role as a drug-addicted photographer in *High Art*.

On April 12, 1992, Sheedy married actor David Lansbury, the nephew of actress Angela Lansbury and son of Edgar Lansbury, the original producer of *Godspell*. They have a son, Beckett (born 1994), who is a trans man. In 2008, Sheedy announced that she and Lansbury had filed for divorce.

In January 2018, Sheedy tweeted the #MeToo hashtag along with the names of James Franco and Christian Slater, indicating that they have been sexually inappropriate with her, but later took down the tweets. Franco stated that he did not know why Sheedy would have tweeted those accusations.

Sheedy became a vegetarian at the age of 12.

## Books

* *She Was Nice to Mice (book)*, McGraw-Hill, 1975, Template:ISBN
* *Yesterday I Saw the Sun: Poems*, Summit Books, 1991, Template:ISBN

## References

1. ↑ "Today in history", Associated Press (June 13, 2014).
2. ↑ Independent, Film. "Film Independent Spirit Awards: 31 Years of Nominees and Winners". filmindependent.org. https://s3.amazonaws.com/SA\_SubForm\_etc/2016\_SA\_NomsWinners\_031316.pdf.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robledo, S. Jhoanna (September 13, 2009). "Brat Packer Packs Up". *New York magazine*. New York, N.Y.: New York Media. http://nymag.com/realestate/movers/58964/.
4. ↑ Leibovich, Lori (June 26, 1998). "Heroine Chic". San Francisco, California: Salon Media Group. http://www.salon.com/1998/06/26/cov\_25int/.
5. ↑ "WEDDINGS; Marilyn Webb, John Sheedy Jr", New York Times Company (March 21, 1993).
6. ↑ "Ally Sheedy Biography (1962–)". http://www.filmreference.com/film/18/Ally-Sheedy.html.
7. ↑ Collins, Glenn (May 27, 1991). "Celebrating a Place Where for So Many The Good Life Began", *The New York Times*.
8. ↑ Sohn, Amy (2011). "Musicians, Mensches, and Muff-Diving: Ally Sheedy by Amy Sohn". http://www.amysohn.com/?page\_id=129.
9. ↑ Rochlin, Margy (June 14, 1998). "Ally Sheedy Makes a Bid To Be Taken Seriously", New York Times Company.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Dretzka, Gary (June 28, 1998). "Back from the edge, Ally Sheedy may be on the verge of another breakthrough", Tronc.
11. ↑ Neumaier, Joe (2010-07-17). "New York native Ally Sheedy never strays far from the Upper West Side". https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/new-york-native-ally-sheedy-strays-upper-west-side-article-1.206341.
12. ↑ "A Young Ally Sheedy on 'To Tell the Truth' in 1975". July 15, 2013. https://www.retroist.com/2013/07/15/a-young-ally-sheedy-on-to-tell-the-truth-in-1975/.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Willistein, Paul (May 9, 1986). "A NEW CONNECTION WITH 'SHORT CIRCUIT,' ALLY SHEEDY PLUGS INTO A STARRING ROLE", *The Morning Call*.
14. ↑ Ebert, Roger (July 3, 1998). "High Art Movie Review & Film Summary (1998)". Chicago, Illinois: Sun-Times Media Group. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/high-art-1998.
15. ↑ Keller, Julie (December 17, 1999). "Ally Sheedy Inches Away from "Hedwig"". Los Angeles, California: NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group. http://www.eonline.com/news/39153/ally-sheedy-inches-away-from-hedwig.
16. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (September 17, 1999). "Down and Out in 'Sugar Town' After Fame Has Fled". Los Angeles, California: Tronc. http://articles.latimes.com/1999/sep/17/entertainment/ca-11083.
17. ↑ "Season 2 Overview". *The Dead Zone Official Website*. http://www.thedeadzonetv.com/episodes/season2.htm.
18. ↑ Natale, Richard (June 10, 1998). "On the Upswing". Los Angeles, California: Tronc. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jun/10/entertainment/ca-58273/2.
19. ↑ Rochlin, Margy (June 14, 1998). "FILM; Ally Sheedy Makes a Bid To Be Taken Seriously", New York Times Company.
20. ↑ Winters, Laura (June 21, 1998). "Ally Sheedy, Leaver of the Pack", Nash Holdings LLC.
21. ↑ Pieklo, Jessica; Gandi, Imani (November 2, 2017). "Boom! Lawyered: Beckett Lansbury and Ally Sheedy on How to Be a Better Ally to Trans People". https://rewire.news/multimedia/podcast/boom-lawyered-beckett-lansbury-ally-sheedy-better-ally-trans-people/.
22. ↑ Yahr, Emily (January 11, 2018). "Seth Meyers presses James Franco on why he hasn't contacted Ally Sheedy about her tweets", Nash Holdings LLC.
23. ↑ Robinson, Joanna (January 7, 2018). "Why Did Ally Sheedy Call out Golden Globe Winner James Franco on Twitter?", Condé Nast.
24. ↑ Mann, Roderick. (1987). "Busy Ally Sheedy Finds a 'Maid to Order' Role". *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
25. ↑ O`Malley, Kathy. (1987). For Ally Sheedy, Life is, Like, Just Fine, You Know?. *Chicago Tribune*. Retrieved 22 December 2020.

## External links

* Template:IMDb name
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* Salon interview (June 25, 1998)
* *New York Magazine* interview (June 15, 1998)
* *Breakfast Club* cast interview at the *Chicago Tribune* (February 17, 1985)
* "The Poetry of Ally Sheedy: A Look Back" (February 24, 2012)

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