Michael Schoeffling
Michael Earl Schoeffling (born December 10, 1960) is an American former actor and model, known for playing the role of Jake Ryan in "Sixteen Candles", Al Carver in "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken", Kuch in "Vision Quest", and Joe in "Mermaids". Early life and education. Schoeffling was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and raised in South Jersey. He graduated from Cherokee High School in New Jersey, and majored in Liberal Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia. In the mid-1980s he began modeling for "GQ", and photographer Bruce Weber paid for his acting classes at the Lee Strasberg  Theatre Institute in Manhattan. Acting career. Schoeffling came to international prominence at the age of 23 for his role as Jake Ryan, the popular yet sensitive high school athlete on whom Molly Ringwald's character has a crush in the teen film "Sixteen Candles". For Valentine's Day in 2004, twenty years after the film's American premiere, the "Washington Post" ran an article entitled "Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of "Sixteen Candles"", which discussed the character's enduring appeal. He appeared in eight additional films after "Sixteen Candles", including roles in "Vision Quest" and  Mermaids, and starring roles in the 1986 action film "Let's Get Harry" and 1991's "Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken". Post-acting career. Since giving up acting, he has produced handcrafted furniture as the owner of a woodworking shop. In 2005, a poll was conducted by "Teen Magazine", which ranked Schoeffling #22 on its list of ""Biggest Hunks" of the 1980s." He married Valerie C. Robinson and they have two kids, Scarlet and Zane. Valerie was a model and actress who appeared in the films ‘Patty Hearst’ and ‘One Shoe Makes It Murder’. She was a model with  the same agency as Michael.