Jeff Gillen and Peter Billingsley in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983. Photo:
Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock
Ralphie Parker nearly shot his eye out more than 40 years ago.
On Nov. 18, 1983, Peter Billingsley captivated audiences in Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story as a 9-year-old boy living in 1940s Cleveland whose sole Christmas wish was for a Red Ryder Range 200 shot BB gun.
While the movie didn’t experience immediate success when it first came out, it’s become an iconic holiday staple, with TBS and TNT airing it for 24 hours straight annually on Christmas Day. In 2012, the Library of Congress even recognized its cultural significance by selecting it for preservation in the National Film Registry. (For the 2024 Christmas season, one Florida man even took his love for the movie to extreme heights by creating a life-size replica of the leg lamp seen in the movie.)
“There’s not only a fan base for [A Christmas Story], but it’s borderline sacred for a lot of people,” Billingsley told PEOPLE in 2022 ahead of its sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas, which he co-produced for Max and reunited with most of the original cast to reprise the role of Ralphie.
Discussing the sequel’s plot with PEOPLE, Billingsley shared, “[Adult] Ralphie’s not really where he wants to be in his life, but he’s still a dreamer, so he still has these fantasies of what his life could be, where it could go. And then he’s called home with some real responsibilities and burdens.”
Put on your pink bunny pajamas and read ahead to see what the Christmas Story cast has been up to!
Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Peter Billingsley at the ‘A Christmas Story Christmas’ premiere in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2022. Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock; Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
By the time he made audiences laugh at age 11 in A Christmas Story, Peter Billingsley had a fair amount of acting experience, including in the 1981 comedies Honky Tonk Freeway and Paternity.
Following his star-turning role in the 1983 holiday classic, Billingsley led the cast of The Dirt Bike Kid (1985) and made several guest appearances on shows like Who’s the Boss?, The Wonder Years and Punky Brewster. He earned a Daytime Emmy nod for a single-episode stint on the teen anthology series CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1995.
While Billingsley didn’t return for the first two projects related to A Christmas Story — 1994’s It Runs in the Family (later renamed My Summer Story) and 2012’s A Christmas Story 2 — he served as a producer of the three-time Tony-nominated Broadway production of A Christmas Story: The Musical in 2012.
With a few other cameo exceptions (yep, that’s him in 2003’s Elf), Billingsley shifted to behind-the-camera work in his adulthood, serving as a producer on Iron Man (2008) and directing Couples Retreat (2009).
In 2005, he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for his production work on Dinner for Five, on which his friend Vince Vaughn appeared a handful of times. The two later collaborated to co-produce Christmas with the Campbells (2022) and the holiday movie podcast A Cinematic Christmas Journey, with Billingsley co-hosting alongside actor Steve Byrne.
The former child actor told PEOPLE in October 2022 that he had “been mostly driven by making movies.” As for him reprising Ralphie in A Christmas Story Christmas, Billingsley revealed he was excited to combine the filmmaking skills he’s acquired over the years. “It was a nice opportunity to channel my writing, producing and acting all back into one,” Billingsley told PEOPLE the following month.
Billingsley and his wife, Elizabeth “Buffy” Bains, have been married since 2015 and share two children.
Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Parker in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Melinda Dillon at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 35th anniversary screening of ‘A Christmas Story’ at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Dec. 10, 2018, in Beverly Hills, Calif. Everett; Morgan Lieberman/Getty
Before starring as the matriarch of the Parker family, Melinda Dillon was an established actress onstage and on the big screen. She was nominated for two Academy Awards for her supporting performances in Steven Spielberg‘s Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Absence of Malice (1981).
Dillon also received a Golden Globe nod in 1976 for her role in the Woody Guthrie biopic Bound for Glory and a Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the 1963 original production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
After warning Ralphie that he’d “shoot his eye out” with his BB gun, Dillon went on to costar with John Lithgow in Harry and the Hendersons (1987). She also appeared in How to Make an American Quilt (1995) and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Magnolia (1999), which earned her and her castmates a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for outstanding performance by a cast in a theatrical motion picture. Dillon retired from acting in 2007, and her role as Mrs. Parker was played by Julie Hagerty in A Christmas Story Christmas.
In January 2023, Dillon died at age 83. Billingsley honored her memory, writing on Instagram, “I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to call her my on-screen mother. Rest in peace, Melinda.”
Darren McGavin as Mr. Parker in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Darren McGavin pictured in New York City on Dec. 1, 1985. Everett; Yvonne Hemsey/Getty
Darren McGavin’s portrayal of Ralphie’s grouchy yet loving father, known simply in the film as “the Old Man,” has touched generations of fans. The actor, who died in 2006, was already a showbiz veteran when he brought Old Man Parker to life on-screen in 1983. He had performed in the original Broadway productions of My Three Angels and Rainmaker and starred in mid-century feature films like Summertime (1955) with Katharine Hepburn.
Before A Christmas Story, McGavin gained notoriety as the lead in the TV film The Night Stalker (1972) and its ABC TV movie sequel, The Night Strangler (1973). After taking on Mr. Parker, he continued booking parent roles, including as the titular lead’s father on Murphy Brown — which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination for guest actor in a comedy series in 1990 — and Adam Sandler‘s dad in Billy Madison (1995).
A Christmas Story Christmas begins with the unexpected death of the Old Man, and, according to McGavin’s former on-screen son, the sequel “is, in many ways, a love letter to the Old Man character and to Darren himself.”
Billingsley continued, “Darren was the best. He was such a gifted actor and a great person and such a mentor to me in the shooting of the first film and was kind of like having [another] dad.”
Jean Shepherd photographed in 1975. Michael Tighe/Donaldson Collection/Getty
The voice presenting each A Christmas Story vignette is more than just a narrator — it’s Jean Shepherd, a broadcast personality, humorist and the closest thing there is to a real-life Ralphie Parker. The hit holiday film is based on Shepherd’s semi-autobiographical collection of short stories, In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, published in 1966.
Known as the “first radio novelist” by some, according to The Paley Center for Media, Shepherd was a well-established writer and on-air host before the movie adaptation of his festive flashbacks. He continued bringing to life the stories that inspired A Christmas Story with the 1994 film adaptation (My Summer Story) and kept up his knack for storytelling until he died in 1999.
Beyond A Christmas Story‘s impact, Shepherd left a broad legacy in the comedy world: Jerry Seinfeld has shared how the late author influenced his own humor and even paid tribute to him in 2005 through his third child’s name.
Ian Petrella as Randy Parker in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Ian Petrella at the ‘A Christmas Story Christmas’ premiere in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2022. Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock; Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
The actor behind Ralphie’s little brother, Ian Petrella, was only 8 years old when he played little Randy Parker. After A Christmas Story, Petrella appeared on Diff’rent Strokes, Who’s the Boss? and Beverly Hills, 90210.
He broke away from acting during the aughts and found a new calling while traveling around Europe, staying in the Czech Republic to study the art of marionette puppetry. When Petrella returned to the States, he dove back into show business and started creating animated shorts before signing on for the holiday favorite’s HBO sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas.
Zack Ward as Scut Farkus in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Zack Ward at the 11th annual Final Draft Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 11, 2016. Everett; Phillip Faraone/WireImage
A Christmas Story‘s memorable bully, Scut Farkus, was played by Zack Ward, who can be seen on many hit shows, including NCIS, Lost and American Horror Story and Z Nation, and in several major films like Almost Famous (2000) and Transformers (2007). He also starred as Dave Scouvel — the titular character’s half-brother — on Titus from 2000 to 2002.
Ward gave PEOPLE the inside scoop on how he landed the role of Scut, which he reprised in A Christmas Story Christmas. After several auditions, Ward originally got the role of the antagonizer’s sidekick, Grover Dill (Yano Anaya).
“I only had, like, two lines, and I showed up on set right beside Yano Anaya and met [director] Bob Clark for the first time,” Ward told PEOPLE in 2018, the year of A Christmas Story‘s 35th anniversary. “He saw that I was a foot taller than Yano and said, ‘You get his lines, he gets yours.’ So Scut Farkus became the bully, and I became the beloved jackass of Christmas.”
After returning as Scut in the 2022 sequel film, Ward booked roles in Todd Tucker’s musical comedy Rockbottom (2024) and the crime thriller Darkness of Man (2024) from James Cullen Bressack.
Ward has been married to Jennifer McMahan since 2018.
Scott Schwartz as Flick in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Scott Schwartz at the ‘A Christmas Story Christmas’ premiere in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2022. Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock; Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
Scott Schwartz was just a year out of his first big comedy role in The Toy (1982), starring Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason, before he became Flick, one of Ralphie’s best — and most daring — friends in A Christmas Story. Just two years after Schwartz memorably froze his tongue to a pole in the name of film magic, he went on to costar with Liza Minnelli, Corey Haim and Jeffrey DeMunn in the made-for-TV film A Time to Live (1985).
By the end of the ’80s, Schwartz and his father started a memorabilia store aptly called Sports and Movies Stuff. The former child star has kept up his sports collection business. He’s written for sports publications and even started his own line of celebrity trading cards.
However, Schwartz didn’t step away from acting completely and took the opportunity to reprise Flick in A Christmas Story Christmas. He also appeared in various indie films, including Normal Terror (2021), Space Sharks (2024) and The Friendly (2024).
R.D. Robb as Schwartz in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; R.D. Robb at the ‘A Christmas Story Christmas’ premiere in Los Angeles on Nov. 12, 2022. Mgm/Ua/Kobal/Shutterstock; Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
R.D. Robb was new to show business in 1983 when he played Schwartz, a friend of A Christmas Story‘s kid protagonist. In the ’90s, Robb nabbed a few minor TV and movie parts — playing Roy in Matilda (1996) and appearing on ER‘s second season for a single-episode stint.
Eventually, Robb ventured behind the camera, and in 1995, he even directed Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire in a 2001 indie drama called Don’s Plum (which the two stars prevented from being shown in the United States or Canada, Collider reported).
Additionally, he had a three-episode run on ABC’s The Goldbergs and served as an executive producer behind 26 episodes of Freeform’s Siren from 2018 to 2019. To A Christmas Story fans’ delight, the actor returned as Schwartz in the holiday film’s 2022 sequel.
Yano Anaya as Grover Dill in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Yano Anaya attends the Chiller Theatre Expo at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel on Oct. 26, 2013, in Parsippany, N.J. MGM/UA Entertainment Co.; Bobby Bank/WireImage
Just after A Christmas Story, Yano Anaya was featured in Van Halen‘s “Hot for Teacher” music video as a young Michael Anthony. He appeared in a couple of films in the late ’80s — including Better Off Dead (1985) and The Blue Iguana (1988) — before leaving the industry to become a fitness and body transformation expert.
After returning to acting in the indie Sunday Mornings (2021) and A Christmas Story Christmas, TMZ reported in November 2022 that the man behind bully Grover Dill had expressed interest in buying the iconic house from the 1983 film. However, the owner had a public dispute with the actor and later sold it to another buyer.
Tedde Moore as Miss Shields in ‘A Christmas Story,’ 1983; Tedde Moore at the ‘Nighttalk’ premiere during the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022. MGM/UA Entertainment Co.; Darren Eagles/Getty
Tedde Moore — who played Ralphie Parker’s teacher, Miss Shields — was the only A Christmas Story cast member to reprise her role for the follow-up film A Summer Story.
Before she retired from acting in 2017, Moore appeared in movies and on TV shows as an actress and voice-over artist. Moore let her Christmas spirit shine once again, playing Mrs. Claus in Mistletoe Over Manhattan (2011) and Daisy in Magical Christmas Ornaments (2017).
