All About Amanda Bynes’ Parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes

Amanda Bynes was born to mom Lynn and dad Rick in 1986

Growing up in the spotlight, Amanda Bynes was often seen with her parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes.

As the youngest of Lynn and Rick’s three children, Amanda inherited her sense of humor from her father — a dentist who did stand-up comedy on the side. After he encouraged her to pursue acting, she began landing roles in commercials and local theater productions. By the time she was 10, Nickelodeon executives had scouted her at a comedy camp for kids hosted at the Los Angeles comedy club Laugh Factory.

“When her time on stage was up, they would physically carry her off," Rick told PEOPLE in 2002. "She didn’t want to give up the spotlight.”

When she joined the cast of the network’s variety show, All That, Amanda’s star potential became apparent. She landed her own show and earned roles in movies — opportunities she was excited about in regard to her future.

“I’m very lucky I have a great family and I have my eye on the prize, which for me is a long career, and I just don’t want to blow what I’ve worked so hard to achieve,” she said during a 2007 interview with Showbiz Tonight.

Following her meteoric rise as a child and teen star, Amanda faced struggles as she entered adulthood, and Lynn and Rick moved back to L.A. to support her.

In 2013, Amanda's parents ultimately applied for and were granted conservatorship. In the following years, Lynn and Rick always expressed how proud they were of how far she had come.

The conservatorship was terminated in March 2022, and the actress recently celebrated a new milestone with the launch of her podcast in December 2023.

Here’s everything you need to know about Amanda Bynes’ parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes.

Lynn and Rick raised Amanda in Southern California

Lynn and Rick tied the knot in 1967 and went on to welcome their older children, Tom and Jillian. After Amanda was born in 1986, they raised their family in Ventura County, California.

While their children were growing up, they tried to keep Amanda’s home life separate from her career in Hollywood. In interviews, they didn’t divulge much information about where they lived or where their daughter went to school.

Rick also thought keeping Amanda in Southern California was important, even when she had opportunities to work elsewhere. As a teenager, she was offered a job that would take her to Florida for five months of the year, but Rick says he turned it down because being close to family was so key.

“The reason everybody likes Amanda is who she is. The minute you take her away from here, from her brother and her sister and house, well, you might not have Amanda anymore,” he told the Los Angeles Times in 1999.

Rick and Lynn were also protective outside the home. During an appearance on The Tonight Show in 2007, Amanda told host Jay Leno that her parents would accompany her to places.

“My parents actually were very strict, in a good way, though. I was never allowed to go to the mall alone or with friends. I had to go with my parents. ... I think it was because shady things happen in malls,” she explained.

Her father worked as a dentist

When Amanda was growing up, Rick worked as a dentist in Thousand Oaks, California. While he earned a living through his dentistry practice, he also enjoyed performing comedy on the side — which meant he kept all his patients laughing, according to Amanda.

“He likes to do comedy,” she said on The Howie Mandel Show in 1999. “He makes everybody laugh ... so they don’t mind going to the dentist.”

Rick even once sent in a joke to Leno in the early ’90s, which made it on the air. When Amanda appeared on the late night show over a decade later, her dad got to perform the joke himself.

Rick encouraged Amanda to try acting as a child

As kids, Amanda and her siblings were encouraged by their father to give acting a try, stemming from his passion for comedy. Lynn quickly noticed that her youngest child was a natural who enjoyed entertaining.

“When she was 3, she would put on my clothing and be silly, trying to get attention from her sister and brother,” she told PEOPLE in 2004.

By age 7, Amanda was appearing in commercials as well as local theater productions. She also did stand-up comedy, with Rick helping her write material about growing up and family life. When she was 10, her dad enrolled her at a comedy camp for kids hosted at the Laugh Factory in L.A.

In a 2000 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Amanda shared, “All the adults were laughing, instead of booing me off the stage. It was such a rush. This is embarrassing, but I loved it so much that they literally had to drag me away.”

During one of her performances, she was discovered by Nickelodeon executives, who quickly recruited her to join the cast of All That.

Lynn and Rick moved to Texas but returned to L.A. to care for Amanda

Fast forward, Amanda's parents eventually moved to Texas, where they lived for several years while their daughter's fame grew with a roster of notable projects, including The WB sitcom What I Like About You, the musical rom-com Hairspray and the teen drama Easy A.

Her work came to a halt when she announced her retirement from acting on X (formerly known as Twitter) in 2010. Amanda acknowledged 24 was "a young age to retire" but revealed that she didn't "love acting anymore," per NBC News.

Two years later, TMZ reported that Lynn and Rick decided to move back to L.A. to care for their daughter amid her struggles.

Amanda’s parents put her under a conservatorship in 2013

When Amanda was first placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold in 2013, her mother, Lynn, was granted a temporary conservatorship, PEOPLE confirmed at the time.

Shortly after being named her conservator, Lynn planned to hire a private professional conservator, who could help with Amanda’s medical and day-to-day needs, while she remained in control of her estate and finances.

In 2018, amid news that Amanda was doing well, court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight showed that the conservatorship was extended for two more years.

“The conservatorship can end at any time prior to 2020, but both Amanda and her parents are on such good terms and happy with Amanda's life and future, the conservatorship is the last thing on their minds,” Amanda’s family attorney, Tamar Arminak, said in a statement.

Then, in 2021, it was revealed that her conservatorship would undergo another status report in 2023 — but her lawyer, David Esquibias, told PEOPLE that was not true.

“Her conservatorship is not extended through March 2023. It is open day to day,” he said, adding, "Her conservatorship will terminate when it is no longer convenient for Amanda.”

They decided to end her conservatorship in 2022

In February 2022, it was revealed that Amanda wished to terminate her conservatorship after nearly nine years. While she previously regained control of her finances in 2017, this would give her control of her “person," which includes health and medical decision-making.

Her lawyer Esquibias told PEOPLE exclusively that Amanda believed her “condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary.” Meanwhile, Lynn and Rick shared that they were in “100 percent support” of her decision.

“The parents are happy, thrilled to get this good news. The professionals say she is ready to make her own life choices and decisions and are so proud of her,” family attorney Arminak told NBC News.

In March of that same year, the judge assigned to Bynes’ case made a tentative ruling, writing, “The court determines that the conservatorship is no longer required and that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship of the person no longer exist.”

The conservatorship was officially terminated the next day. In a statement shared exclusively with PEOPLE via Esquibias, Amanda thanked fans for their support.

“Following today’s decision by the judge to terminate my conservatorship, I would like to thank my fans for their love and well wishes during this time. I would also like to thank my lawyer and my parents for their support over the last nine years,” she shared.

The What a Girl Wants star continued, “In the last several years, I have been working hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently, and I will continue to prioritize my well-being in this next chapter. I am excited about my upcoming endeavors — including my fragrance line — and look forward to sharing more when I can.”

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