'A Christmas Story' Cast: Where Are They Now?
'A Christmas Story' is the cinematic gift that keeps on giving. See what the original cast members have been up to since the film's 1983 release
It's been decades since audiences first saw Ralphie Parker nearly shoot his eye out!
On Nov. 18, 1983, Peter Billingsley first captivated audiences as the 9-year-old boy living in 1940s Cleveland —whose sole Christmas wish is a Red Ryder Range 200 Shot BB gun — in Bob Clark's A Christmas Story.
Although the film didn't experience instant success upon release, it has become an iconic holiday staple, airing for 24 hours straight each Christmas Day. In 2012, the Library of Congress recognized its cultural significance by selecting it for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
"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 the sequel A Christmas Story Christmas.
While Billingsley didn't return for the first two projects related to the movie — 1994's It Runs in the Family (later changed to 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. He also co-produced and reprised his role in the 2022 sequel on Max, reuniting with most of the original cast.
Discussing the sequel's plot, Billingsley told PEOPLE, "[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."
Read ahead to see what the cast is up to now — we triple-dog dare ya!
Peter Billingsley as Ralphie Parker
By the time he made hearts melt at age 11 in A Christmas Story, 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 1985's The Dirt Bike Kid 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 CBS Schoolbreak Special in 1995. With a few other cameo exceptions (yep, that's him in 2003's Elf), Billingsley began focusing on working behind the camera in his adulthood.
The former child actor told PEOPLE in October 2022 that he has "been mostly driven by making movies." In 2005, he earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for his production work on Dinner for Five, starring his friend Vince Vaughn. The two later collaborated to co-produce 2022's Christmas with the Campbells and the holiday movie podcast A Cinematic Christmas Journey, with Billingsley co-hosting alongside actor Steve Byrne.
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.
Melinda Dillon as Mrs. Parker
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 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 earned 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 Golden Globe nomination for outstanding performance. 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. A month later, Billingsley honored her memory on Instagram, writing, "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
Darren McGavin's portrayal of Ralphie's grouchy yet loving father, known simply as "The Old Man" in the film, has touched generations of fans. The actor, who died in 2006, was already a show biz veteran by 1983, when he brought the Old Man Parker to life on-screen. He performed in original Broadway productions like My Three Angels and Rainmaker and starred in mid-century feature films like 1955's Summertime with Katharine Hepburn.
McGavin could be seen on small screens throughout his career — before A Christmas Story, playing the lead in the 1972 TV film The Night Stalker and on its ABC series spinoff. After taking on Mr. Parker, he continued portraying a parent in various shows and movies, such as 1995's Billy Madison. McGavin played Adam Sandler's dad in Billy Madison in 1995, and he received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1990 for his portrayal of the titular lead's father on Murphy Brown.
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 as Adult Ralphie
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 well-established as a writer and on-air host before the movie adaptation of his festive flashbacks. However, he kept up his knack for comedy and storytelling until he died in 1999. Shepherd continued bringing to life the stories that inspired A Christmas Story with the 1994 film adaptation My Summer Story.
Beyond A Christmas Story's impact, Shepherd left a broad legacy in the comedy world: Jerry Seinfeld has shared how the late author impacted his own humor, and even paid tribute to him in 2005 through his third child's name.
Ian Petrella as Randy Parker
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. He stayed in the Czech Republic to study the art of marionette puppetry. When he 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
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.
In 2018, Ward gave PEOPLE the inside scoop on how he wound up int he role of Scut Farkus back in 1983, which he reprised for the 2022 sequel. After several auditions, Ward originally got the role of the antagonizer's sidekick, Grover Dill, played by 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 2019, 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."
Scott Schwartz as Flick
Scott Schwartz was just a year out of his first big comedy role in 1982's The Toy, 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 1985 made-for-TV film A Time to Live.
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, as well as appear in indie films like Normal Terror (2021) and The Friendly (2023).
R.D. Robb as Schwartz
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 – he played Roy in Matilda (1996) and appeared 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).
Robb's most recent acting gig before reviving Schwartz for the holiday sequel was a three-episode run on The Goldbergs.
Yano Anaya as Grover Dill
Just after A Christmas Story, Anaya was featured in Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" music video as a young Michael Anthony Jr. He appeared in a couple of films in the late '80s before becoming a fitness and body transformation expert. Along with his return to acting for A Christmas Story Christmas in 2022, the man behind bully Grover Dill expressed interest in buying the iconic house from the film. However, the owner had a public dispute with the actor and later sold it to another buyer.
Tedde Moore as Miss Shields
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 voiceover artist. Moore let her Christmas spirit shine once again, playing Mrs. Claus in 2011's Mistletoe Over Manhattan and Daisy in 2017's Magical Christmas Ornaments.
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