Bob Clark’s 1983 holiday classic, A Christmas Story, is one of the most beloved family films of all time. While not a blockbuster upon its initial release, the film immediately became a cult classic thanks to cable, and close to forty years later, it is so well-regarded that it still airs 24 hours a day on Christmas Eve on TBS. But what happened to the cast of A Christmas Story? Recently, fans had the chance to see many of them in the sequel, A Christmas Story Christmas, with some exceptions.
In this episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity, we take a look at what happened to the film’s talented cast. Notably, star Peter Billingsley, who was one of the most immediately recognizable kid actors of the eighties, and went on to significant success as a director and producer, being an executive producer on Iron Man and having directed Couples Retreat and more. Zack Ward, who played the bully Scut, also went on to a solid career as a character actor (he was Red Dog in Almost Famous), but how about Melinda Dillon, who played the boy’s mom but wasn’t back for the sequel? And then there’s the late Darren McGavin, who, following The Night Stalker, was easily the most recognizable cast member when the film came out back in ’83.
This episode of WTF Happened to this Celebrity is written (with Brad Hamerly), narrated and produced by Taylor James Johnson. Kier Gomes edited. Let us know who your favourite A Christmas Story cast member is in the comments below. Keep your eyes peeled for another WTF episode on A Christmas Story coming soon that dives deeper into the movie’s production.