Named after a city in Minnesota near where she was born, Winona Ryder was raised in California.

A partially home schooled tomboy, it was her outcast teen roles in movies like Beetlejuice that defined her popularity. In 2001, Ryder's career was sidetracked with an embarrassing arrest and shoplifting charge at Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue. After a long absence from decent film roles, her turn in Richard Linklater's animated A Scanner Darkly marked her return to Hollywood. Some of her quirkier roles include The Darwin Awards and Sex and Death 101.

In 1990, Ryder became engaged to Edward Scissorhands' costar Johnny Depp - seemingly a match made in heaven - but the two split in 1993.