Molly Ringwald

During the mid-1980s, Molly Ringwald was the uncontested queen of teen movies and the poster child of suburban adolescent angst. As a member of the so-called Brat Pack - which included fellow stars Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson and Ally Sheedy - her three-picture run with filmmaker John Hughes in instant classics like "Sixteen Candles" (1984), "The Breakfast Club" (1985) and "Pretty in Pink" (1986) established Ringwald as a teen kindred spirit who awkwardly navigated secret crushes, school dances and bitter clique wars, inching closer to adulthood by the time a triumphant pop song signaled the end credits. However, like all child and teen stars, the redhead's flame never burned quite so bright as those important years which launched a brand new genre of youth filmmaking. After several failed efforts to segue into adult romantic comedies, the actress moved to France where she appeared in foreign films and occasionally made stateside appearances in made-for-TV movies. After a long absence from the public consciousness, Ringwald resurfaced in 2008 as part of the cast of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" (ABC Family, 2008-13), in which her career came full circle as she appeared as the mother of a pregnant high school student on the controversial drama series. Though she was relatively quiet later in her career, Ringwald nonetheless remained synonymous with the 1980s despite occasional efforts to reinvent herself.