The Cast of ‘A Christmas Story’, Then and Now

Like most family holiday movies, A Christmas Story teaches you many things, the most important being that you should never, ever, ever stick your tongue to a frozen piece of metal. Oh my gosh, just don’t do it. While Ralphie (Peter Billingsley), his parents, and his friends remain in the warm glow of this 1983 holiday favorite, its stars have certainly evolved in the decades since.

See what the cast of A Christmas Story has been up to since Ralphie first dropped the F-bomb (but still ended up getting a Red Ryder BB gun), ahead.

Peter Billingsley (Ralphie)

Peter Billingsley in ‘A Christmas Story’; Peter Billingsley.
Everett Collection; Maarten de Boer/Contour by Getty Images

Although he technically only had a handful of lines in A Christmas Story — a muddled expletive being one of them — Peter Billingsley stayed in the Christmas movie circuit later on in life, appearing in Elf (2003) and Four Christmases (2008) years after his iconic role.

“People ask me, ‘Why does this movie resonate?'” Billingsley told EW in 2022 of A Christmas Story. “Because it’s a real family, man. By the same token, it’s also not quite the super dark, indie, the ‘Oh, no, don’t open that family door.’ It’s not that family, but it’s also not the Bradys or Disney-fied.”

Billingsley also added a handful of TV appearances over the decades on shows like Who’s the Boss?, Punky Brewster, and The Wonder Years. Billingsley has primarily worked behind the scenes, as a director of films including Couples Retreat (2009) and Term Life (2016), and executive producer of projects like The Break-Up (2006), Iron Man (2008), and the Netflix series F is for Family.

He also co-produced the original 2012 Broadway musical adaptation of A Christmas Story, and produced the 2020 movie The Opening Act. He reprised his role as Ralphie in the 2022 Max film A Christmas Story Christmas.

Ian Petrella (Randy)

Ian Petrella in ‘A Christmas Story’; Ian Petrella.
Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/WireImage

After his breakout role as Ralphie’s little brother Randy, Ian Petrella went on to appear on a string of television shows, including Diff’rent Strokes, Who’s the Boss?, Highway to Heaven, My Sister Sam, and Beverly Hills, 90210 (his last credit before a 15-year acting break).

The actor studied improv at the Groundlings Comedy Theater in Los Angeles and now focuses on animation and puppetry (having worked on the Henson Company’s ’90s series Brats of the Lost Nebula). He played Randy again in A Christmas Story Christmas.

Melinda Dillon (Mrs. Parker)

Melinda Dillon in ‘A Christmas Story’; Melinda Dillon.
Everett Collection; Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

Melinda Dillon was already a Tony-winning actress before she starred as Ralphie and Randy’s kind, eccentric mother in A Christmas Story, with two Oscar nominations under her belt to boot for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Absence of Malice (1981).

After 1983, Dillon appeared in such films as Harry and the Hendersons (1987), Staying Together (1989), Captain America (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), and Magnolia (1999). In 2005, Dillon guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU. She was last seen on screen in 2007, with the TV series Heartland and the film Reign Over Me alongside Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Dillon died in 2023 at the age of 83.

Darren McGavin (Old Man Parker)

Darren McGavin in ‘A Christmas Story’; Darren McGavin.
Everett Collection; Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage

Back in 1983, Darren McGavin helped to make a practically pornographic lamp an icon as Ralphie and Randy’s major-award-winning Old Man.

Following A Christmas Story, he appeared in films like Turk 182 (1985), Raw Deal (1986), Dead Heat (1988), and 1990’s Captain America — the latter alongside his former onscreen wife, Melinda Dillon. He played Adam Sandler’s billionaire dad in Billy Madison (1995) and was also nominated for an Emmy in 1990 for his guest appearance on Murphy Brown (other guest spots included Murder, She Wrote; The X-Files; and Touched by an Angel).

McGavin died of cardiovascular disease in 2006 at the age of 83.

Scott Schwartz (Flick)

Scott Schwartz in ‘A Christmas Story’; Scott Schwartz.
Everett Collection; Bobby Bank/Getty Images

After A Christmas Story, Scott Schwartz appeared in Kidco (1984) and the TV movie A Time to Live (1985) with Liza Minnelli and Corey Haim.

In the 1990s, Schwartz worked in the adult film industry both in front of and behind the camera, appearing in such films as Beauty and the Beast Part II (1990) and Scotty’s X-Rated Adventure (1996). He also starred in


Credit: ew.com