Peter Billingsley: Biography

Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen[1] and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen[2], is an American actor, director, and producer known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story.

Peter Billingsley was a child actor in the 1980s. Through adolescence, he appeared on TV shows from Little House on the Prairie to Highway to Heaven, and in crappy movies from If Ever I See You Again with Shelley Hack to Russkies with Joaquin Phoenix. Billingsley is best known as the wide-eyed star of A Christmas Story, filmed when he was 12. The movie was not particularly well-received when it was released in 1983, but the video and cable markets have made it a perennial favorite.

Now in his 30s, Billingsley works occasionally as a stand-up comedian, and produces films and television series. His TV production credits include FX's The X Show and Comedy Central's Trigger Happy TV, and his films include the Jon Favreau-Vince Vaughn film Made and the kids-in-outer-space epic Zathura with Tim Robbins.

Billingsley is the grandnephew of nightclub kingpin Sherman Billingsley, longtime owner of the Stork Club, and of Leave It to Beaver's mom, Barbara Billingsley. His sister, Melissa Michaelsen, was also a child actor. She played the titular waif taken in by O. J. Simpson in the 1979 TV film Goldie and the Boxer and its inevitable sequel Goldie and the Boxer Go to Hollywood.