peter billingsley

Noon (HALL) "Murder, She Wrote" Christmas blackmail.

1 p.m. (HALL) "One Magic Christmas" An angel restores hope to a woman (Mary Steenburgen).

2 p.m. (FAM) "The Christmas Secret" A zoologist (Richard Thomas) investigates flying reindeer.


3 p.m. (HALL) "A Carol Christmas" Trash TV host (Tori Spelling) changes her way.

4 p.m. (FAM) "Three Days" An man gets to spend Christmas with his late wife (Kristin Davis).

5 p.m. (Ch. 48) "Rick Steves' European Christmas"

5 p.m. (HALL) "Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus" Santa's heir (Steve Guttenberg) woos a widow.

6 p.m. (FAM) "Christmas Do-Over" A man (Jay Mohr) relives Christmas again and again.

7 p.m. (HALL) "Meet the Santas" A couple (Steve Guttenberg, Crystal Bernard) marry on Christmas Eve.

7 p.m. (USA) "Elf" An elf (Will Ferrell) searches for his family.

8 p.m. (AMC) "Santa Claus: The Movie" An elf (Dudley Moore) saves Christmas.

8 p.m. (FAM) "Christmas Caper" A thief (Shannen Doherty) plots her next scheme while baby-sitting.

8 p.m. (FX) "Christmas With the Kranks" A couple (Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis) celebrate Christmas.

8 p.m. (TNT) "A Christmas Story" A boy (Peter Billingsley) wants a BB gun for Christmas.

9 p.m. (HALL) "A Boyfriend for Christmas" A lonely woman (Kelli Williams) finds love.

9 p.m. (USA) "Elf" An elf (Will Ferrell) searches for his family.

9:45 p.m. (TNT) "A Christmas Story" A boy (Peter Billingsley) wants a BB gun for Christmas.

10 p.m. (AMC) "A Christmas Carol" George C. Scott as Scrooge.

10 p.m. (FAM) "Christmas Caper" A thief (Shannen Doherty) plots her next scheme while baby-sitting.

MONDAY

7 p.m. (FAM) "A Mom for Christmas" A mannequin (Olivia Newton-John) comes to life in a film shot in Cincinnati in 1990.

8 p.m. (DISN) "The Santa Clause" A divorced father (Tim Allen) becomes Santa.

9 p.m. (FOOD) "All Star Holiday Spirit" Recipes.

9 p.m. (HALL) "What I Did for Love" A lawyer (Jeremy London) brings his fiancée home for Christmas.

TUESDAY

8 p.m. (Ch. 9) "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Charlie Brown searches for the meaning of Christmas.

9 p.m. (FAM) "Prancer" An injured reindeer brings hope to a child.

9 p.m. (FOOD) "All Star Holiday Party" Recipes.

9 p.m. (HALL) "The Christmas Gift" Everyone in a Colorado town believes in Santa Claus.

9 p.m. (HBO) "The Nativity Story" Mary (Keisha Castle-Hughes) gives birth to Jesus.

WEDNESDAY

8 p.m. (Ch. 5) "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" with Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion and Josh Groban.

8 p.m. (Ch. 9) "Shrek the Halls" Ogre's Christmas.

8 p.m. (DISN) "The Nightmare Before Christmas" Halloween king Jack tries to spoil Christmas.

8:30 p.m. (Ch. 9) "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas" Boris Karloff narrates

9 p.m. (FAM) "The Christmas List" A store clerk (Mimi Rogers) gets everything on her wish list.

9 p.m. (FOOD) "All Star Holiday Gifts"

9 p.m. (WGN) "Feed the Children Holiday Special."

THURSDAY

8 p.m. (Ch. 9) "Outta Control Christmas" Holiday decorations.

9 p.m. (FAM) "Home Alone 4" Kevin tries to reunite his separated parents.

9 p.m. (FOOD) "All Star Holiday Cookies"

CITY ― For most people, the upcoming holidays mean extra time with family.

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But what's a person to do if holiday family get-togethers rank right up there with having a root canal?

Perhaps it's the memory of the time Great-aunt Carol commented on your weight gain or the time that Mom opened a family discussion about your upcoming divorce or maybe the ongoing family debate about your parenting skills.

Brandy Strom Dugger, a counselor with Behavior Management Systems, said people deal with family issues year-round, but the holidays tend to exacerbate them.

The fact that families spend a lot of time together over the holidays, combined with an often unrealistic expectation of how the holidays should play out, often leads to problems.

To help people negotiate the perils of the holidays, Strom Dugger offers some useful tips.

n Prepare a list ahead of time of the positive reasons to spend time with family. Refer to the list when you start to get bogged down with bad feelings. "Look for the positives and repeat to yourself that this happens once a year," she said.

n Plan ahead. Prepare yourself for the comments from Uncle Bob criticizing your mashed potatoes. Make a plan as to how you're going to calmly handle it.

n Remember that it's not about you. "Know that you can't change your relatives and you only have control over your own behavior," Strom Dugger said.

n If you start to feel overwhelmed, politely leave the room. Find someone else who doesn't stress you out. "Hang out with the kids," she said.

n Refuse to engage in negative conversations. Smile and disarm the situation with humor. "You just have to remember that 'I don't have to fall into this,'" Strom Dugger said.

n Keep family time short. If the family situation is overly stressful, make plans to limit it. "Maybe try to minimize the time with the family … making other plans so you can leave early or arrive late," she said.

n Don't read too much into comments. "The older family members; I don't think they're doing it on purpose," Strom Dugger said. "They're trying to be helpful and not realizing that it's possibly hurtful."

n Have realistic expectations. Your memories of making Christmas cookies as a kid might be pristine, but remember that each year is different. Allow traditions to grow and evolve and remember that memories are usually seen through rose-colored glasses.

With a few of these tools in hand, the holidays don't have to be a negative time. In fact, they might just turn out to be a pleasant experience.

"There's a lot of joy to be found over the holidays if you just minimize some of that stress," Strom Dugger said. "I think a lot of times, we probably make more stress than we need."

Top 10 table talk land mines

Thanksgiving can mean the ideal family get-together or a day of awkward moments, uncomfortable silences and eruptions of family feuds. Here are Debra Fine's Top 10 Conversation Landmines (from her book, "The Fine Art of Small Talk," published by Hyperion):

1. "Are you two ever going to get married?"

2. "No, thanks. I gave up drinking after I saw the toll it took on you."

3. "When are you two going to make me a grandmother?"

4. "Cool Whip is interesting. Did you ever think of serving the real stuff instead?"

5. "Aren't you full yet?" or "Why aren't you eating anything?"

6. "Yes, I know you're a parent. But haven't you ever thought about working?"

7. "I see you still can't be bothered with ironing a blouse."

8. "How is it that your son looks just like you and your daughter looks like she could be from a different family?"

9. "Did you cook this yourself, or did you just thaw it out?"

10. "Forget this poison nonsense ― just spread the legs open and stuff it in, the way that I always do."

Films that put the fun in dysfunctional

Looking for some good holiday films? We've compiled a list of just a few of the best dysfunctional family holiday films.

n "What's Cooking," (2000), a comedy/drama starring Mercedes Ruehl ― In LA's Fairfax district, where ethnic groups abound, four households celebrate Thanksgiving amid family tensions and cultural traditions. PG-13

n "Pieces of April" (2003), a comedy starring Katie Holmes, Patricia Clarkson and Oliver Platt ― Set on Thanksgiving, "Pieces of April" examines one family's attempts to get together for the festivities when the family wild child, April, invites her middle-of-the road family to her New York apartment. PG-13

n "The Family Stone" (2005), starring Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker and Luke Wilson ― A buttoned-down businesswoman follows her boyfriend home for Christmas and finds that she's an outsider to their eccentric ways. PG-13

n "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" (1989), a comedy starring Chevy Chase ― The Griswolds struggle to have a pleasant Christmas celebration, despite the obnoxious relatives. PG-13

n Home for the Holidays (1995), a comedy/drama starring Holly Hunter ― When Claudia Larson loses her job and finds out her daughter won't be spending the holidays with her, she is faced with spending the holidays with her crazy family. PG-13

n "Mixed Nuts" (1994), a comedy starring Steve Martin and Adam Sandler ― Things get wild at a crisis hotline business during the Christmas holidays. PG-13

n "Christmas in Connecticut" (1992, TV), a comedy starring Dyan Cannon and Tony Curtis ― Elizabeth, a successful cooking show star and cookbook author, attempts to cook a Christmas dinner for a man who has lost his home in a fire during a live broadcast of her show. Unfortunately, she can't cook.

n "A Christmas Story" (1983), a comedy starring Peter Billingsley ― Little Ralphie, growing up in 1940s Indiana, wants nothing more than a Red Rider BB Gun. His mother has other ideas. PG-13

n "Elf," (2003), a comedy starring Will Ferrell, James Caan and Bob Newhart ― When Buddy the Elf, towering over his fellow North Pole elves, finally realizes that he's not actually an elf,
Peter Billingsley
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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.

Contents
1 Biography
1.1 Early life, family, and education
1.2 Career
1.3 Other work
2 References
3 External links



[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life, family, and education
Billingsley was born in New York, New York. His father, Alwin Michaelsen, is a financial consultant who graduated from Princeton in 1954[3][4], and his mother, Gail Billingsley was once Alwin's secretary. Gail is the niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley. Gail's cousin, Glenn Billingsley, was briefly married to actress Barbara Billingsley who continued to use his last name for her stage name.[5] Gail was the one who initially took the children around to auditions. All five of the children in the family had acting careers when they were young. The oldest of Billingsley's siblings, Dina and Win, had the briefest acting careers working mostly in commercials with brief guest spots on television shows. Dina and her current husband live in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Win is now an attorney in Istanbul, Turkey.[6][7] Billingsley's older sister Melissa Michaelsen was probably best known for her role as Maxx Davis in the 1980 television show Me and Maxx.[8] Slightly older than Peter is brother Neil Billingsley who began playing Danny Walton on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1975 and had numerous roles in commercials, and guest shots on TV series. Following his acting career, Neil entered the world of finance and works in New York City.

Billingsley received his early childhood education from a combination of tutors (including child actor tutor Wesley Staples), public schools and private institutions (including the Professional Children's School in New York City), and eventually passed his California High School Proficiency Exam at the age of fourteen. He seems to have also attended some public secondary schools following the GED including Arcadia High School in Phoenix. In the late 1980's, Billingsley took a brief break from show business to attend Phoenix College.


[edit] Career
Billingsley's first acting gig was as a two-year-old baby in a Geritol commercial with Eight is Enough's Betty Buckley playing his mom. He went on to star in about 120 television ads throughout the seventies and early eighties. At twelve years old he was quoted as saying: "After 100, you lose count." Early articles refer to him as "the Chicken Franks' commercial cutie," but his most famous ads were a series of commercials for Hershey's chocolate syrup in the eighties as the popular character Messy Marvin.[9][10]

One of the earliest film roles for Billingsley was the 1978 film If I Ever See You Again which was written and directed by Joseph Brooks. In 1981, Peter acted in the film Paternity opposite Burt Reynolds and was nominated as "Best Young Comedian - Motion Picture or Television" at The Young Artist Awards for his work.[11] Later in the year, he was featured in Honky Tonk Freeway. In October of 1981, Billingsley was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

1982 was the breakout year for Billingsley. He starred in several features including Death Valley, Massarati and the Brain, and the made-for-TV movie Memories Never Die with Lindsay Wagner and his sister, Melissa Michaelsen. Billingsley also had a featured guest role as Gideon Hale on Little House on the Prairie. The best role he landed that year, though, was being himself on the popular hit Real People which would bring him into America's homes each week for the next three years. He was again nominated for The Young Artist Award trophy for Real People.[12] This gig also led to a very brief stint on the two episode series Real Kids.

1983 saw Billingsley starring in a film that did not do terribly well on its initial release but has since become a holiday staple. A Christmas Story, based on Jean Shepherd's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, built its audience slowly over the years and is now shown twenty-four hours a day on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A Christmas Story is a story about a young boy named Ralphie (Billingsley) who wants a particular BB gun for Christmas and all the grown-ups trying to discourage him by warning that he'll shoot his eye out. Along the way, there are many side stories. This film earned Peter another Young Artist Award nomination.[13]

The following year, Billingsley starred in an adaptation of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency opposite Dick Van Patten, Gabe Kaplan and a 266 pound chicken named Henrietta. This was a special Thanksgiving episode of the PBS series WonderWorks.[14] He also appeared on the popular game show Family Feud on one of their Super Teens specials and another game show called Celebrity Hot Potato, which was hosted by Bill Cullen.[15] As the late-eighties approached, Billingsley's acting career was in decline. He found work as a guest star on series like Who's The Boss?, Punky Brewster, The Wonder Years,[16] and Highway To Heaven,[17][18] and saw occasional film work with The Dirt Bike Kid (for which he won a Young Artist Award)[19], Carly's Web, Russkies and Beverly Hills Brats.

The early nineties saw Billingsley tackling older roles such as a would-be jock who gets hooked on steroids (with predictably catastrophic results) in the CBS Schoolbreak Special The Fourth Man, which also starred Nicole Eggert (as Billingsley's worried girlfriend) and late football great Lyle Alzado and which boasted a memorable music score by new age-composer/TV host John Tesh. It was on this project where he would meet and form his close friendship with Vince Vaughn.[20]

Another CBS Schoolbreak Special was 1994's The Writing on the Wall, starring Hal Linden as a rabbi who teaches three teenage boys about the horrors of intolerance after they are caught defacing his home, temple, and car with swastikas and anti-Semitic graffiti. Linden won an Emmy for his role and Peter was nominated for one.[21][22]


[edit] Other work
As he grew older, his acting career lost momentum, waning through a string of variable projects. The most rewarding of his later film acting assignments was 1993's Arcade, in which he starred as a teenaged "virtual reality" addict, and also worked as the post-production supervisor using the last name Michaelsen. He made some career decisions and began working behind the scenes more. Going under the name Peter Michaelsen, Billingsley worked as an assistant editor on a film called Knights which starred Kris Kristofferson. In 1994, Peter starred in, wrote, and directed the short film The Sacred Fire using the last name Billingsley but was listed with the name Michaelsen as the executive producer. This film won an Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films' Golden Scroll Award. His career behind the scenes continued on with much success including work on The Discovery Channel's A.R.K., The Adventures of Animal Rescue Kids, Patriot Son, The X Show, Made, and Elf . In 2001, he was nominated for an Emmy Award as co-executive producer for the show Dinner for Five. In 2005, he helped produce the movie Zathura (2005). He recently served as an executive producer for the Universal Pictures production The Break-Up starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in which he also plays the supporting character Andrew appearing alongside frequent collaborator Jon Favreau. Billingsley is currently serving as executive producer on director Favreau's Iron Man feature film.[23][24]

Billingsley has never completely given up his acting career, having small roles in Sherman Oaks,[25] Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare, Elf, L.A. Heat and No Deposit, No Return, which was voted Best Feature Film at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival in 2000.[26] Peter also took an acting part in an experimental film for the new MaxiVision 48 projection system developed by Dean Goodhill.[27]

Billingsley released a CD entitled Christmas Stories...Christmas Songs on Run For Cover Records in 1999 with longtime friend Brian Evans.[28]