male audiences like. The next hit with Hanks was
You’ve Got Mail(1998). Ryan plays the owner of a
small bookstore who is put out of business by a giant
bookshop, owned by Hanks’s character. All three
films show Ryan’s comic flair and made her an audi-
ence favorite.
During the 1990’s, Ryan also played serious roles,
ranging from Jim Morrison’s hippie girlfriend inThe
Doors(1991) to an alcoholic in bothFlesh and Bone
(1993) andWhen a Man Loves a Woman(1994). An-
other major role was as a helicopter pilot who is
killed in action inCourage Under Fire(1996). InCity of
Angels(1998), she played a caring doctor, and in the
same year Ryan startled film critics with her fine per-
formance as the drugged-out stripper inHurlyburly,
based on David Rabe’s black comedy. Ryan started
her own production company, Prufrock Pictures, in
1993 and coproducedFrench Kiss(1995) andTwo for
the Road(1997). In 1991, she married actor Dennis
Quaid. Their son was born in 1992. Ryan and Quaid
divorced in 2001.
Impact Although Ryan has played a number of se-
rious roles, she is best known for her comedy. More
cute than beautiful, Ryan is the representative hero-
ine of 1990’s romantic comedy. She plays profes-
sional women who, with humor, charm, and a cer-
tain pertness, not only are able to “get their man”
but also have a career. Whereas Doris Day, with her
immaculate hairstyles and designer clothes, was the
star of romantic comedy in the 1950’s, Meg Ryan—
tousle-headed and wearing casual clothes—assumed
this position in the 1990’s.
Further Reading
Corliss, Richard. “Star Lite, Star Bright.”Time, May,
22, 1995, 79.
Schneider, Karen, et al. “Ryan’s Express.”People,De-
cember 21, 1998, 104-110.
Marcia B. DinneenSee also Comedians; Film in the United States;
Hanks, Tom. Ryder, Winona
Identification American actor
Born October 29, 1971; Winona, Minnesota
Ryder was the best-known actress of her generation in the
1990’s and starred in the movie that characterized Genera-
tion X.Born Winona Laura Horowitz to Cynthia Istas
Palmer and Michael, Winona Ryder moved to San
Francisco with her family at age seven. Her parents
were intellectuals with strong ties to the nation’s al-
ternative communities. Family friends included her
godfather, counterculture icon Timothy Leary, and
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Living for some time with
six other families on a 300-acre commune in
Mendocino, California, Ryder attributes this experi-
ence, as well as other counterculture influences, to
her approach to acting, selection of movie roles, and
life. Despite her adult elegance and glamorous ap-
pearance, Ryder felt like an outsider when her fam-
ily moved to Petaluma, California, in 1981.
Her choice of film roles—ranging from ghoulish
teen, serial killer, child bride, devout Catholic, to
several period roles—reflects a quirkiness concern-
ing appropriateness of roles. Ryder turned down
roles that she felt were not right for her and with-738 Ryder, Winona The Nineties in America
Meg Ryan in 1997.(AP/Wide World Photos)