movies and TV shows have become quite popular over the years. Born in 1962, the American actress and writer has come a very long way in a career that has been running since 1975 when she made her TV debut appearing on To Tell The Truth TV game show. As an actress, she made her debut in the early 1980s and has since then appeared in close to a hundred movies and TV production.
More so, she has earned some nominations in the process and has also won some awards. Inasmuch as she may not be described as the greatest actress (not in the Meryl Streep category, at least), she has also achieved quite a lot in Hollywood.
Best Ally Sheedy Movies and TV Shows
1. WarGames (War Games) (1983)
Inasmuch as this is one of the earliest Ally Sheedy movies to hit the silver screen more than three decades ago, it still finds its way as one of her best. Directed by John Badham, this science fiction had the then-young actress portraying Jennifer Mack. The movie tells of the time of the Cold War in which the government gives a computer the sole and irreversible power to launch a nuclear missile if an actual war begins. The aim of the Pentagon while doing this is to eliminate any chances that may be left with humans. Now the problem as time ticks is to reverse and cancel the resolve of the computer as it has decided to send bombers to Russia.
The movie enjoyed both critical and commercial success making $79.6 million in the box office from a budget of only $12 million. She got nominated for her first Saturn Award as well as a Young Artist Award for her role in the film.
2. Bad Boys (1983)
This film is very significant because not only is it still among her best works, it is also her debut movie as well as the debut of other great actors like Clancy Brown and Alan Ruck. Despite the collection of very young actors, the movie still turned out to be great.
Sheedy plays the role of J.C. Walenski in the Rick Rosenthal directed movie. She is the girlfriend of Sean Penn who portrays Mick O’Brien, a teenage hoodlum who is thrown behind bars for killing Paco Moreno’s (Esai Morales) brother while trying to escape a crime. He becomes the Leader of the Block. Walenski gets raped by Paco in revenge. He also ends up in the same prison as Mick and now the two young men are ready to slug it out.
3. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Not so many actors recorded good success with their first movies as much as Ally Sheedy did with her rather rapid success in Hollywood. The Breakfast Club is one of her first films and it still stands among her finest many years later. In the film which was directed by John Hughes, she played the role of Allison Reynolds a high school student who along with others, are made to spend the weekend in detention.
Being an outcast, she is joined in detention by others from different cliques such as Claire Standish (Molly Ringwald) who is pampered, Brain Johnson (Anthony Michael Hall), John Bender (Judd Nelson) who is delinquent, and Andrew Clark (Emilio Estevez) who is a wrestler. They are supervised by their autocratic assistant principal Richard Vernon as portrayed by Paul Gleason and so they have to bond together.
A critically acclaimed movie, it made $51.5 million in Box office from a budget of $1 million.
4. High Art (1998)
Among the finest Ally Sheedy movies is this 1998 film which was directed by Lisa Cholodenko. It is not the biggest film that Sheedy would appear in, but it is still one of her best more than two decades later. Before taking part in the film, the actress once had a sleeping pill addiction for which she was later treated. It is from the experience that she drew some inspiration for her character here.
She played the role of Lucy Berliner, a photographer who is easy to like although a drug addict. She begins work with Radha Mitchell who portrays Syd, but their working relationship soon turns sexual and they are now in love. But then Syd finds out about who the beautiful photographer is.
Although the movie earned her a few awards including the Independent Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, it made less than $2 million in Box office.
5. Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
As a film, Twice in a Lifetime did not receive such critical acclaim. However, the actors played their role so well that while it remains one of the best works of Ally, it earned Amy Madigan an Academy Award nomination as well as a Golden Globe nomination. The film also got Gene Hackman an Oscars nomination.
The movie was directed by Bud Yorkin. It tells the story of a man Harry Mackenzie, as played by Gene Hackman and his wife Kate Mackenzie as portrayed by Ellen Burstyn. The two have been married for many years, although the union has come to lack any passion. And for his 50th birthday, Mackenzie gets the permission of his wife to go out and have some fun. He gets to meet another woman and his marriage would not only end, but his family life will not remain the same again.
Ally takes the role of Helen Mackenzie, the daughter of Harry and Kate. She is preparing for her wedding but the end of her parents’ marriage does not sit well with her. The film made over $8 million in Box office.
6. St. Elmo’s Fire (1985)
Still among the earliest films of Ally Sheedy, this 1985 film is directed by Joel Schumacher. It tells the story of young friends that have just graduated from college. They are caught between trying to maintain their lives as it has been since they were in college and the realization that things will have to change. With the intrigues of relationships coming to play, the friends are forced to go their separate ways.
The actress portrays a young architect, Leslie Hunter who is in a relationship with Alec Newbury (Judd Nelson) who aims to become a politician. Like everything else, their relationship will also have to go through the changes but will it survive?
7. Life During Wartime (2009)
Most of the great films that the actress appeared in were in the 1980s with a handful in the 1990s. In the 2000s, she was in this comedy-drama film which was directed by Todd Solondz. A sequel to the 1998 film Happiness which she didn’t feature in, the movie tells the story of a dysfunctional family with Joy (Shirley Henderson) always having problems with her husband. She would also be having visions of a former lover who committed suicide but is still trying to win her from the great beyond.
Ally Sheedy portrays Helen Jordan, a woman who is very bitter and not happy with her family life as well as her work as a screenwriter. While it was critically a success to some extent, this movie failed to make any significant success commercially.
8. Only the Lonely (1991)
This comedy-drama is not the biggest movie on any day, neither is it the most critically acclaimed. She plays Theresa Luna in the movie, a woman who works in a funeral home. She falls in love with a policeman, Officer Daniel Muldoon (Danny) who is portrayed by John Candy. Luna has the mother of Danny to grapple with as the older woman feels threatened by the presence of a new woman in the life of her son who has always lived with her.
Directed by Chris Columbus, the romantic comedy-drama made over $25 million in Box office.
9. Little Sisters (2016)
One of the newer films of the actress, this 2016 film is a surprising entry among her best movies because it is one of her least-known works on one hand, and it is a pretty much small movie on the other. However, it is still her highest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie is written and directed by Zach Clark. The dark comedy tells the story of a young nun-in-training, Colleen Lunsford as portrayed nu Addison Timlin who returns home to see her brother who has just returned home from the war in Iraq.
10. Her best TV Shows
Ally Sheedy has appeared in a good number of TV films and some TV shows. However, she has not had any major role on TV shows. That said, her most popular works on TV include the 1983 drama series Hill Street Blues in which she acted as Kristen and was in 3 episodes of the show. Also, she was in Kyle XY from 2008 to 2009, appearing in 4 episodes as Sarah and was later in Psych as Yang. In the TV show, she was also in 4 episodes.
As stated, she has also appeared in many more TV shows over the years, making appearances in single episodes including in The Hidden Room (1993), OZ (2001), Once and Again (2002), and The Dead Zone (2006).
Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.
