She became popular with teenage audiences in the 1980s, as a result of her starring role in the 1984 film, Sixteen Candles, as well as in many other teen movies.

Ringwald was born in Roseville, California, the daughter of blind jazz pianist Robert Scott Ringwald and Adele, a housewife; she has two siblings, Elizabeth and Kelly. She started her acting career at age five, starring in a stage production of Alice in Wonderland as the dormouse. By the time she was six years old, she had recorded a music album of Dixieland jazz with her father; this album has now become highly collectible. At age eight, Ringwald was cast in a role on the television series, The Facts of Life and sang one track on a 1980 Disney Christmas album.

Ringwald appeared in several episodes of the television series Diff'rent Strokes in 1979. That year, she became a cast member of the spin-off The Facts of Life, but her character was written out after the first season. Turning toward motion pictures, her breakout role was Sixteen Candles (1984). Ringwald was a member of the so-called Brat Pack of 1980s teen actors. The term was first coined in 1985, after Ringwald's night out with a reporter for The New Yorker magazine, who published a sensationalist article naming her and fellow actors (Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore and Anthony Michael Hall) as The Brat Pack.

Though she played a high school "princess" in her biggest hit, 1985's The Breakfast Club, Ringwald specialized in portrayals of moody, awkward, brainy, angst-filled characters. Her performances greatly influenced teen-oriented television and movies that would follow in the 1990s, as previous films with teenage subjects were mostly of the horror or exploitation comedy genres, and did not attempt to realistically portray teenage life.

Among Ringwald's movies are Fresh Horses, The Pick Up Artist and Pretty in Pink. During the mid and late 1980s period when Ringwald was Hollywood's top female teen, she appeared in countless covers of such publications as Tiger Beat, Teen and many others.

Ringwald reportedly turned down the leading role of Julia Roberts' part in the 1990 box office smash Pretty Woman and also Demi Moore's leading role in the film Ghost. Her career slowed down in the 1990s, as she appeared mainly in made-for-TV and direct-to-video B-horror films. In 1995, her nude appearance in the film Malicious made some media waves due to her previous archetypical 'good girl' movie roles. Her 1996 return to television, starring on the ABC sitcom "Townies", was critically-praised, but low viewer ratings resulted in the show's cancellation after nine episodes.

During the 1990s, Ringwald also lived in France for four years and appeared in French-language films. She is currently participating in stage plays in London, and performed on Broadway before moving to England. The Detroit rock group Sponge had a 1995 hit "Molly (Sixteen Candles)", that appeared to make several clear references to Ringwald and her film career, even though the song's title was not mentioned in its lyrics. The band denied that the song was about her.

Ringwald recently appeared in Not Another Teen Movie — a parody/tribute film of many teen films, including some that Ringwald appeared in. In late 2004, she starred in the play Modern Orthodox on Broadway, opposite Jason Biggs and Craig Bierko. In the fall of 2006, Ringwald, who has previously appeared in Cabaret and Enchanted April on stage, will star in the national tour of the recent Broadway revival of the musical Sweet Charity that starred Christina Applegate. [1]

She most recently appeared in an episode of the tv series Medium in the episode The Darkness is Light Enough, as a blind woman. She will be appearing in "Molly: An American Girl Victory" as Helen McIntire in late Fall 2006.

Ringwald dated actor Anthony Michael Hall during the time when they co-starred in several films. She was romantically linked with Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz in the mid 1980s; at the time, rumours incorrectly hinted at their marriage. Ringwald married her long time fiancé, Valery Lameignère, on July 28, 1999, but they have since filed for divorce. On October 22, 2003, she gave birth to her first child, daughter Mathilda Ereni, with boyfriend Panio Gianopoulos.