If you’re like me and grew up in the 1980s, there’s a decent chance you’ve seen Sixteen Candles a few times (or a few hundred times). For me, it was one of those great ‘80s movies that I can still watch over and over, even if I fully acknowledge that there are a lot of problematic moments in the movie. That has been discussed a lot, but what I never knew until just recently is what happened to Michael Schoeffling, the actor who played Sam’s crush, Jake Ryan. It turns out he simply didn’t like being famous and has instead opted for a quieter life in rural Pennsylvania.
By 1991, He Was Out Of Hollywood
In the mid-’80s, Schoeffling, who turned 65 last year, was a very in-demand actor and budding star. In addition to Sixteen Candles, he starred in a few well-received movies that any Gen Xer could quickly identify. He followed up the 1984 John Hughes movie with a starring role in 1985’s Vision Quest, alongside Linda Fiorentino and Matthew Modine. Then, after a few box office misses, he starred in 1990’s Mermaids and 1991’s Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. And then…that’s it. There isn’t another movie or TV show on his resume.
A breakout star in the ‘80s was completely done by the very early ‘90s. Other actors who had their breakouts in Sixteen Candles, like Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, and John Cusack, are still acting today, but Schoeffling completely disappeared from the scene. This wasn’t because he was no longer in-demand, nor was it because of any personal issues that have derailed many a career over the years. He simply wanted to live a quieter life, outside of the hot lights and attention of Hollywood.
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Schoeffling Is A Woodworker And Carpenter
There are no salacious tabloid stories of booze and pills or anything like that with Schoeffling. He’s never been in legal trouble (as far as I can tell). He wasn’t blackballed for being a pain in the ass on set. He wasn’t a bad actor who outgrew his good looks. Instead, he decided that Hollywood and the film industry weren’t for him and he retired from business, left Los Angeles and settled in a small town in Pennsylvania where he could just be a regular guy. You have to respect that.
There isn’t a lot out there about his life in his hometown of Newfoundland, PA, and that is by design. He hasn’t given an interview since leaving the business, but his wife of almost 40 years, Valerie Robinson, herself a model in the 1980s, told People (via Us Magazine) in 2014 that he is “very happy,” but “He’s very reclusive and private.” According to a report in Hello! earlier this year, he has a woodworking business building custom furniture. He and Robinson have two kids, including Scarlett Schoeffling, who is in show business, working as a model and actor these days.
Part of me wants to dig a little deeper into Schoeffling’s life after Hollywood and maybe find some of his custom furniture, but an even bigger part wants to respect his wishes to be private, so I’ll leave well enough alone. In the meantime, I just found out I can stream Sixteen Candles, still one of the best high school movies ever, with my YouTube TV subscription, so I know what I’m doing tonight.