Michael Schoeffling

Michael Schoeffling
Born	Michael Earl Schoeffling December 10, 1960 (1960-12-10) (age 50) Wilkes-Barre, PA, United States
Years active	1984-91

Michael Schoeffling (born December 10, 1960) is an American former actor, and male model, best known for playing Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles, Kuch in Vision Quest, and Joe in Mermaids.

Biography

Early life & education

Schoeffling was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and raised in South Jersey. He graduated from Cherokee High School in New Jersey, and majored in Liberal Arts at Temple University in Philadelphia. In the mid-1980s he began modeling for GQ, and star photographer Bruce Weber paid for his acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan.^[1] Michael Schoeffling was found in a mall by a famous designer.

Wrestling

An accomplished youth and collegiate wrestler, Michael has won medals in various national and international tournaments. He won a gold medal for the United States in freestyle wrestling, as a member of the National Junior Wrestling Team in a meet held in Munich, Germany in 1978.^[2] His considerable wrestling skills were downplayed as 'Kuch' in Vision Quest, where he wrestled Matthew Modine, his teammate in the movie, and lost by fall in a wrestle off.

Jake Ryan

Schoeffling came to international prominence in his role as 'Jake Ryan' in Sixteen Candles, playing the popular yet sensitive high school athlete Molly Ringwald's character has a crush on. For Valentine's Day in 2004, twenty years after the film's American premiere, the Washington Post ran an article entitled "Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles", which discussed the enduring appeal of the character.^[3]

On set Schoeffling used risers in his boots to appear taller than Ringwald and the other actresses in Sixteen Candles. Schoeffling stood 5'8" and several camera angles were used to give the appearance of a 6' tall jock.

Life after Sixteen Candles

Schoeffling never duplicated the success of Sixteen Candles, and in various magazine and newspaper interviews stated the lack of roles and a growing family to feed were his reasons for retiring from acting. He now lives with his wife, Valerie L. Robinson of Virginia, also a former model, and their two teenage children Scarlet and Zane, in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania, producing handcrafted furniture as the owner of a woodworking shop.

Filmography

Movies

• Racing with the Moon (1984) as Amputee soldier (uncredited)
• Sixteen Candles (1984) as Jake Ryan
• Vision Quest (1985) as Kuch
• Sylvester (1985) as Matt
• Belizaire the Cajun (1986) as Hypolite Leger
• Let's Get Harry (1986) as Corey Burck
• Slaves of New York (1989) as Jan
• Longtime Companion (1990) as Michael
• Mermaids (1990) as Joe Porretti
• Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (1991) as Al Carver

Television

• The Hitchhiker (1986) "Dead Man's Curve" episode, as Lance

See also

	Biography portal
	Philadelphia portal

References

1. ^ *Sixteen Candles press release
2. ^ Sixteen Candles press release
3. ^ "Reflections on Jake Ryan of the John Hughes Film Sixteen Candles"

External links

• Michael Schoeffling at the Internet Movie Database
• Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of 'Sixteen Candles' Washington Post article
• Sixteen Candles press release

Persondata
Name	Schoeffling, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 10, 1960
Place of birth	Wilkes-Barre, PA, United States
Date of death
Place of death