Born on October 29, 1971, in
Winona, Minnesota, Winona is a seasoned award winning actress. She was named after
the city in Minnesota where she was born. Winona's parents, Michael and Cindy
Horowitz were hippie intellectuals, and family friends include poet Allen Ginsberg,
and Timothy Leary, who was Winona's godfather. Winona
had a very interesting childhood. She lived briefly in Colombia with Chilean revolutionaries
before returning to northern California in 1974 with her parents. Her family then
moved to a commune in Mendocino, where they lived for four years without television
or electricity. In the early 80's, the family relocated to Petaluma, California.
As
a young actress, Winona had unusual success. Her waifish beauty and her ability
to portray innocence with world savvy characters landed her some great teenage
roles. Following the positive reception of "Lucas", Winona appeared
in the Golden Globe nominated drama "Square Dance". She then did a comic
turn as the frustrated daughter of oblivious yuppie parents in Tim Burton's "Beetlejuice".
In 1990, Winona appeared in "Mermaids", featuring Cher, and was nominated
for a Golden Globe and won a Best Supporting Actress Award from the National Board
of Review for her role.
Winona
backed out of a role in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather III" due
to exhaustion. She checked herself into a mental health facility to be treated
for the depression and anxiety that she had been intermittently suffering from
for years. Within a week of her hospitalization, she decided that her treatment
was not helping and opted to return to her home in San Francisco.
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Winona Ryder Nude Gallery