Before Ally Sheedy became part of one of Hollywood’s most famous acting cliques, she was a published author of a bestselling children’s book. At 12 years old, Sheedy wrote a story about a unique heroine—a royal mouse. Exactly 10 years later, her acting career put her front and center as a member of the Brat Pack.
In 1975, Sheedy, now 64, published the book She Was Nice to Mice. The story, about Queen Elizabeth I and a mouse, Esther Long Whiskers Gray Hair Wallgate the 42nd, was based on Sheedy’s research into the Elizabethan period. The pre-teen’s fantasy novel became a national bestseller.
Speaking with Den of Geek in a 2008 interview, Sheedy explained how she got a publishing deal at such a young age.
“I have always written,” she shared. “My mother was a writer and I would read my stories to her. Her friend, writer and editor Joyce Johnson, was over when I read what would become the first two chapters of She Was Nice to Mice. It was Joyce’s idea to bring it to McGraw-Hill. And then she worked with me editing the book.”
Young Sheedy’s story was such a sensation that she was a guest on the TV game show To Tell the Truth, where she tricked two out of the four panelists trying to guess her identity.
“Our first guest today is a very, very young writer and her very first novel has been accepted by one of the major publishing houses,” host Gary Moore said in his introduction of Sheedy. “And what’s unique about it is that it is on the adult reading list and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that combination ever before in publishing!”
Sheedy’s hit book led to writing assignments with The New York Times, The Village Voice and Ms. Magazine, per Interview magazine. But by the early 1980s, Sheedy set her sights on a career as an actress.
Her first big break was in the 1983 movie Bad Boys with Sean Penn, but she became a household name in 1985 in the John Hughes movie The Breakfast Club, where she played loner high school student Allison.
“The Breakfast Club gave me my career,” Sheedy told Den of Geek. “It’s still very popular…a dream of an experience.”
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Sheedy also co-starred in St. Elmo’s Fire along with other big 20-somethings of the era, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson and Mare Winningham.
Several members of this group, along with Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, became known as the Hollywood Brat Pack. The term was coined by New York Magazine writer David Blum as a nickname for a group of young actors who starred in multiple teen or coming-of-age films in the 1980s.
RELATED: ’80s Brat Pack Star Ruled the Box Office Then Refused to Play Hollywood’s Game
Sheedy did not initially embrace the term.
“Being classified as ‘The Brat Pack’ ended up being a problem for most of us,” she shared. “There was pressure to break out and become a success individually…Things turned somewhat negative. It was depressing. Sometimes there are strange consequences for being successful in this society.”
Years later, the actress had a more nostalgic look back at her young career.
“My 20s were maybe not like other people’s 20s, but [also] kind of not that different,” Sheedy told Vanity Fair in 2022. “Movies and working in film and TV and all that—it was this all-consuming love affair in my 20s. This is what I want to do.”
While she still continues to act, today Sheedy is an adjunct lecturer at City College of New York as well as a book editor. Sheedy noted that these roles give her “fulfillment that’s actually completely different from the joy I get out of acting.”
Related: Molly Ringwald Doesn’t Want to See a ‘Breakfast Club’ Reboot For One Big Reason
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