American actress
Amy O'Neill
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Amy_O%27Neill_at_Mouse-Con%2C_Concord_Ca._November_2023.jpg/220px-Amy_O%27Neill_at_Mouse-Con%2C_Concord_Ca._November_2023.jpg) O'Neill at Concord Mouse-Con in 2023
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Born
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Occupation(s)
| Actress, circus-style performer
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Years active
| Acting: 1984?1994, 2016, 2019
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Amy O'Neill
is an American actress. She started as a child actress in 1984, appearing in several sitcoms before a 30-episode run as pregnant teen Molly Stark on
The Young and the Restless
in 1986. She may be best known for her role as high-schooler Amy Szalinski in the 1989
Disney
film,
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
, for which she was nominated for a
Young Artist Award
. She retired from acting in the 1990s, joined a circus-style entertainment troupe, appeared in documentaries about her childhood roles, and returned to acting with two
short films
and a television episode in the late 2010s.
Early life
[
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]
O'Neill was born in
Pacific Palisades, California
, the daughter of Virginia, an art school director, and Thomas O'Neill, a
Los Angeles
construction company owner.
[1]
She is the third of five children; her two older siblings performed in commercials while children.
Career
[
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]
O'Neill began auditioning for parts at age ten with her older siblings.
[1]
After school, the kids would drive out to
Hollywood
. O'Neill made her first appearance on television at age 13 in an episode of
Mama's Family
as a younger version of
Betty White
's character,
Ellen Harper
. She continued working on television shows such as
Matt Houston
,
Night Court
,
Highway to Heaven
and
The Twilight Zone
. She also appeared on the American game show,
Body Language
in the summer of 1985. After an appearance on
Family Ties
, O'Neill won the role of the pregnant teenager Molly Stark on the daytime soap,
The Young and the Restless
for thirty episodes in 1986.
She appeared in the 1989 television films,
Desperate for Love
as
Tammy Lauren
's best friend, with
Christian Slater
and as Jodie in
I Know My First Name is Steven
, before appearing in her most recognized role as Amy Szalinski in
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
. In the film, she and her brother are shrunk to 1/4 inch high by the father's (
Rick Moranis
) shrink ray.
O'Neill had a role in an episode of
Star Trek: The Next Generation
, but her scenes were cut due to time constraints, leaving her as a background extra in a crowd scene. She played Lisa Barnes in the
unsold pilot
Where's Rodney?
, with
Rodney Dangerfield
and her
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
co-star
Jared Rushton
. She continued working in television series such as
Room for Romance
,
The Young Riders
, and
Gabriel's Fire
, and starred as Susan Hartley in an episode of
Murder, She Wrote
.
She reprised the role of Amy Szalinski in the 1992 film
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
, albeit only in the opening scene where she leaves for college. The reason for this is that the film was originally a standalone story unrelated to
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
, and when the plot was changed to include the Szalinski family, there was no parallel character for O'Neill to replace. Amy Szalinski is also mentioned but does not appear in the third film,
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
.
O'Neill later appeared in the television film,
White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II
as Pandra, one of the young adults stuck in the
Cascade Mountains
, having to fend for themselves. In 1994, she appeared in the
National Lampoon
film,
Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women
as a German Skater.
O'Neill returned to television in 2005 to appear in an MTV documentary with her
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
co-star
Thomas Wilson Brown
in
The 100 Greatest Family Films
. In 2008, she appeared as an Officer's wife in an independent film,
The Japanese Sandman
.
As of 2023
[update]
, O'Neill was working to produce a film tentatively titled
Burn Down the Night
, based on the 1982 book of the same name by
Craig Strete
, about the life of
Jim Morrison
before he joined
The Doors
.
[2]
Personal life
[
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]
As of 2002
[update]
, O'Neill was active in the
performance art
community of Los Angeles, as one of the trio Girls on Stilts, a circus-style troupe. The then-30-year-old was not married and did not have any children.
[1]
Filmography
[
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Films
[
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]
Television
[
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References
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
Yu, Ting (May 20, 2002).
"Going Full Stilt"
.
People
. Vol. 57, no. 19.
Archived
from the original on February 6, 2021
. Retrieved
February 6,
2021
.
Since then O'Neill, 30, has discovered…
- ^
Chris O'Neill (interviewer), Amy O'Neill (February 12, 2023).
Amy O'Neill Exclusive Interview
(
YouTube
).
Tampa, Florida
. Retrieved
November 7,
2023
.
External links
[
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]