Peter Billingsley

Peter Billingsley
Billingsley at the 2014 ATX TV Festival for Sullivan and Son
Born	Peter Michaelsen or Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen (disputed) (1971-04-16) April 16, 1971 (age 45) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, producer, director
Years active	1973–present

Peter Billingsley (born April 16, 1971), also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer, known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story and as "Messy Marvin" in the Hershey's Chocolate Syrup commercials during the 1970s. He began his career as an infant in television commercials.

Peter was born in New York City. His father, Alwin Michaelsen, is a financial consultant and his mother, Gail, was once Alwin's secretary. Gail is the niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley, and her cousin, Glenn Billingsley, was married to actress Barbara Billingsley (1915–2010), who used her married name as her acting name even after the divorce. Gail was the one who initially took the children around to auditions. She once took the children to Browns Mills, New Jersey for a commercial commemorating our troops. All five of the children in the family had acting careers when they were young. The oldest of Billingsley's siblings, Dina and Win, had the briefest acting careers working mostly in commercials with brief guest spots on television shows. Peter's elder sister, Melissa, may be best known for her role as Maxx Davis on Me and Maxx. Peter's older brother, Neil, began playing Danny Walton on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1975 and has had numerous roles in commercials and guest shots on TV series. Following his acting career, Neil works in finance in New York City.

Billingsley received his early childhood education from a combination of tutors (including child actor tutor Wesley Staples), public schools and private institutions (including the Professional Children's School in New York City), Phoenix Country Day School in Paradise Valley, AZ, and eventually passed his California High School Proficiency Exam at the age of fourteen. He seems to have also attended some public secondary schools following the GED including Arcadia High School, Phoenix, Arizona. In the late 1980s, he took a brief break from show business to attend Phoenix College.