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 ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'' in 1986. She may be best known for her role as high-schooler Amy Szalinski in the 1989

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

film, ''

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' is a 1989 American science fiction comedy film. It is the first installment of a film franchise and served as the directorial debut of Joe Johnston. The film stars Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman, an ...

'', for which she was nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

. 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 film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s and a television episode in the late 2010s.

Early life

O'Neill was born in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of the city of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of downtown Los Angeles. Throughout January 2025, the majority of Pacific Palisades was severely affec ...

, the daughter of Virginia, an art school director, and Thomas O'Neill, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

construction company owner. She is the third of five children; her two older siblings performed in commercials while children.

Career

O'Neill began auditioning for parts at age ten with her older siblings. After school, the kids would drive out to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. O'Neill made her first appearance on television at age 13 in an episode of ''

Mama's Family ''Mama's Family'' is an American sitcom television series starring Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper, Mama (Thelma Harper). The series is a spin-off of a recurring series of comedy sketches called "The Family (sketch), The Family" featured on ''T ...

'' as a younger version of

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

's character, Ellen Harper. She continued working on television shows such as ''

Matt Houston ''Matt Houston'' is an American crime drama television series starring Lee Horsley as the title character, a wealthy oilman who holds a side job as a private investigator. Created by Lawrence Gordon and produced by Aaron Spelling, it origin ...

'', ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 4, 1984, and ended on May 31, 1992, after nine seasons consisting of List of Night Court episodes, 193 episodes. The show is set in the night shift of a Manhattan ...

'', ''

Highway to Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred its creator and co-director Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth to help peo ...

'' and ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. She also appeared on the American game show, ''

Body Language Body language is a type of nonverbal communication in which physical behaviors, as opposed to words, are used to express or convey information. Such behavior includes facial expressions, body posture, gestures, eye movement, touch and the use o ...

'' in the summer of 1985. After an appearance on ''

Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...

'', O'Neill won the role of the pregnant teenager Molly Stark on the daytime soap, ''

'' for thirty episodes in 1986. She appeared in the 1989 television films, '' Desperate for Love'' as Tammy Lauren's best friend, with

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor. He made his film debut with a leading role in '' The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakout role as Jason "J.D." Dean, a sociopath ...

and as Jodie in '' I Know My First Name is Steven'', before appearing in her most recognized role as Amy Szalinski in ''

''. In the film, she and her brother are shrunk to 1/4 inch high by the father's (

Rick Moranis Frederick Allan Moranis (; born April 18, 1953) is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, producer, songwriter and writer. Moranis appeared in the sketch comedy series '' Second City Television'' (''SCTV'') in the 1980s and starred afterward in s ...

) 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 Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, ...

and her ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' co-star

Jared Rushton Jared Michael Rushton (born March 3, 1974) is an American former actor who is best known for his roles in several films from the late 1980s, including ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'', ''Big'', and '' Overboard''. He has been nominated for two Satu ...

. She continued working in television series such as ''Room for Romance'', ''

The Young Riders ''The Young Riders'' is an American Western television series created by Ed Spielman that presents a fictionalized account of a group of young Pony Express riders (some of whom are young versions of legendary figures in Old West history) based ...

'', and '' Gabriel's Fire'', and starred as Susan Hartley in an episode of ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

''. 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. 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 The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

, 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 Thomas Wilson Brown is an American actor, who began his career by playing "Augie" in the western film '' Silverado''. Career The son of a cattle rancher and rodeo queen, Brown received his first role by answering a small advertisement in a local ...

in ''The 100 Greatest Family Films''. In 2008, she appeared as an Officer's wife in an independent film, ''The Japanese Sandman''. , 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 James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...

before he joined

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

Personal life

, O'Neill was active in the

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

community of Los Angeles as one of the trio Girls on Stilts, a circus-style troupe.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Amy 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Living people Actresses from Los Angeles People from Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles 21st-century American women Year of birth missing (living people)