Michael Schoeffling

{{short description|American former actor and model (born 1960)}}{{Needs more sources|date=January 2025}}{{Infobox person

| image =

| caption =

| name = Michael Schoeffling

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1960|12|10}}

| birth_place = Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| birth_name = Michael Earl Schoeffling

| other_names =

| years_active = 1984–1991

| notable_works = Sixteen Candles

| occupation = Actor

}}

Michael Earl Schoeffling (born December 10, 1960) is an American former actor and model. He is known for playing the roles of Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles, Al Carver in Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, Kuch in Vision Quest, and Joe in Mermaids.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/63778/Michael-Schoeffling/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160320220414/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/63778/Michael-Schoeffling/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=2016-03-20|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|author=Cammila Collar|date=2016|title=Michael Schoeffling}}

Early life and education

Schoeffling was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and raised in South Jersey. He graduated from Cherokee High School in Evesham Township, New Jersey.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} He attended Temple University in Philadelphia, where he majored in liberal arts.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} In the mid-1980s he began modelling for GQ, and photographer Bruce Weber paid for his acting classes{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Manhattan.

Acting career

Schoeffling came to international prominence at the age of 23 for his role as Jake Ryan, the popular yet sensitive high school athlete on whom Molly Ringwald's character has a crush in the teen film Sixteen Candles. For Valentine's Day in 2004, twenty years after the film's American premiere, The Washington Post published an article entitled "Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles", which discussed the character's enduring appeal.{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603039.html|title=Reflections on Jake Ryan of the John Hughes Film 'Sixteen Candles'|first=Hank|last=Stuever|date=February 14, 2004}}

He appeared in eight additional films after Sixteen Candles, including roles in Vision Quest and Mermaids, and starring roles in the 1986 action film Let's Get Harry and 1991's Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

Post-acting career

After his acting career, Schoeffling opened a woodworking shop, producing handcrafted furniture.[http://www.crowdsocial.com/article/1174017/9-actors-who-quot-quit-quot-being-famous"9 Actors Who "Quit" Being Famous] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518103649/http://www.crowdsocial.com/article/1174017/9-actors-who-quot-quit-quot-being-famous |date=2015-05-18 }} His withdrawal from Hollywood was complete, and he has not done any interviews, convention appearances or the like since then.