Here’s what Ralphie from ‘A Christmas Story’ is up to today

I love me some Christmas Story. What’s not to love, right? One of my fave Christmas traditions is watching this movie with a big bowl of popcorn and quoting the dialogue line-by-line. Those icicles have been known to kill people! He looks like a deranged Easter Bunny. You’ll shoot your eye out! Seriously, if this sounds like a fun Christmas activity to you, call me. We could totally hang.

I forget sometimes that Peter Billingsley, the actor who played Ralphie, still isn’t a 9-year-old dying for an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle. But it’s been 23 years since the movie came out, so yeah, Ralphie’s not a kid any more. He’s all grown up now. Spoiler alert: he did NOT shoot his eye out. In fact he’s still got those baby blues.

And a Twitter account…

Billingsley recently got engaged to Buffy Bains. I know. It’s a little weird thinking about adorable Ralphie Parker making a trip down the aisle, but there you go. (Note to self: Ralphie is a fictional character and not a real person.) Peter, meanwhile, has continued to work on Christmas-themed films as a grownup. He was an executive producer on Four Christmases (Vince Vaughn is apparently his bestie), and had a small role in Elf. (He’s also done a ton of other work, including directing Couples Retreat and producing Iron Man, NBD.)  

So how does the very real, grown up person Peter Billingsley feel about being a Christmas icon? Pretty good, apparently. He still owns some awesome memorabilia from the movie, including the “pink nightmare” of a bunny suit and the infamous Red Ryder BB gun. (This makes me smile so much.) “The film brings a lot of joy to a lot of people,” he told Good Housekeeping. “People keep watching it over and over and over and over. It just doesn’t go away.”

No, it doesn’t. A Christmas Story is as much a part of the holidays as ugly Christmas sweaters and twinkling lights. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

[Images via Warner Bros. and Shutterstock]

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