You won't quite believe it, but hyper-violent family classic Home Alone is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.
Prepare for a rush of nostalgia as we find out what became of Kevin McCallister, The Wet Bandits and the supporting players of the hit '90s comedy.
Macaulay Culkin
The biggest child star of the '90s, Culkin was box office gold as Kevin McCallister in two Home Alone movies and bee-sting weepie My Girl. Things began to unravel thanks to a trio of flops - Getting Even with Dad, The Pagemaster and Richie Rich - and a turbulent personal life that saw him arrested for drugs possession in 2004. Prior to that he married (then divorced) actress Rachel Mine and dated Mila Kunis for nine years.
He returned to acting this year, playing himself in The Jim Gaffigan Show (a first on-screen appearance in six years) and has forged on with a music career as frontman for The Pizza Underground. The flatbread-themed Velvet Underground comedy group hit the headlines in 2014 when Culkin stormed off stage during a kazoo solo when fans started booing and throwing beer at the group. Fair to say, then, that Culkin's life has been incident-packed.
Joe Pesci
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A cinema staple during the '80s and '90s, Joe Pesci struck fear into the hearts of Home Alone's younger fans as Wet Bandits burglar Harry. Sandwiched between his two Home Alone outings, Pesci won an Academy Award for Goodfellas and delivered what's probably the shortest ever Oscar acceptance speech.
In 1999, Pesci announced he would be retiring from acting to concentrate on a music career. The previous year, he released the album Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You (that featured a pseudo-cover of Blondie's 'Rapture' called 'Wise Guy'). He made a return to acting in 2006 with The Good Shepherd and later featured in 2010's Love Ranch, but has largely been absent from our screens since then. Well, apart from this Snickers commercial.
Daniel Stern
Wild-haired, dim-witted crook Marv was played by Daniel Stern, who you may also recognise from City Slickers and '80s favourites Diner and C.H.U.D. He's also a director of note, calling the shots on 10 episodes of The Wonder Years (a show he narrated), his own sitcom Danny and feature film Rookie of the Year.
Though he hasn't been prolific in terms of acting roles - Whip It and The Next Three Days are his highest-profile recent offerings - Stern was given the President's 'Call to Service Award' by Barack Obama for voluntary work. Clearly an upstanding citizen, he'd leave Marv Merchant completely baffled.
John Heard
John Heard, who played Kevin's shamefully negligent father, has more than 150 acting credits to his name. One of the pre-eminent "that guy" actors, Heard appeared in everything from Big to Awakenings before landing a role in Home Alone.
In the years since, he's notched up roles in The Sopranos (bagging an Emmy nomination in the process), CSI Miami and Prison Break, and even popped up in the first Sharknado, where he bit the dust in spectacular fashion. Re-appraising his career in 2008, Heard described himself as going from "being a young leading man to being just kind of a hack actor". Ouch!
Catherine O'Hara
A veteran of Second City and sketch show SCTV, O'Hara got her big movie break playing Delia Deetz in Tim Burton's Bettlejuice before reuniting with the eccentric director for his animations A Nightmare Before Christmas and Frankenweenie.
Home Alone gave O'Hara exposure to a wide moviegoing audience, but her best work can be seen in the films of Christopher Guest. As part of the filmmaker's improvisational troupe, O'Hara has made sides split in mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration. She's currently appearing in Schitt's Creek, a sitcom co-created by fellow Guest veteran Eugene Levy.
Devin Ratray
The source of constant torment for younger brother Kevin, Buzz McCallister was memorably brought to life by actor Devin Ratray. Pre-Home Alone he featured in Little Monsters and Worth Winning, and immediately after, he landed a role in the Dennis the Menace movie. More recently you'll have seen him in Alexander Payne's Oscar-nominated drama Nebraska and the definitely not-Oscar-nominated RIPD.
Ratray also starred in the bizarre-sounding 2008 film Courting Condi, in which he played a man attempting to woo US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. More recently he's done guest-stints on Agent Carter and Elementary, and outside of acting he performs in his own band, Little Bill and the Beckleys, providing lyrics, vocals and playing electric guitar.
Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
