“A Christmas Story” was less than a modest hit when the 1983 film was unveiled to movie audiences.
Forty years later, it remains one of the shining stars of holiday annual aired films. “Shining star,” ironically, also happens to be a key plot point for the hit streaming HBO MAX film sequel to the movie, which premiered last year.
The late Jean Shepherd, the Hammond born-and-raised scribe of the original life-inspired holiday chestnut tale, died at age 78 in 1999, without really experiencing the incredible media afterlife of the characters penned in his story, which playfully skewers Shepherd’s hometown of Hammond, dubbed as Hohman, Indiana and described with such detail by Shepherd in his collected short stories published in his 1966 novel as “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.”
A young Peter Billingsley, the child star who played the lead as Little Ralphie in the original movie, reprised his role for last year’s movie portraying Ralph as a dad and husband in the sequel plot which involved the character bringing his wife and kids for a visit to Northwest Indiana.
Billingsley, 52, has been associated with projects related to “A Christmas Story,” such as the film sequel, and a decade earlier, his guise as one of the stage producers of “A Christmas Story: The Musical” in 2013, which tested out with a holiday run at the Chicago Theatre before heading to New York.
However, Billingsley has stayed away from reunions and fan meet and greets along with in-person autograph festival events.
Next month, South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority in Hammond has created the ultimate “A Christmas Story” fan event in honor of the 40th anniversary of “A Christmas Story,” and it includes Billingsley appearing at fan events throughout the weekend of Dec. 16 and 17 with the theme “Ralphie & the Gang Come Home: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Reunion.”
The 2023 holiday season also marks the parallel 40th Anniversary of the launch of South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.
In addition to Billingsley, other attending stars from the film scheduled include Scott Schwartz who played “Flick,” Ian Petrella who was “Little Brother Randy,” R.D. Robb who played pal “Schwartz,” Yano Anaya who was bully sidekick “Grover Dill,” Dwayne McLean who was cowboy dream sequence bad guy “Black Bart,” and last, but not least, the department store grumpy Santaland slide elves who were played by Drew Hocevar and Patty LaFountain.
According to the announcement, “all events take place at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond during the annual ‘A Christmas Story’ Comes Home Exhibit.” Cast autograph, meet and greet and photo opportunities are listed as from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. There is no mention if a cost is involved. At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. will make a city proclamation naming Nov. 18 as “A Christmas Story Family Day.”
Noticeably absent from next month’s Hammond event is Zack Ward, who played “yellow-eyed bully” Scut Farkus, though he and most of the rest of the child star cast (sans Billingsley) from the original film have attended the Hammond event over the years.
Last weekend, Ward, Billingsley and all of the rest of this year’s Hammond fest roster attended a similar reunion and fan gathering Nov. 10-12 in Cleveland at Cleveland Public Auditorium and Conference Center. Cleveland was the on-location substitute for Hammond, with the Ohio city’s streets being where much of the original film was shot, including exteriors of Ralphie’s family home. Today, that house, 3159 W. 11th St. in Cleveland is open for tours as a museum tribute to “A Christmas Story.”
On the subject of homes, in 2018, Billingsley spent $3.175 million to purchase a two-story Mediterranean home built in 2009 in the Manhattan Beach area of Los Angeles. It includes six bedrooms, six bathrooms, formal dining room, vaulted ceilings and a spa.
A year ago, in November 2022, Billingsley revealed in a People magazine interview that in 2015 he married Buffy Bains, who is originally from Colorado, but later a Chicago resident. The interview revealed she shares a son and daughter with Billingsley.
Common misinformation in the media often links Billingsley as a close relative of the late Barbara Billingsley, who played mom June Cleaver on “Leave It to Beaver.” The two only have a distant connection, in that Barbara’s first husband, Glenn Billingsley, was a cousin to Peter’s dad.
A more prominent family connection for Peter is his great uncle on his father’s side of the family (his great-grandfather’s brother), who was nightclub owner Sherman Billingsley. He was the powerful proprietor of New York City’s hot spot watering hole of the day “The Stork Club,” hangout of Broadway stars and celebrities, including noted Hearst newspaper gossip columnist chroniclers such as Walter Winchell and Dorothy Kilgallen while it remained in operation from 1929 to 1965.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org.
