Peter Billingsley

Peter Billingsley , also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter BillingsleyMichaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer, best known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story and as Messy Marvin in the Hersheys Chocolate Syrup commercials during the 1970s. He began his career as an infant in television commercials.

Peter was born in New York City. His father, Alwin Michaelsen, is a financial consultant and his mother, Gail, was once Alwins secretary. Gail is the niece of Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley, and her cousin, Glenn Billingsley, was married to actress Barbara Billingsley , who used her married name as her acting name even after the divorce. Gail was the one who initially took the children around to auditions. She once took the children to BrownsMills NJ for a commercial commemorating our troops All five of the children in the family had acting careers when they were young. The oldest of Billingsleys siblings, Dina and Win, had the briefest acting careers working mostly in commercials with brief guest spots on television shows. Peters elder sister, Melissa, may be best known for her role as Maxx Davis on Me and Maxx. Peters older brother, Neil, began playing Danny Walton on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow in 1975 and has had numerous roles in commercials and guest shots on

Source: Wikipedia