Find out what’s happening with Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards, and more "Halloween" stars since their first run-in with Michael Myers.
John Carpenter's Halloween wasn't a smash hit when it was first released in 1978, but it slowly built an audience and would eventually become one of the highest-grossing independent films of all time. A movie that set the gold standard for slasher horror, Halloween's premise is simple and effective, which is part of the reason why it's been such an influential piece of the horror genre: A murderous force of evil escapes from confinement, heads back to his hometown, and then stalks and kills a bunch of teenagers on Halloween night.
Since the movie was produced on a tiny budget, it utilized many young actors without much prior screen acting experience. Some of them went on to become household names, while others have moved on from acting altogether.
Read on to see where the Halloween (1978) cast is now, decades later.
Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode)
The film's young lead went on to become its most recognizable alumnus by a considerable margin. After her breakout success as Laurie Strode in Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis cemented her title of "scream queen" by continuing to work in horror films for a few years, including Prom Night (1980), Terror Train (1980), and John Carpenter's The Fog (1980), and also returned to Haddonfield for Halloween II (1981).
"Everything good in my life can be traced back to Laurie," Curtis wrote in a 2022 essay for PEOPLE. "If I hadn't been inHalloween, I wouldn't have met John Landis, the director who put me inTrading Places[1983] and showed the world I can be funny. That got meA Fish Called Wanda [1988]. That led toTrue Lies [1994], which led toFreaky Friday [2003]. Dot connected, dot connected."
Curtis took a step back from acting for a spell in the late-2000s and early-2010s to prioritize her family, though she still earned credits for films such as Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) and Veronica Mars (2014). Experiencing something of a later-career renaissance, she starred on the horror-comedy series Scream Queens, headlined a new trilogy of highly successful Halloween sequels, appeared in the ensemble film Knives Out (2019), and guest-starred in seasons 2 and 3 of The Bear as Carmy's mom (winning a 2024 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series).
Curtis' career reached new heights in 2023 when she won an Oscar for her scene-stealing performance as IRS inspector Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022). Since then, she has appeared in movies like Haunted Mansion (2023), Borderlands (2024), and The Last Showgirl (2024), and is set to reprise her Freaky Friday role in the 2025 sequel.
When she's not acting, Curtis writes children's books, records podcasts, and plays World of Warcraft. She and her husband, director Christopher Guest, have been married since 1984 and share two daughters.
Related: The 14 best Jamie Lee Curtis movie and TV roles, ranked
Nick Castle (Michael Myers, a.k.a. the Shape)
Many performers have worn the mask of Michael Myers over the years, but Nick Castle is the one who started it all. Castle met John Carpenter while they were both studying cinema at USC, and played a balloon-like alien in his debut film, Dark Star (1974). Though Castle had no intention of pursuing an acting career — he was an aspiring filmmaker himself — Carpenter has said that he liked Castle's physique and gait, so he put him in the mask.
"What I really did [on set] was listen to what John told me to do," Castle told EW in 2018. "He was reallyvery much puppeteering. It was John telling me, ‘Go fast,’ ‘Go slow,’ ‘Tilt your head,’ and puppeteering me through the thing.”
Castle didn't act much outside of Halloween, but he did go on to have a successful career in Hollywood as a director and screenwriter. He directed films like the sci-fi cult classic The Last Starfighter (1984), the family comedy Dennis the Menace (1993), and the Damon Wayans vehicle Major Payne (1995). He also wrote Escape From New York (1981) with Carpenter, has a story credit on Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991), and penned the screenplay for the music drama August Rush (2007). Additionally, in David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy, Castle shared Michael Myers duty with stunt performer James Jude Courtney, and recorded all of the killer's iconic breathing himself.
Castle has been married to Mary Charlene Napp since December 1981. Together, they have one child.
Nancy Kyes (Annie Brackett)
Laurie's friend Annie was the second of three characters that Nancy Kyes (née Loomis) played for John Carpenter — she first appeared in Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and later in The Fog. She also made brief appearances in the second and third Halloween movies, and had a couple of small parts in TV movies in the '80s and early-'90s.
Kyes has focused on other endeavors since, including working as a sculptor and teaching theater courses at Cal Poly Pomona. She landed her first movie gig in 40-plus years with Hauntology (2024).
P.J. Soles (Lynda Van Der Klok)
The actress who plays Laurie's other friend, Lynda, has more than 60 screen credits to her name. P.J. Soles' first film was Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976), and, after Halloween, she appeared in a number of high-profile projects. She played the lead role in the teen musical comedy Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) and had supporting roles in military comedies Private Benjamin (1980) and Stripes (1981).
Soles has worked consistently in the decades since her early run of hits, mostly in low-budget comedies and horror films — a few of which have gained cult followings, like Jawbreaker (1999) and The Devil's Rejects (2005). She also had a voice cameo in the 2018 Halloween as a teacher, and continues to be a fan favorite on the horror convention circuit.
After her marriages to J. Steven Stoles and Dennis Quaid, the actress tied the knot with pilot Skip Holm in 1983 and divorced in 1998. Together, they have two kids.
Brian Andrews (Tommy Doyle)
While Tommy Doyle, the young boy that Laurie babysits on Halloween night, was later played as an adult by Paul Rudd and Anthony Michael Hall in a couple of Halloween's many sequels, neither of them could quite capture the authentic fear Brian Andrews brought to the role as a kid in 1978. The actor had already appeared in numerous TV movies before Halloween, but, in the years since he played Tommy, he's only acted in a handful of other projects.
Andrews had small roles in the Robert Duvall-starring The Great Santini (1979), teen comedy Three O'Clock High (1987), and an episode of the medical mystery series Quincy, M.E. It seemed as though Andrews had retired from screen acting in the 1990s and 2000s, but he subsequently appeared in a couple of low-budget horror movies in the mid-2010s.
He also frequently reposts content from Halloween fans on his Twitter (now X) page.
Kyle Richards (Lindsey Wallace)
Young Lindsey Wallace barely speaks during her Halloween screen time, but Kyle Richards remembers what it was like working on the horror film at 8 years old.
"I remember just enjoying being on the set. My mom was there every day, and Jamie Lee Curtis was sweet with me," she told EW in 2021. "So I remember screaming a lot, being chased, hiding in closets, and Jamie Lee Curtis being an angel to me."
The actress then went on to become one of the movie's most famous cast members. Richards enjoyed a robust acting career as a child and teenager, with prolonged stints on shows like Down to Earth and Little House on the Prairie, as well as appearances on Fantasy Island, CHiPs, and The Wonderful World of Disney.
She didn't act for most of the 1990s, but returned to screens on 21 episodes of ER in the early-2000s. However, Richards is most well-known nowadays as one of the stars of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which she has been on since 2010. She went on to finally reprise her role as Lindsey in Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022).
Richards shares three daughters with real estate agent Mauricio Umansky, who she married in 1996. (The couple announced their separation after 27 years of marriage in 2023.) She has another daughter from a previous marriage.
Related: Kyle Richards returns to the Halloween franchise 43 years after starring in the original film
John Michael Graham (Bob Simms)
Lynda's boyfriend, Bob, meets his unfortunate end on his way to get a beer downstairs — and the ensuing grisly scene, which also became one of, if not the most legendary in the series, also marks the last time actor John Michael Graham appeared on movie screens. The same year as Halloween, Graham appeared as a background dancer in Grease (1978), and worked on a few TV commercials.
He still appears at events and conventions commemorating Halloween — and his convention bios indicate that he's worked for Disney since the 1980s, and that he wrote and performed in a play called Murder's a Drag! in Florida in the early-2000s.
Charles Cyphers (Sheriff Leigh Brackett)
The actor who played Haddonfield's sheriff — and Annie's dad — worked more consistently than almost anyone else in the Halloween cast. Many of Charles Cyphers' most prominent projects had ties to John Carpenter, with small parts in The Fog, Escape From New York, Halloween II, and Assault on Precinct 13, though he also appeared in movies like Death Wish II (1982) and Major League (1989).
Additionally, Cyphers worked on numerous TV shows and made-for-TV movies: He had recurring roles on The Betty White Show and Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, and also made appearances in episodes of Seinfeld; Wonder Woman; The Dukes of Hazzard; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and Murder, She Wrote, among many others. It seemed as though he'd retired from screen acting after his role in Methodic in 2007 — until he returned to play Sheriff Leigh Brackett again in Halloween Kills.
On Aug. 5, 2024, Cyphers died at age 85 after a brief illness.
Nancy Stephens (Marion Chambers)
Marion Chambers is a nurse and Dr. Loomis' (Donald Pleasence) companion as he drives up to Michael's hospital, Smith's Grove, in the killer's introductory scene. The actress who played her, Nancy Stephens, had worked on numerous famous TV shows before appearing in Halloween, and continued to do so after the movie — she's been in episodes of Cheers; Beverly Hills, 90210; Ally McBeal; and Boston Legal. Stephens appeared in a few films as well, including Escape From New York, D2: The Mighty Ducks (1994), and A Time for Dancing (2002).
She reprised the role of Marion several times: in Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), and Halloween Kills. Along with acting, Stephens has been executive producing documentaries and independent dramas, and also works as an activist for climate policy and public arts funding.
Stephens is married to Rick Rosenthal, who directed Halloween II and Halloween: Resurrection (2002). Together, they have three children.
Donald Pleasence (Dr. Sam Loomis)
Halloween's most seasoned cast member had already enjoyed a decades-long career when he took on the role of Dr. Sam Loomis. Pleasence worked in film, television, and theater from the 1950s to the 1990s, with roles in notable projects such as The Great Escape (1963), George Lucas' feature directorial debut THX-1138 (1971), The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985). He reteamed with John Carpenter twice, playing the president of the United States in Escape From New York and a priest in Prince of Darkness (1987), and also returned for four more Halloween sequels.
He was the first actor to portray the iconic villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in a James Bond film — his intimidating, cat-petting, bald-headed performance in You Only Live Twice (1967) became the gold standard for evil masterminds in film.
Pleasence died in 1995, a few months before his final appearance as Loomis hit screens in The Curse of Michael Myers (1995). His mortified, unwaveringly serious performance in the first Halloween grounded the film with gravitas and tension, and his commitment to the series helped give future installments a sense of legitimacy and weight.
Related: The Halloween movies, ranked
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
