Amy O'Neill

O'Neill was born in Pacific Palisades, California, the daughter of Virginia, an art school director, and Thomas O'Neill, a Los Angeles construction company owner.[1] She is the third of five children. Her older siblings are brother Casey and sister Katie. Her younger brothers are Hugh and Barry. Her father is the brother of Hugh O'Neill, Esq, former Deputy Chief Counsel to The Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman.

O'Neill began auditioning for parts at age ten with her older siblings.[2] After school, the kids would drive out to Hollywood. O'Neill made her first appearance on television at age 13 in an episode of Mama's Family as a younger version of Betty White's character, Ellen Harper. She continued working on television shows such as Matt Houston, Night Court, Highway to Heaven and The Twilight Zone. She also appeared on the American game show, Body Language in the summer of 1985. After an appearance on Family Ties, O'Neill won the role of the pregnant teenager Molly Stark on the daytime soap, The Young and the Restless for thirty episodes in 1986.

She appeared in the 1989 television films, Desperate for Love as Tammy Lauren's best friend, with Christian Slater and as Jodie in I Know My First Name is Steven, before appearing in her most recognized role as Amy Szalinski in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In the film, she and her brother are shrunk to 1/4 inch high by the father's (Rick Moranis) shrink ray. After the film, she was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.[3]

O'Neill continued work as Annette in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but most of her scenes were cut out due to time constraints. She can, however, be seen in the background of a crowd scene. She acted as Lisa Barnes in the pilot episode of Where's Rodney? with Honey co-star Jared Rushton and Rodney Dangerfield, but it wasn't picked up in 1990 or 1991. She continued working in television series such as Room for Romance, The Young Riders, and Gabriel's Fire.

She starred as Susan Hartley in an episode of Murder, She Wrote and came back to the Disney screen in the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, as Amy Szalinski. Before this was written as a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, it was titled Big Baby and didn't have any characters from the original film. As the plot was changed to include the Szalinskis, there was no room for a female lead, besides Keri Russell's role as the babysitter. O'Neill only appeared in the opening scene as she is leaving for college. Her character is later mentioned in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.

She later appeared in the television film, White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II as Pandra, one of the young adults stuck in the Cascade Mountains, having to fend for themselves. In 1994, she appeared in the National Lampoon film, Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women as a German Skater.

• Amy O'Neill on IMDb
• Amy O'Neill official page on Myspace