Unless, like me, you're a John Hughes aficionado, you may be asking "who"? But let me assure you, for a brief period in the mid-80s, Michael Schoeffling was the proverbial hot stuff (and the literal, check out that tank top, phwoar). Breaking out with his debut role in Sixteen Candles, the teen movie classic starring Molly Ringwald, Shoeffling capitalised on the film's success by booking roles in eight films you've probably never heard of, and promptly fell off the face of the Earth. Since officially retiring in 1991, not seven years after his turn as Jake Ryan, Shoeffling has given few interviews. In the handful he has accepted, he admitted that he had trouble finding suitable roles and found himself with a growing family to provide for. So, naturally, he became a carpenter. He now owns a woodworking shop and creates handmade furniture to order. Jake Ryan, meanwhile, remains an iconic character in the John Hughes film pantheon, immortalised in synth-pop duo Summer Camp's song of the same name, and his legacy was discussed 20 years later in a Washington Post article called "Real Men Can't Hold a Match to Jake Ryan of Sixteen Candles".
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
