Soleil Moon Frye (; born August 6, 1976
) is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actress at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sitcom ''
Punky Brewster
''Punky Brewster'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes) in Chicago. The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and ag ...
''. The series debuted in September 1984 and earned consistently low ratings, but the Punky character was a hit with young children. After NBC cancelled the series, it was picked up for the syndication market where it aired for an additional two seasons before ending in 1988. Frye reprised the role in a
2021 revival of the series, which was cancelled after one season.
After the original Punky Brewster series ended, Frye continued her career in guest spots on television and supporting roles in films. She attended
The New School
The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...
during the late 1990s and directed her first film, ''Wild Horses'', in 1998. In 2000, she joined the cast in
The WB
The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
sitcom ''
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...
'' as Roxie King,
Sabrina Spellman
Sabrina Victoria Spellman (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) is the eponymous character of the Archie Comics series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and she first appeared in ''Archie's M ...
's roommate and close friend. Frye remained with the series until its end in April 2003. She has since continued her acting career working mainly as a
voice actor
Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
where she is best known for voicing Zoey Howzer in the
Proud Family franchise.
In 1998, Frye married producer
Jason Goldberg
Jason Goldberg (born 1972) is an American film and television producer. Goldberg is the producer of the films '' Guess Who'' and ''The Butterfly Effect'' and executive producer of the shows '' Beauty and the Geek'' and ''Punk'd''. He often wor ...
with whom she has four children. She has since opened an eco-friendly specialty clothing boutique for children, The Little Seed, in Los Angeles. She also hosts a blog and web series that focus on child rearing and women's issues. In 2011, Frye released her first book, ''Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures in Between''.
Frye was host of the ''Home Made Simple'' show on the
Oprah Winfrey Network
The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...
from 2013 to 2014.
Early life
Frye was born in
Glendora, California
Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. World-famous Route 66 runs through the city.
Known as the "Pride of the Footh ...
. Her father was actor
Virgil Frye
Virgil Charles Frye (August 21, 1930 – May 7, 2012) was an American actor and former Golden Gloves boxing champion.
He grew up in Estherville, Iowa. He had two children, Sean Frye (''E.T. The Extra Terrestrial'') and Soleil Moon Frye (''Punky ...
(1930–2012), and her mother is talent agent and caterer Sondra Peluce (née Londy). She has two half-brothers,
Sean Frye and
Meeno Peluce
Miro Fiore "Meeno" Peluce (born February 26, 1970) is a Dutch-born American photographer and actor.
Life and career
Peluce was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the son of Sondra Londy, a Jewish-American personal manager and caterer, and Floyd ...
, both former child actors. Frye's parents divorced when she was two.
She was raised in her mother's
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
faith.
Frye was educated at a private school in Los Feliz and attended San Fernando Valley Professional School in Burbank.
Career
Acting
Frye made her acting debut in the 1982 television movie ''Missing Children: A Mother's Story''. In 1983, she had a supporting role in ''
Who Will Love My Children?'', another television movie starring
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is a Swedish-American actress and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' Bye Bye B ...
. The following year, she portrayed Elizabeth (Bette) Kovacs in the biographical television movie ''Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter'', and appeared in another television movie, ''
Invitation to Hell'', directed by
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...
.
At an audition in 1984, Frye beat out over 3,000 girls (including her future ''Sabrina, the Teenage Witch'' co-star
Melissa Joan Hart
Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series), Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1 ...
) to win the title role on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
sitcom ''Punky Brewster''. The series, which was conceived by NBC's then-head of programming
Brandon Tartikoff
Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was head of the entertainment division of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with several ...
, premiered in September 1984. Scheduled opposite
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
's highly rated ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...
'', the series struggled in the ratings, but the character of Punky was popular among children. Frye routinely appeared at parades, participated in an anti-drug walks with then-
First Lady Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan (; born Anne Frances Robbins; July 6, 1921 – March 6, 2016) was an American film actress who was the first lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989, as the second wife of President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan was born in ...
, and was the honorary chairman for the
National Institute on Drug Abuse
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is a United States federal government research institute whose mission is to "advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual ...
. Frye also voiced and reprised the role in the animated series ''
It's Punky Brewster
''It's Punky Brewster'' is a 1985–86 animated spin-off of the live-action television sitcom ''Punky Brewster''. It was animated by Ruby-Spears Productions. The show uses the same premise and main cast as its parent series, but also includes a ...
'', which began airing during Punky Brewster's first season. Despite the series' low ratings, Brandon Tartikoff decided to renew the show for a second season because it was the highest rated show watched by children 2 to 11 years old. ''Punky Brewsters second season, which dealt with more serious subject matters such as
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...
and first-aid training, drug use and the
Just Say No
"Just Say No" was an advertising campaign prevalent during the 1980s and early 1990s as a part of the U.S.-led war on drugs, aiming to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying ''no''. ...
campaign, and the
Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster, did not improve ratings, and NBC cancelled the series in April 1986. The series was quickly picked up by
Columbia Pictures Television
Columbia Pictures Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CPT) was launched on May 6, 1974, by Columbia Pictures as an American television production and distribution company. It is the second name of Columbia Pictures' television division Screen Gems ...
and began airing in
first-run syndication
Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
. ''Punky Brewster'' aired for an additional two seasons, ending on May 27, 1988.
Immediately upon ''Punky Brewsters end, Frye landed the lead role in the ABC sitcom pilot ''Cadets'', which aired as a summer special on September 25, 1988. The pilot, however, was not picked up. In 1989, Frye hosted the syndicated weekly talk/variety show ''Girl Talk''. Based on the
board game of the same name, Frye shared hosting duties with
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted by a talent agent as a young child, she made her film debut at age six in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). She had her first lead ...
and Rod Brogan. The series was cancelled after one season. In 1990, she appeared in the
Rodney Dangerfield
Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, ...
sitcom pilot ''...Where's Rodney?'', but this was not picked up as a series, either.
During the 1990s, Frye guest-starred on several television series, including ''
The Wonder Years
''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...
'', ''
Saved by the Bell
''Saved by the Bell'' is an American television teen sitcom created by Sam Bobrick for NBC. The series premiered, in prime time, on August 20, 1989, a Sunday night. Targeted at kids and teens, ''Saved by the Bell'' was broadcast in the United ...
'', and ''
Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...
'', and voiced characters for the animated series ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
'', ''
The Ren & Stimpy Show
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...
'', and ''
The Cartoon Cartoon Show
''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons; by the ...
'' (namely, the ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo (voiced by ...
'' pilot episode). In addition to her television work, Frye has appeared in the films ''The Liars' Club'' (1993) and ''
Pumpkinhead II: Blood Wings'' (1995) and in stage productions of ''Orestes, I Murdered My Mother'' and ''The Housekeeper''.
From 2000 to 2003, Frye played the character of Roxie King in the last few seasons of ''
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appea ...
'', with her longtime friend and series producer Melissa Joan Hart. During the run of ''Sabrina'', she voiced Zoey Howzer in the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
series ''
The Proud Family
''The Proud Family'' is an American animated sitcom created by Bruce W. Smith that aired on Disney Channel for two seasons from September 15, 2001, to August 19, 2005. The series centers on the life of the titular family, including the show’s ...
'' and the series' 2005
television movie
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
. She reprised the role in the revival series ''
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder''.
In 2005, she voiced Jade, a
Bratz
Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001.
The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...
character in the direct-to-video release ''Bratz Rock Angelz''. She also voiced the character for the
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
, and the video games ''Bratz Rock Angelz'' (2005), ''Bratz: Forever Diamondz'' (2006), and Bratz: The Movie (2007) and the follow-up movies until ''Bratz: Fashion 4 Passion - Diamondz''. From 2010 to February 2013, Frye voiced Aseefa in the animated series ''
Planet Sheen
''Planet Sheen'' is an American animated television series created by Keith Alcorn and Steve Oedekerk. It is a spin-off series of the '' Jimmy Neutron'' franchise, the second sequel television series of the film '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius'', ...
''.
She appears in the ''Punky Brewster'' reboot that began airing on
Peacock
Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...
on February 25, 2021.
Directing
In 1996, Frye moved to New York to attend The New School and later directed her first film, ''Wild Horses'' (1998).
Frye directed her second film, ''Sonny Boy'', in 2004. The documentary chronicles a two-week trip Frye took with her father, Virgil, who had
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
. ''Sonny Boy'' was an official selection at the
27th Starz Denver International Film Festival and won Best Documentary at the
San Diego Film Festival
The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Q ...
.
In 2021, Frye directed ''
Kid 90'', a documentary film using an archive of footage she shot in the 1990s, for which
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...
was executive producer. The film was released on March 12, 2021, by
Hulu
Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...
.
Other ventures
In 2007, Frye, along with two friends, opened The Little Seed, an eco-friendly children's specialty boutique in Los Angeles. The boutique closed in August 2012, and is now an Internet-based business.
In March 2010, Frye and her friend and former co-star Melissa Joan Hart launched the "Better Together" campaign for
Gain.
In September 2011, Frye released her first book, ''Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures in Between''. In October 2013, she released a party-planning book, ''Let's Get This Party Started''. She also hosted a web series, ''Her Say'', from 2011 to 2012, and currently hosts a blog on her official website, moonfrye.com, both of which deal with women's issues and parenting.
In 2014, Frye co-founded P.S. XO, a company that sells party decoration kits. The name was then changed to MoonFrye, and expanded to include DIY kits for families and an app of the same name. They later merged with the company
Seedling
A seedling is a young sporophyte developing out of a plant embryo from a seed. Seedling development starts with germination of the seed. A typical young seedling consists of three main parts: the radicle (embryonic root), the hypocotyl (embry ...
, which specializes in "activity kits".
Personal life
As a teen, Frye suffered from
gigantomastia
Breast hypertrophy is a rare medical condition of the breast connective tissues in which the breasts become excessively large. The condition is often divided based on the severity into two types, macromastia and gigantomastia. Hypertrophy of the ...
. She underwent a
breast reduction
Reduction mammoplasty (also breast reduction and reduction mammaplasty) is the plastic surgery procedure for reducing the size of large breasts. In a breast reduction surgery for re-establishing a functional bust that is proportionate to the pa ...
three months before her 16th birthday.
In the 1990s, Frye was romantically involved with hip-hop artist
Danny Boy O'Connor
Daniel O'Connor (born December 12, 1968), better known as Danny Boy or Danny Boy O'Connor, is an American rapper, art director, and the executive director of The Outsiders House Museum. O'Connor spent his childhood in New York, before moving t ...
, with whom she remains friends.
On October 25, 1998, Frye married television producer Jason Goldberg in a
Jewish ceremony (Frye's mother is Jewish, as is Goldberg). Frye and Goldberg have four children: daughters born in August 2005 and March 2008 and sons born in February 2014 and May 2016. Goldberg and Frye renewed their marriage vows in a ceremony in 2008. However, in 2020, after 22 years of marriage, the couple separated.
In December 2020, Frye filed for divorce. The divorce was finalized in April 2022.
In 2022, Frye was dating childhood friend
Shifty Shellshock
Seth Brooks Binzer (August 23, 1974 – June 24, 2024), better known by his stage name Shifty Shellshock, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter who cofounded the rap rock band Crazy Town, known for their hit song "Butterfly". He later ha ...
of
Crazy Town
Crazy Town (sometimes abbreviated as CXT) was an American rap rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1995 by Bret "Epic" Mazur and Shifty Shellshock (Seth Brooks Binzer). Their 2000 single "Butterfly", reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' H ...
.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frye, Soleil Moon
1976 births
Living people
20th-century American actresses
21st-century American actresses
21st-century American screenwriters
Actresses from California
American bloggers
American child actresses
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
American women bloggers
American women film directors
American women screenwriters
Film directors from California
Jewish American actresses
People from Glendora, California
People from Greater Los Angeles
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from New York (state)
The New School alumni
21st-century American Jews
American people of Italian descent
Brighton Hall School alumni