# Amy O'Neill
**Amy O'Neill** is an American actress best known for playing the teenage daughter Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids* and its 1992 sequel *[Honey, I Blew Up the Kid](https://www.edgepedia.org/honey-i-blew-up-the-kid)*. She began working as a child actress in 1984, accumulated a string of 1980s television guest roles, retired from acting in the 1990s, and returned to acting in the late 2010s.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) • [2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971, Pacific Palisades, California; third of five children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) |
| First screen role | Age 13 on *Mama's Family* (1983), as the younger version of Betty White's character[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) |
| Soap opera run | 30 episodes as pregnant teen Molly Stark on *The Young and the Restless* in 1986[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc) |
| Breakthrough role | Amy Szalinski in *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids* (1989), her feature film debut[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) |
| Award nomination | Young Artist Award for *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids*; lost to Gaby Hoffmann for *Field of Dreams*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) |
| Retirement and return | Left acting in the 1990s, joined a circus-style entertainment troupe, returned with two short films and a television episode between 2008 and 2019[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc) |
## Early life and television work
O'Neill was born in Pacific Palisades, California, to an art school director and a construction company owner, and grew up with four siblings, an older brother and sister and two younger brothers.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) • [3](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/amy-oneill.html) Accompanied by her older siblings, she began auditioning for roles at age ten. Her first appearance came at 13 in a 1983 episode of *Mama's Family*, playing the younger version of [Betty White](https://www.edgepedia.org/betty-white)'s character.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091)
As a young teenager she guest-starred on sitcoms and genre series including *Matt Houston*, *Night Court*, *Highway to Heaven*, *The Twilight Zone* (in the segment "The Shadow Man"), and *Family Ties*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) In 1986 she joined the soap opera *The Young and the Restless* for a regular role, appearing as pregnant teenager Molly Stark across 30 episodes.[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc)
## Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and the sequel
O'Neill's feature film debut came in *Honey, I Shrunk the Kids* (1989), directed by [Joe Johnston](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-johnston), in which her character Amy is accidentally miniaturized along with her brother Nick and the neighbor boys by an experiment of her scientist father Wayne Szalinski, played by [Rick Moranis](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-moranis).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/honey_i_shrunk_the_kids/cast-and-crew) She received a [Young Artist Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-artist-award) nomination for the performance, losing to Gaby Hoffmann for *Field of Dreams* (1989).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091)
Three years later she reprised Amy Szalinski in *Honey, I Blew Up the Kid* (1992).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) On review aggregators the first film remains her highest-rated credit, at 76 percent among critics and 54 percent among audiences on Rotten Tomatoes; the sequel scores 38 percent and 24 percent.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/amy_oneill) In a 2024 interview marking the film's 35th anniversary, O'Neill described Moranis as a father figure on set and recalled a press trip to Japan during which he steered the young cast away from underage drinking.[6](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/honey-shrunk-kids-star-recalls-173000133.html)
## Later career and retirement
Through the late 1980s and early 1990s O'Neill guest-starred on series such as *Star Trek: The Next Generation* (as Annette in the third-season episode "Evolution"), *The Young Riders*, and *Murder, She Wrote*, and appeared in the biographical miniseries *I Know My First Name Is Steven* (1989) as Jodie.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) • [7](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Amy_O%27Neill) Her television movie credits include *Desperate for Love* (1989, as Cindy), *White Wolves: A Cry in the Wild II* (1993, as Pandra), and *Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 Women* (1994), plus the rejected comedy pilot *...Where's Rodney?* (1990).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/amy_oneill)
**Retirement and return.** O'Neill retired from acting in the 1990s and joined a circus-style entertainment troupe; by May 2002 she was living in Los Angeles and performing with the circus trio "Girls on Stilts".[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091/bio/) She appeared in documentaries about her childhood roles and returned to acting in the late 2010s with two short films, *The Japanese Sandman* (2008) and *The Follower* (2019), and an episode of the series *Baskets* (2016).[2](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091)
## References
1. [Amy O'Neill, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091)
2. [Amy O'Neill Movies and Shows, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/person/amy-oneill/umc.cpc.4r5qv4fhv7ql1o8syt612uyrc)
3. [Amy O'Neill, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/amy-oneill.html)
4. [Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/honey_i_shrunk_the_kids/cast-and-crew)
5. [Amy O'Neill, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/amy_oneill)
6. ["Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" Star Recalls Being 'Busted' by Movie Dad Rick Moranis, Yahoo Entertainment / PEOPLE](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/honey-shrunk-kids-star-recalls-173000133.html)
7. [Amy O'Neill, Memory Alpha](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Amy_O%27Neill)
8. [Amy O'Neill Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0642091/bio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames O to Pa*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license