The 1983 film "A Christmas Story" was a turning point in Peter Billingsley's life.
Not only did the classic holiday film make him a household name and familiar holiday fixture on cable, video and DVD, but it helped set him on a path to his current career as a successful Hollywood producer and director.
Having done commercials and films since the age of 3, the adolescent Billingsley was already an acting veteran when he played the part of Ralphie Parker, the all-American kid who dreams that the grown-ups in his life will stop telling him "You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" long enough to get him a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
Now, at age 40, Billingsley is one of the producers of "A Christmas Story: The Musical," which kicks off a five-city national tour Tuesday, Nov. 8, at Hershey Theatre.
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