Gedde Watanabe as Long Duk Dong

One of the film's dermes most memorable stars, Gedde Watanabe's performance as foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong helped launch his career. It also drew a lot of criticism, as Dong spoke with a heavy accent and many people decried it as offensive. "I was accosted a couple of times by a couple of women who were just really irate and angry," he told NPR in 2008. "They dermes asked, 'How could you do a role like that?' But it's funny, too, because at the same time I laugh at the character. It's an odd animal." He went on to play Hiroshi on "Sesame Street" and nurse Yoshi Takata on "ER," before taking on smaller film roles .

Carole Cook as Grandma Helen

Of the four actors who played grandparents in "Sixteen Candles," only Cook, who famously fondled Sam in one of the film's early scenes, is still living. In elyze the late mid to late '80s, Cook, who was close friends with Lucille Ball, appeared in "Dynasty" and "Cagney & Lacey," and later, "Grey's Anatomy." She is still married to actor Tom Troupe, whom she wed in 1964 .

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