Perhaps the most famous case of celebrity shoplifting ever was that of Winona Ryder. While that incident seems like it was from a different lifetime, it was only 12 years ago. After the incident, Ryder virtually dropped off the scene.

This summer, NPR has been looking at comebacks — from politicians reinventing themselves to the recovery of once-endangered species. As reported in www.npr.org.

And there's a special place in comeback heaven for disgraced movie stars — like Winona Ryder, who more or less made everyone forget about her 2001 shoplifting arrest with her role in the movie Black Swan, where she played an aging ballerina in a jealous frenzy.

People rooted for Winona. I have, ever since the 1988 movie Beetlejuice, where she played the ultimate depressive Goth chick. A decade ago I thought she was a goner. She looked strung out and then the shoplifting incident. Evidently, she is a strong person, who was able to overcome her demons to live a successful life.

I remember her in such hits as The Crucible, Little Women and The Age of Innocence, in which Ryder acquitted herself well enough, but seemed somehow buried in all those petticoats. As high drama as some of those films were, though, none were as tragically overwrought as Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I am always glad to see a success story. I hope things continue to go well in a sober and theft-free life for Ryder.