Aileen Quinn

Aileen Marie Quinn, born June 28, 1971, in Yardley, Pennsylvania, is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for playing the title role in the 1982 film Annie. The oldest child of Helen Ann Quinn, a TV, radio, and stage singer and actress who later became an elementary school teacher, and Andrew Quinn Sr., she is the older sister of Andrew Quinn Jr. Quinn began dance training at age four at Knecht Dance Academy in Levittown, Pennsylvania, studying ballet and tap. Her early exposure to performance came through her mother, and she pursued her first stage opportunity by begging to audition for a community theater production of Annie Get Your Gun, winning a role and going on to participate in additional community productions. She attended Grey Nun Academy for elementary school and Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in Summit, New Jersey for high school.

Quinn entered professional work after obtaining an agent, landing a small part in the 1981 film Paternity and appearing in television commercials for brands including Planters Cheez Balls, Shake 'n Bake, and Northern bathroom tissue. At eight years old, she was cast as the swing orphan — understudy to all orphans except Molly and Annie — in the Broadway production of Annie. That credit marked the beginning of a Broadway career that spanned from 1977 to 2001 and also included productions of Peter Pan, Fiddler on the Roof, and the play A Saturday Night.

After eight auditions over the course of a year and competition from more than 8,000 candidates, Quinn was cast as Annie in the 1982 film directed by John Huston. She was nine years old at the time of casting. The role earned her two Golden Globe Award nominations, a Best Actress win from the Youth in Film Awards, and a Razzie Award for Worst New Star. The film's soundtrack album went platinum, and Quinn released her own album, Bobby's Girl, in 1982 on Columbia Records. That same year she voiced characters in two nationally televised animated specials, The Charmkins and The Wizard of Oz, and starred as Princess Zora in The Frog Prince, which was released on videocassette and aired on the Disney Channel. Under contract with Columbia Pictures for potential Annie sequels that were never produced, Quinn continued performing in regional theater during this period, taking on roles including Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Kim in Bye Bye Birdie, Annie in Annie, Jenny in Shenandoah, and Harpo in A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine.

At eighteen, Quinn stepped back from performing to concentrate on her education. She graduated from Drew University in 1994 with a degree in languages and a minor in political science, and is a member of Sigma Delta Pi, a Spanish honor society. She also spent six months with a family in Chile as part of an exchange program, an experience she has described as one of the most rewarding of her life, and is fluent in Spanish.

Returning to the stage after graduation, Quinn appeared as Bet in Oliver! at Paper Mill Playhouse in 1994. She subsequently toured the United States for more than five years in three Broadway national tours: Fiddler on the Roof, in which she played Chava; Peter Pan, in which she played Tootles and Jane; and Saturday Night Fever, in which she played Annette. She studied Shakespeare in London and appeared in productions of As You Like It and Twelfth Night at LAMDA. Her off-Broadway credits include Dreamstuff, in which she played the Princess; Creature, in which she played Elizabeth; and Yiddle With a Fiddle, in which she played Yiddle. Regional theater work includes The Unsinkable Molly Brown, That Was Then, and Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother.

Quinn appeared in small roles in independent films between 2006 and 2010, including a minor part in the 2009 film Multiple Sarcasms alongside Timothy Hutton and Mira Sorvino. In 2004 she hosted Generation Gap, an interactive sitcom written and directed by Edna Harris that aired on PBS and was designed to teach children conflict resolution. She served as an adjunct theater professor at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey — the campus where the 1982 film Annie was shot — and received an honorary degree from the university in 2009. She also taught Spanish, drama, and dance at Hudson Catholic Regional High School in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Quinn leads her own band, Aileen Quinn and The Leapin' Lizards, which she formed after a neighbor heard her singing in her apartment and introduced her to the other musicians. The band released their debut album, Spin Me, in 2015, followed by a second album, Lightning and Thunder, in November 2019.