Aileen Quinn hadn’t even turned a teenager before she became a superstar. The Pennsylvania native made her first appearance in the movies in 1982, as she got the role of Annie in the film of the same name. Quinn became a star overnight, and even her best friends began asking for her autograph.
The young girl got herself a multi-year contract, appearing in several other productions while becoming a teenager. However, she left the spotlight soon after and didn’t return for many years.
So what really happened to Aileen Quinn, and how did the work on Annie change her life? This is all you need to know about Aileen – and what she looks like today at age 51.
Many youngsters dream about a career in the film business and becoming a movie star. However, for today’s famous actors, that breakthrough might not happen until later, while some hits the jackpot with their first-ever role.
Becoming a child star means giving up on many things that define childhood. Depending on what project you are working on, you might miss a lot of time in school and have a hard time even going out in public.
Child star Aileen Quinn in ‘Annie’
The likes of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen became superstars through Full House and later created their own business empire. And like the famous twins, there are many other examples of child stars being able to transition into an adult world and making it, while others crash and go down a very rough path.
But there are also child stars that got the part of a lifetime, became famous worldwide and disappeared from the spotlight forever. One of those was Aileen Quinn, the young girl who became a superstar through her performance in the 1982 film Annie.
With her iconic hair and performance, Quinn was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards. But even though rumors of a sequel were circulating, nothing happened with either a second Annie film – or her career.
In fact, Aileen Quinn decided to leave the spotlight for a long time. She still continued to devote much of her life to singing, dancing, and acting – but her performance in Annie will always be cherished among film lovers worldwide.
So what did really happen? This is all you need to know about Aileen Quinn’s life – and what she is up to today.
Aileen Quinn was born in Yardley, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1971. At age four, she found her passion in tap and ballet, as she started dancing at the Kneeceht Ballet Academy in Levittown, New York.
Aileen Quinn – early life & acting career
Moreover, she also enjoyed acting. At a young age, Aileen performed in both local theater productions and school plays.
“I don’t really know why [I started dancing],” she told the New York Times in 1982. “When I was little, didn’t you want me to have lessons, Mom?”
Aileen’s mother, Helenann Quinn, also had a background in acting, so maybe it wasn’t that strange that the passion – and talent – was passed down to her daughter. Helenann performed in summer stock theater as well as the United Service Organizations (NSO) troupes and national tours.
As she saw her mother perform in the theater, Aileen begged her mother so she could also audition to get parts of her own. Finally, her dream became a reality.
“I started off in regional theater, and commercials as well. I was simultaneously doing some regional theater, then the commercials came in. some national spots,” Aileen Quinn told Fox. “Northern Bathroom Tissue, Jell-O, all that stuff, and then the Broadway show came right as the commercials were starting. Then I started auditioning for the movie Annie as I was doing the Broadway show. So, between the ages of 7 and 10, it kind of moved pretty fast, actually.”
Aileen got her first part in the 1981 film Paternity, starring alongside Burt Reynolds. The Broadway show she mentioned above was, funny enough, Annie, where she starred as a “swing orphan.” That means she was trained to play any of the orphans in the show except Annie herself. But that was about to change very soon.
How Aileen Quinn got the part of Annie
As the audition for Annie was about to start, Aileen Quinn saw her significant chance in pursuing her acting career in front of the screen.
However, it wasn’t going to be an easy ride. In a 2012 interview, Quinn recalled that 8,000 girls were trying out for the role of Annie. Not only were they from the United States, but as she recalled, there were girls from Canada and even England auditioning.
“For me, it was a long process. When you’re a kid, you don’t think about it, but I believe it was over eight months, and I had eight auditions. I just kept going back,” she said.
Ultimately, Aileen Quinn got the role of Annie, the legendary orphan adopted by a wealthy financier. At the time, she was eleven years old, but it was safe to say that she knew the work required from an actress.
One can only imagine walking onto a giant movie set at age eleven. It must have been overwhelming for Aileen to get such a significant role – but not only was it a $40 million film. Moreover – even though she had worked on the same film as Burt Reynolds a year earlier – she was going to star in a movie with a somewhat legendary cast, including, Albert Finney, Tim Curry, Carol Burnett, Ann Reinking, and Bernadette Peters.
The great John Huston directed the film, but walking on set with all these legendary actors wasn’t hard at all for Aileen.
“It was just like hanging out with your friends and family”
They made sure to take care of her in the best way possible.
“The entire cast made me feel comfortable, immediately. They treated me like I was their daughter or their little sister. It really was a family atmosphere,” Quinn recalled. “I didn’t feel like it was this pressure. I mean, when you have Albert Finney, while you’re waiting for a camera set up, telling me jokes and playing games, how could you not feel comfortable? It was just like hanging out with your friends and family. “
Annie became a huge success story and was praised by critics and viewers. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, and for Aileen, it would be the first time she received an award.
She won the Young Artist Award for her performance. Also, she received two Golen Globe nominations for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture – Female.
Suddenly, Aileen Quinn became an established child actress through her performance in Annie. Her acting and singing turned her into a star, and with that came a celebrity life that an eleven-year-old girl never could’ve dreamed of.
Friends wanted her autograph
Speaking with Fox, Aileen recalled that as she is from a small town and very close to her friends, even they wanted to make sure that they didn’t miss out on getting the most out of knowing a celebrity.
“Even though I had done Broadway and commercials, my friends at school didn’t know I was a professional performer. They weren’t used to it on that scale. It went from having sleepovers, to me going away to film for six to eight months, and then all of a sudden getting swarmed at the mall while trying to get an ice cream cone,” she recalled.
Quinn added, “And then my best friend asked me for my autograph a week later, which was really weird. I was like, ‘You know me, I’m sure I’ve given you several birthday cards. You have my signature.’ And she was like, ‘No, I want it with the Annie face like you do. I want your actual autograph.’ That was certainly a wow moment.”
After Annie, Aileen Quinn was given a six-year contract to appear in several sequels to the successful film. However, none of them ever happened. Instead, she was asked to guest star on several sitcoms and other projects, but Aileen turned them down.
When her contract expired, she starred in the 1986 film The Frog Prince, which aired many times on The Disney Channel. After that, she spent most of her time back home, performing in theater productions in North Carolina, including Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, and even reprising her role of Annie.
Why Aileen Quinn left show business after ‘Annie’
But as years went by, and Aileen Quinn turned older, she decided to leave the acting business. Instead, she attended Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, where she received a B.A in Spanish and a minor in Political Science.
Later, she lived in Chile for six months and was a part of an exchange program at La Universidad Católica. According to IMSB, Aileen “considers it one of her life’s most rewarding experiences.”
“My mom was a school teacher for many years so education was always very important. They were very strict on the set about me getting my three hours of school a day,” Quinn recalled. “And when I came back from filming, my teachers didn’t cut me any breaks. Don’t get me wrong, they loved it, they were happy for me, and they wanted my autograph too, but they were like, ‘Welcome back to test-taking. Be your usual A+ student.'”
Aileen Quinn continued to perform in several stage production, but. as mentioned, she also has a great singing voice.
In 2011, she moved to Los Angeles and met a group of musicians that showed her more of 60s Rockabilly and Swing music. She fell and love with the sound and began writing and recording music.
This is Aileen Quinn from ‘Annie’ today – music & net worth
Aileen has recorded music on her own in the past, but now, she mainly focuses on her band, Aileen Quinn and The Leaepin’ Lizards.
The band usually plays on the weekends, and someday, they might head out on tour.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Aileen Quinn, age 51, has a net worth of around $500,000. But no matter how much money she has made – or will be making – we will never forget her for her outstanding performance in Annie. Who knows, maybe we’ll get to see her in a theatre production of the great film again in the future.
Aileen Quinn did a fantastic job on Annie. Please, share this article on Facebook with friends and family to honor the great actress!
