The Aileen Quinn Page

by Jon Merrill

Spotlight on the young star who brought Little Orphan Annie to the silver screen in 1982. Learn about this remarkable actress up until "Annie," what went on during filming, and see what she has done since.

  • LATE NEWS ON AILEEN:  In late 2008 she is working on an album; her first in 26 years!  Stay tuned to this page for news about its release when it happens.

Aileen's 1998 Headshot

 

Aileen in "Saturday Night Fever" in 2001

Picture contributed by Katarina Zackariassen

A Short History

Born June 28, 1971. A younger brother was born in 1975.

Was introduced to show business by her mother Helenann who was doing theater when Aileen was little. Aileen begged to audition too, and she began to get parts near her home of Yardley, Pennsylvania, a small town north of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. (Yardley was also the home of Roxanne Dundish, Sherry Dundish, and Hally McGehean, members of the Broadway cast of Annie in the early '80s.)

Aileen's first movie part was one line in "Paternity," starring Burt Reynolds.

At the time Aileen was picked for the movie, she was on Broadway with Allison Smith playing the Swing Orphan in "Annie." The Swing essentially understudied various Orphan roles in the show and knew all their parts and had to go on stage at a moment's notice if one of the kids was sick and couldn't perform. Or, if the Orphan acting as Annie's understudy had to go on as Annie, Aileen went on as the understudy to the understudy. In all, Aileen went on stage 67 times.

She was chosen to be Annie over 8,000 girls. The final 3 were Aileen, Robin Ignico, and Angela Lee. Announcement was made in January 1981 by director John Huston, who introduced Aileen as his Annie to the world on nationwide TV (mispronouncing her name as "Eye-leen").

"Annie" was filmed from April to September 1981. Aileen turned 10 during filming.

(For special trivia about the movie, click below.)

Aileen starred in one more movie after "Annie," but many of her fans never knew about it. She did "The Frog Prince" in Israel in spring 1986 when she was 14, but it was never released in theaters, only on videocassette. The video is a great rarity today. Meanwhile, she continued to do theater. A family member was running the theater at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on the Army base there, so Aileen was invited to star in several productions there. In 1985 she was Dorothy in "The Wizard Of Oz," and in 1986 she was Annie once again, except this time it was the stage musical. Opposite her as "Daddy" Warbucks was Harve Presnell, who had played the role for years on Broadway and in one of the National Tours. When Aileen was a senior in high school, she starred in "A Day In Hollywood, A Night In The Ukraine" in Bristol, Pennsylvania. By this time, Aileen's family had moved to New Jersey.

Aileen graduated in the spring of 1989 and did one year at Pitzer College in southern California before transferring to Drew University nearer home in New Jersey. Like numerous child stars before her, Aileen chose not to study show biz in college; instead she took a few years away from it and studied languages, especially Japanese and Spanish. She spent six months with a family in Chile as part of an exchange program in college and considered it one of her life's most rewarding experiences.

After graduation from Drew, Aileen once again took to the stage, much to the delight of her fans. In 1994 she played Bette in "Oliver!" at the famous Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. And at the end of 1995 she went out on tour in the National Tour of "Fiddler On The Roof." In 1997 Aileen was in two off-Broadway shows, "Dreamstuff" and "Yiddle With a Fiddle." In 1998 she was on Broadway in "Peter Pan" with Cathy Rigby playing Tootles and Jane and understudying Wendy. In early 1999, Aileen left the show and moved to Los Angeles.

Right after "Peter Pan," Aileen was visiting her mom and dad in New Jersey, right near where I worked, so we met for lunch at a restaurant where she used to waitress during her college days. She was anxious to see what LA would be like, but she still considers the East Coast her home.

In the summer of 2000 Aileen played the title role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" on stage in Salt Lake City. Then, in late 2000 she began touring with the Broadway tour of "Saturday Night Fever," playing the part of Annette. In 2011 she is teaching drama at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University), the site of the movie filming in 1981, and in 2009 Aileen was honored with an honorary doctorate by the University.  She and Rosanne Sorrentino (Pepper) and Toni Ann Gisondi (Molly) returned to Monmouth in 2010 for a photo shoot.  She celebrated her 40th birthday on June 28, 2011.

Left, in front of me, Aileen in 1997 after a performance of "Dreamstuff"

Recordings by Aileen

In addition to the "Annie" movie soundtrack album--which went platinum in the summer of 1982--Aileen made a couple of other recordings which are of interest to collectors. My description of Aileen's "Tomorrow" single appeared in "Annie People" #3, May 1983.

45 r.p.m. Single, "Tomorrow" by Aileen Quinn and the Orphans, Columbia #18-02951

This record came out in June 1982, about a month after the movie soundtrack LP was issued. The single was reviewed in the trade magazines, but it did not get enough airplay to place it onto the Top 100 charts. As a result, it was stocked in very few conventional record stores. I found mine in a Kmart in Rutland, Vermont. The interesting thing about this single is that it is not the same cut of "Tomorrow" that opens the movie soundtrack album; it is a longer version of the song (2:21 instead of 1:35 on the LP), with an extra instrumental middle added. This rare cut of "Tomorrow" is available only on this 45 and is not on any album. It has a nice picture sleeve, resembling the front of the album, with another shot of Annie and Sandy on the back. Ask about it in large record stores that stock oldies; they might have it filed under "Annie" rather than "Quinn." The flip side of the 45 is "Let's Go to the Movies," the same cut as the one on the LP.

(c) Annie People, 1983

After Aileen finished filming "Annie," she recorded an album of her own in 1982 when she was 11. This album is extremely rare; there are probably fewer than a dozen copies of the LP in existence in the hands of Orphan Annie collectors, and even fewer cassettes. The following was my original review of the album in "Annie People" #2, March 1983.

REVIEW: "Bobby's Girl" by Aileen Quinn, Columbia #ARC 38378

Aileen wrote me recently and told me, "I'm glad that you enjoy my new album. I had fun making it." That last statement of Aileen's is backed up all the way through her new solo LP on Columbia, released just before Thanksgiving. In fact, it is evident in anything that Aileen has a part in--acting, singing, dancing, even interviews--that she really does indeed love what she is doing. Perhaps it is her ability to show this feeling so thoroughly to her listeners and viewers that makes whatever she comes up with such a joy.

The album "Bobby's Girl" is a far better vehicle for Aileen's pleasant and true soprano voice than the "Annie" album, which had all the songs pitched too low for her to properly use her range. The average preteen child cannot be expected to get much tone quality out of an F# below middle C. Aileen really does have a very fine and pleasant vocal style, and "Bobby's Girl" brings it out.

Her LP contains many fine pieces of soft, easy-type rock, some of which have been hit singles before by others (example: "Keep On Singing," which was a hit for Austin Roberts in 1973 and by Helen Reddy in 1974). Up front in this collection is the title cut, which was a big top three national hit by never-heard-from-again Marcie Blaine in 1962. Aileen takes the song "Bobby's Girl" right up into the 1980s with a sort of mild Pat Benatar-Joan Jett type background, the song having been co-written by her producer, Gary Klein, more than two decades ago. In reviewing the album, People magazine said that song "is perfect for her, full of bounce and enthusiasm." I couldn't agree more. Why Columbia has not as yet released that cut as a single is beyond me.

The choice of material for her on the album is for the most part excellent; personally I would not have picked Leo Sayer's 1976 #1 hit, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," which sounds a little out of place on an album by an 11-year-old girl, although Aileen handles it just fine and the background music is rather catchy. I liked it far better than the original. "Songs" (recorded originally by Crystal Gayle on "Sesame Street Country") was a brilliant choice for an opener, and the Paul Williams composition from "The Muppet Movie," "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday," fits in beautifully.

The best material on the album is the new material, specifically the songs written by Michael Smotherman. "Nothing Quite Like Love" has some of the most touching lyrics I have ever heard on a soft rock song, and it has a memorable melody full of wide intervals, which Aileen handles expertly with precision, feeling, and ease. The song "The Great Big Difference" is an absolute gem, with a message that should be heard by every parent and anyone who works with youth in any way. I used to be an elementary classroom music teacher, and that lyric hit home on the first playing.

Because of the lack of proper promotion in the trade magazines Cash Box and Billboard, record stores that are not familiar with Aileen from "Annie" have no idea where to file the album, so you may have to do a little looking. Some put her in with Queen and Quarterflash and Suzi Quatro; others have the album just in the "New Releases" for want of any other place to put it. Still others have put it in the kiddie section next to (gag) Smurf albums. This album deserves far better treatment than that. Stores with any sense at all put it right next to the "Annie" movie soundtrack; the association is still there, although Aileen's picture on the cover hardly resembles Annie at all. As for the cover, I did miss the old Annie smile, but the LP itself does represent a new and changing side of Aileen's talents, and the pose is still unmistakably Aileen of course. Anyone who likes the "Annie" soundtrack will thoroughly enjoy this extremely well done album. Let's hope it's Aileen's first of many.

(c) Annie People, 1983
More material forthcoming on this page

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