Remember The Annie Cast: Here’s What They Look Like Now!
Remember the Annie cast? From the terrifying Miss Agatha Hannigan to the adorable orphan Molly, we’re taking a look at what the stars of the film look like now!
A run down orphanage ”cared for” by an abusive alcoholic, a handful of catchy musical numbers and a group of kids from New York City who will melt your heart. It can only mean one thing: we’re talking about Annie!
Seriously, can you believe it’s been almost four decades since our fave orphan Annie saved a dog on Easy Street, took on the dreaded Miss Hannigan and found a family?!
It’s time to discover if the sun really did come up for these stars, or if they’re still living that hard-knock life. Allow us…
1. Miss Agatha Hannigan (Carol Burnett) – THEN
”We love you Miss Hannigan!”
Yeah, not really.
Orphanage caretaker (and we use that term loosely!) Miss Hannigan, might not have been fond of children what she did love was her job -and alcohol. Mostly alcohol.
When she wasn’t forcing the girls to scrub the floor until it shined “like the top of the Chrysler building”, she could be found comatosed in her bedroom catching up on some ”beauty” sleep. A.K.A. a drunken stupor.
But you’ll be glad to know that Carol Burnett is nothing like her on screen character, and after filming ended the actress continued to appear on our screens. In fact, Glee fans might remember her as Doris Sylvester, Sue’s mother!
Despite being in her mid-eighties, Burnett has showing no signs of wanting to retire and in 2018 she hosted her own web TV shows A Little Help with Carol Burnett – which premiered on Netflix! Not bad, eh?
Carol Burnett (Miss Agatha Hannigan) -NOW
2. Lily St Regis (Bernadette Peters) -THEN
While we’re on the subject of child hating villains, you remember Lily St. Regis don’t you? In case your memory is a little rusty (it was 37 years ago after all!) she was the girlfriend of Rooster Hannigan, Miss Hannigan’s equally evil brother.
After being cut off from the money-making master plan set in motion by the Hannigan siblings, Lily was forced to stay behind and ”look after” the children, but it didn’t stop the police from arresting her when the time came!
In real life, Bernadette Peters isn’t locked up for kidnapping and instead has kept herself busy by releasing six albums, penning two children’s books and performing on Broadway!
As if we couldn’t love her any more than we already do, the star also dedicates her free time by attending charitable events which support the adoption of animals!
Bernadette Peters (Lily St. Regis) -NOW
My Beloved Mandy Patinkin sang The Dog Song from Sunday in the Park !!At the AMCNY ,, SO Fantastic ‼️ pic.twitter.com/5nKwVaJ4t8
— Bernadette Peters (@OfficialBPeters) December 14, 2018
3. Pepper (Rosanne Sorrentino) -THEN
14-year-old Pepper was the oldest of the orphan girls and arguably the most hated among fans! Remember when she got annoyed at Annie for comforting little Molly after a bad dream? Talk about harsh…
Aside from being unbearably bossy and violent towards the younger girls, she was also the only one who threatened to tell Miss Hannigan when the others stepped out of line!
Rosanne Sorrentino has put her acting career in her rear-view mirror and the only place you’ll be able to see the star now is in the Life After Tomorrow’ documentary.
These days the former child-star lives on Long Island with her husband and two daughters where she works as an assistant principal at Brentwood North Middle School.
Rosanne Sorrentino (Pepper) -NOW
4. Molly (Toni Ann Gisondi) -THEN
We’d be willing to take bets on the fact that the youngest of the orphan litter, little Molly was everyone’s favourite character. I mean, how could she not be? Look at how cute she is!
Molly was taken under Annie’s wing and treated like her little sister, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough to stop Pepper’s relentless bullying tactics.
Toni Ann Gisondi might have had a bright future ahead of her in the acting industry, but after her role in Annie came to an end, the actress decided to follow a more conventional path…
Gisondi now splits her time between working as a substitute teacher and singing at weddings! She is also married to Theodore Pugliese and together the couple have two daughters, Melody Rose and -wait for it- Molly Marie!
Toni Ann Gisondi (Molly) -NOW
https://twitter.com/tonianngisondi/status/815654734640062465
5. Lara Berk Tessie (Tessie) -THEN
Tessie may not have been one of the more prominent orphans, but we still have fond memories of her nonetheless! The character would go from being in a bubbly, energetic mood to being overcome with worrisome thoughts which would lead to her iconic catchphrase:
“Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!”
Anyway, enough of the past! Let’s get down to the real reason we’re all here: what happened next for Lara Berk?
Unlike some of her co-stars, Lara tried to make it big in Hollywood and in 1984, she was cast as Kiki Dumont in Preppies. Unfortunately, viewers didn’t seem to enjoy the premise of the film which has an overall 2-star rating. Yikes!!!
When her acting career didn’t pan out quite the way she hoped, Lara settled down, got married, had two kids and found a new job as a legal recruiter.
Lara Berk (Tessie) -NOW
6. Kate (April Lerman) -THEN
Although she is one of the oldest girls in the orphanage and has the most experience when it comes to dealing with their spiteful caretaker, Kate is by far the most reserved and introverted character in the film.
In fact now that we think about it, she never really had very much to say throughout the entire movie!
Ironically, unlike her more vocal cast-mates, it was April Lerman who went on to make a name for herself in the industry later on in life!
You might be familiar with the hit ’80’s sitcom Charles In Charge? Well, Lerman played the role of boy-obsessed Lila Pembroke for the whole of season one before being replaced.
Following this, she starred in Kate and Alice, Growing Pains and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose but ultimately dropped her career like a hot potato and headed off to university where she achieved a degree in Law!
Now, April is a married mother of one who works as a child psychologist!
April Lerman (Kate) -NOW
7. Duffy (Robin Ignico) -THEN
In complete contrast to Kate, Duffy was never out of things to say and was by far the most confident of Miss Hannigan’s girls. Like Annie, she was desperate to get out of the orphanage and make something of herself which fuelled her search for fame and fortune.
The real question is, did she find it?
Robin Ignico went on to become a regular face in Trapper John, M.D and made special guest appearances in Voyagers, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Matt Houston!
Things fizzled out pretty quickly for Robin and after appearing in a few of those TV movies in the late eighties, the actress quit to become a real estate agent for a large corporation.
However, in 2015 the former-actress made a comeback when she played a burglar in the film No Solicitors. Could this be the first step in her big return?!
Robin Ignico (Duffy) -NOW
8. Oliver ‘Daddy’ Warbucks (Albert Finney) -THEN
We won’t lie, our first impression of billionaire Oliver Warbucks (even in the great depression) wasn’t a good one. He didn’t want to adopt a daughter. He had no interest in Sandy (I mean, seriously?!) and he was so caught up in following (quite frankly absurd) rules! Smh.
But there was a turning point when the billionaire industrialist realised that optimistic Annie was actually the perfect daughter after all and the rest -as they say- is history!
As he was already an established actor, it’s unsurprising that Albert Finney continued his career in the industry…
The BAFTA and Golden Globe award nominations (winning( star has made appearances in films such as The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), The Bourne Legacy (2012), and Skyfall (2012).
Sadly, Albert passed away earlier this year.
Albert Finney (Oliver ‘Daddy’ Warbucks) -NOW
9. Rooster (Tim Curry) -Then
You thought we’d forgot all about Rooster Hannigan didn’t you? Well, we haven’t – and what better character is there to round off our list with than him?
Upon escaping prison after convincing the warden to let him out early, Rooster hot-footed it to his sister’s orphanage where the pair devised a get-rich quick scheme! But as we all know, good always overcomes evil – by the end of the film he was back in his shackles.
When we look at Tim Curry’s other works, the role of Rooster Hannigan seems pretty tame! From Pennywise the clown in the first film adaption of Stephen King’s It, to a serial killer and child kidnapper in Criminal Minds; Curry’s fictional life of crime didn’t end with Annie!
Sadly, the actor’s life came crashing down in 2012 when he suffered from a sudden stroke, leaving him wheelchair-bound. Though his condition has dramatically improved since then, Curry heavily relies on a motorised wheelchair for his mobility.
Tim Curry (Rooster) -NOW
10. Annie (Aileen Quinn) -THEN
The scrappy little red head managed to maintain a positive outlook on life despite being in one of the most dire situations imaginable. We could all learn a thing or two from her…
After the movie ended, our leading lady Aileen Quinn (who played the role of Annie) landed herself a role on the much less popular film The Frog Prince, which led to a brief television appearance before the actress faded into the background.
At the age of 18, the star took a step back from acting in order to pursue a higher education, but after graduating university with honours in language and political science, Aileen returned to the spotlight, this time on Broadway where she performed in a production of Peter Pan!
In recent years, Quinn has been busy writing new material for her Los Angeles based rockabilly band, “The Leapin’ Lizards” for which she is the lead singer!
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Aileen revealed that she returned to Monmouth University (where Annie was filmed):
“A couple years before I started teaching, I went there for a big fundraiser to help them raise money for education. So I went back for the first time and actually got very emotional. It’s that staircase that does it. After I gave my speech they had me go up the stairs and I sang “Tomorrow. I actually was flashing back, and that got our wheels spinning: this is an obvious match. There were some conversations afterwards and they asked if I would be interested in teaching, and I said I would actually love that. Next thing I knew, I was teaching a theater course.”
As you might’ve guessed, she’s now teaching drama!
Aileen Quinn (Annie) -NOW
We’re looking forward to seeing what the Annie Broadway Musical stars of today’s box office – directed by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin – look like in ten years time!
