HOT GALLERY: Looking Back at the Stars of This Beloved Family Classic as Annie Turns 30

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Aileen Quinn as the Title Character in Annie

The lovable little orphan who can’t help but spread her sunny outlook was played by freckle-faced Aileen Quinn, in her feature film debut. Despite her young age, Quinn was already a theater pro by the time she was cast as in Annie. “Because I did come from that theater background,” she told Snakkle, “they actually usually did only one or two takes” for each scene. Quinn earned two Golden Globe nominations for Annie.

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Aileen Quinn in Annie; Aileen Quinn in 2012

After Annie, Quinn performed in regional theater productions of shows including The Wizard of Oz and Bye Bye Birdie before going on to earn a degree in language and political science from Drew University in New Jersey. She continued to appear on the stage, in touring productions of Saturday Night Fever and Fiddler on the Roof, as well as in As You Like It and Twelfth Night at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and is currently singing in a rockabilly band called The Leapin Lizards (a reference to one of Annie’s favorite exclamations).

Toni Ann Gisondi as Molly in Annie

Molly is the smallest and youngest orphan. As the movie opens, Annie sings “Maybe,” and Molly wakes up frightened. She calls for Annie, who comforts her and defends her from the other orphans.

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Toni Ann Gisondi as Molly in Annie; Toni Ann Gisondi Today

The same year as Annie, Gisondi also appeared in the TV short The Children’s Story. She is now a teacher in New Jersey and the mom of two daughters—one of whom is named Molly.

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Tim Curry as Rooster Hannigan in Annie

Miss Hannigan’s conniving brother Rooster was embodied by the long-limbed, pencil-mustached, slick-haired Tim Curry, who was no stranger to the movie musical after his breakout performance seven years earlier in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

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Tim Curry as Rooster Hannigan in Annie; Tim Curry in 2011

Curry has had a wonderfully varied career, from Broadway (Amadeus) to TV (as the terrifying Pennywise in It) to voice work (Sonic the Hedgehog) to movies (Charlie’s Angels). Curry described his time on Annie as the most “strenuous” thing he’d done to date; “I’m still hobbling from jumping over a chain-link fence... and just hoofing.”

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Rosanne Sorrentino as Pepper in Annie

Pepper was the toughest of the orphans, and Annie’s biggest rival. Ironically, Annie herself (Aileen Quinn) told Snakkle, “We were the closest on set.”

rosanne sorrentino annie movie 1982 photo portrait 2012

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Rosanne Sorrentino as Pepper in Annie; Rosanne Sorrentino Today

Although Sorrentino had played the title role in a national tour of Annie, she was considered too old for the part in the movie. She is now an English teacher on Long Island.

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Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks in Annie

He was the lonely, wealthy big shot who only wanted an orphan to prop up his image—until Annie melted his heart and the two found what they were looking for in each other. Not generally known for performing musicals, Albert Finney sang and danced with gusto in the role.

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Albert Finney as Daddy Warbucks in Annie; Albert Finney in 2003

For more than five decades, this esteemed British actor has been performing in movies, TV, and theater. He’s earned five Oscar nominations along the way, for movies including Murder on the Orient Express and Erin Brockovich. He won an Emmy for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the HBO miniseries The Gathering Storm. He appears in the newest James Bond movie, Skyfall, and reprises his role as Dr. Albert Hirsch in The Bourne Legacy.

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Robin Ignico as Duffy in Annie

At 13, Duffy is the biggest of the orphans in Miss Hannigan’s care. Robin Ignico, who had previously appeared in the series Simon & Simon and a TV movie, was one of three young actors considered for the lead role of Annie.

robin ignico annie movie 1982 photo portrait 2012

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Robin Ignico as Duffy in Annie; Robin Ignico Today

After Annie, Ignico went on to appear in TV shows throughout the'80s, including Voyagers! and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers as well as a recurring role on Trapper John, M.D. She also had a role in the Gene Wilder movie The Woman in Red. Ignico now works in finance.

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Geoffrey Holder as Punjab in Annie

Daddy Warbucks’ right-hand man, the dramatically turbaned Punjab, was played by dancer and choreographer Geoffrey Holder.

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Geoffrey Holder as Punjab in Annie; Geoffrey Holder in 2010

Holder graced the stage and screen as both a performer (House of Flowers, Live and Let Die) and a director (The Wiz, for which he won two Tonys). Holder has contributed his distinctive resonant voice to movies, including the Tim Burton-Johnny Depp Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and starred in a number of 7-Up “uncola” commercials in the '70s and '80s. Holder was also an accomplished painter, photographer, and author. Sadly, he passed away in October 2014.

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Edward Herrmann as FDR in Annie

This wasn’t Edward Herrmann’s first time as the wheelchair-bound president; he had played FDR twice before, in the TV movies Eleanor and Franklin and again in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. As Daddy Warbucks’ personal friend, FDR is charmed by Annie and in return gives her a lesson in civic duty and American pride.

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Edward Hermann as FDR in Annie; Edward Herrmann in 2011

He’s one of the quintessential “where do I know that guy from?” actors, with roles in everything from The Lost Boys to Gilmore Girls, from Reds to The Purple Rose of Cairo. Most recently, Herrmann has appeared in The Good Wife and Harry’s Law, and Black Box.

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Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan in Annie

Having starred in The Lucy Show and her own iconic variety show, Carol Burnett was already a beloved comedian by the time she starred as Miss Hannigan, the alcoholic orphanage matron “dripping with Little Girls” in Annie.

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Carol Burnett in Annie; Carol Burnett in 2012

The year after Annie was released, she joined her former Carol Burnett Show castmate Vicki Lawrence in the short-lived but much-loved Mama’s Family. She has since appeared in everything from Magnum, P.I. to The Larry Sanders Show to recurring roles on Mad About You and All My Children. And let’s not forget her role as Sue Sylvester’s Nazi hunter mom on Glee. (“I just love that they're bringing all kinds of music back,” Burnett told TVGuide.com. “I'm just so happy it's a hit.”) She's since made guest appearances on Hot in Cleveland and Hawaii Five-0.

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Bernadette Peters as Lily St. Regis in Annie

As the bawdy Lily St. Regis, who helps in the plot to mislead Annie and collect the reward Daddy Warbucks offers for the discovery of her parents, Bernadette Peters gave us memorable moments like the “Easy Street” number.

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Bernadette Peters as Lily St. Regis in Annie; Bernadette Peters in 2012

This New York native is a Broadway treasure, having earned seven Tony nominations and won two (for Song & Dance and Annie Get Your Gun), in addition to her extensive (and often hilarious) movie and TV work. Most recently, Peters has guest-starred on the new TV series Smash, playing—what else?—a Broadway legend, the mother of Marilyn Monroe wannabe Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty). Even as one of the show’s leads, Hilty was star-struck: “Bernadette Peters playing my mom?” she told Broadway.com. “I mean, how many dreams can come true with one job? She’s really the reason I wanted to go into musical theater in the first place.” Peters is also an advocate for animal adoption. She voices Glinda in the animated Dorothy of Oz. Next up, she'll be in the Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle.