It has been 43 years since film fans first saw a confident little red head child and her friends at the orphanage in the 1982 Annie when they had to make the floors ‘shine like the top of the Chrysler Building’
When it’s a gloomy day it’s hard to resist singing ‘The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow’, or referencing ‘A Hard Knock Day’ from the iconic Annie film. It’s been over 40 years since Annie, played by Aileen Quinn, left her difficult life at the orphanage to live in a grand mansion with a swimming pool, as rich man Mr Warbucks helped her look for her estranged parents, before adopting her and offering her a new life chance.
The story started on Broadway in the ’70s before being turned into a film in 1982 – and another film adaptation of the story was created in 2014, starring Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx. The original film still remains popular today and is considered a classic 43 years on.
The youngest orphan Molly stole audiences hearts – especially when the girls were cleaning the orphanage and she insisted the floor “shines like the top of the Chrysler Building”. It is almost hard to imagine that the little girl, played by Toni Ann Gisondi, is all grown up and is now a mother-of-two. From her fond memories of the film, she even named her first daughter Molly!
Toni’s daughter Molly has been sharing behind-the-scenes secrets behind the movie online, and sharing what her mum is up to today.
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On TikTok, Molly said: “I’m seeing some people posting #Annie and I thought this would be cool for the fans to see. It’s so neat to know how much this movie has helped people or inspired them to perform – and the fact it’s doing that nearly 50 years later is amazing.”
Molly, who is Miss South Jersey 2025, shared snaps of her mother in the film, snaps of then and now, as well as pictures of the ‘orphans’ reuniting in recent years. She said it is “still so cool” to see her mum “pop up” on her screen.
She also showed snaps of herself and her mum, as well as her sister Melody and dad, Theodore Pugliese, exploring Monmouth College where they filmed scenes in Mr Warbucks’ mansion. The family evidentially love reminiscing on Toni’s work in the film.
Commenting on the post, one individual said: “Oh, she was my favourite! She was so cute! I had a gorgeous brown eyed, brown haired little girl of my own!” “Molly was my favourite,” said another. Another shared: “I wanted to be her so bad! I watched this movie on repeat!”.
The child actress is now 50. After playing Molly at just six years old, Toni went back to being a ‘normal kid’ again. She continued to do acting, dancing and singing, enjoying drama and local theatre performances.
As she grew older, Toni put her talent to good use, performing at weddings and funerals.
She has not done much professional since, and keeps her modern life pretty private. She did star in Called to Duty in 2023 – a war film, as well as Wings of a Wasp in 2019. She married her husband Theodore in 1999.
Toni’s daughter Molly confirmed that she still speaks to the actresses who played Annie and Pepper – Aileen Quinn and Rosanne Sorrentino. She revealed that Aileen’s hair in the film was a wig.