Danielle Brisebois

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Danielle Anne Brisebois (born June 28 1969) is a producer, songwriter and former singer. In the 1990s she recorded two solo albums, Arrive All Over You and Portable Life, and was a member of the New Radicals.

Brisebois is also a former child actress. She is most recognized for her role as Stephanie Mills on the sitcoms All in the Family and its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place, as well as playing Molly in the original Broadway cast of Annie.

Biography

Acting career

Danielle Brisebois was born on June 28 1969 in Brooklyn, New York. She began acting very early, appearing in her first movie, 1976's The Premonition, at the age of seven. In 1977 she appeared in an episode of Kojak and began starring in the Original Broadway cast of Annie as the youngest of the orphans, Molly. (Jay-Z later sampled a clip of Brisebois from Annie for his song "Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)".)

In the late 1970s she joined the cast of All in the Family and later also starred in its spin-off Archie Bunker's Place in early 1980s. She was nominated for six Young Artist Awards from 1980 to 1984 and won two of them, in 1981 as Best Young Actress in a TV Special for Mom, the Wolfman and Me and in 1982 as Best Young Actress in a Television Series for Archie Bunker's Place. In 1982 she was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, again for Archie Bunker's Place. She also appeared in several episodes of Battle of the Network Stars and Circus of the Stars in the early 1980s and played the daughter of William Devane's character on Knots Landing in the series' fifths season.

In the late 1980s, she had several single-episode appearances in various TV series, including Hotel, Mr. Belvedere, Murder, She Wrote, Tales from the Darkside, Days of our Lives.

She ranked in the Top 50 (#50) of VH1's 100 Greatest Kid Stars.

Music career

Brisebois began her career as a recording artist in the early nineties by providing backing vocals on Intoxifornication, the 1992 album by rock singer Gregg Alexander. This was the beginning of a long-standing collaborative relationship with Alexander, who co-wrote, produced and sung on her first solo album Arrive All Over You in 1994. Despite a disappointing commercial performance in U.S but became a minor hit-album in Europe, Arrive All Over You performed well critically and continues to maintain a cult following. Mackenzie Wilson of Allmusic described the album as "an earnest and impressive effort.. [that] went largely unnoticed during the reign of gangsta rap and grunge" and compared it favourably to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill.[1] Brisebois' cover of "Gimme Little Sign" was also a minor hit in Europe.

In 1998, Brisebois became a member of Alexander's New Radicals group, who scored their biggest successes with the hit single "You Get What You Give" and the million-selling album Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too. She provided distinctive female vocals to the group's sound on tracks such as "Mother We Just Can't Get Enough" and "Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You".

Alexander quickly disbanded the group in 1999 but went on to produce and co-write Brisebois' second solo album Portable Life, which was originally scheduled to be released on October 26, 1999. Promotional copies of the album and the single "I've Had It" were distributed, reviews appeared in the press and an "I've Had It" video was even shot, but for unknown reasons RCA Records cancelled the release at the last minute. The album was delayed until September 30, 2008, when it was released as a digital download via iTunes and Amazon.com. A compilation album of Arrive All Over You-era tracks entitled Just Missed the Train was also released through Sony BMG on September 26, 2006.

Brisebois has written and produced numerous songs for various other artists, including Carly Smithson, Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Kylie Minogue. She co-wrote Natasha Bedingfield's Top 10 hits "Unwritten" and "Pocketful of Sunshine", and most recently Donna Summer's comeback hit "Stamp Your Feet".

In November 2008, Brisebois reunited with Alexander, former New Radicals guitarist (and current Paul McCartney guitarist) Rusty Anderson and producer Rick Nowels as The Not So Silent Majority. She sings lead vocals on their song "Obama Rock", supporting the election of Barack Obama.

She is currently co-writing songs for pop/soul artist Kate Earl's sophomore album.

Filmography

Year Title Role Other notes
1976 The Premonition Janie Bennett
1978 Slow Dancing in the Big City Ribi Ciano
1978 King of the Gypsies Young Tita
1978 The Stableboy's Christmas Tammy made-for-TV movie
1978 If Ever I See You Again Morrison Child
1980 Mom, the Wolfman and Me Jenny Bergman made-for-TV movie
1987 Big Bad Mama II Billy Jean
1990 Kill Crazy Libby direct-to-video
1997 As Good as It Gets Singer
2006 Life After Tomorrow Herself documentary about Annie

Discography

Albums

  • Arrive All Over You (1994)
  • Just Missed the Train (2006)
  • Portable Life (2008)

Singles

  • "What If God Fell From The Sky" (1994)
  • "Gimme Little Sign" (1995)
  • "I Don't Wanna Talk About Love" (1995)
  • "I've Had It" (1999, promotional single only)

Awards and nominations

Awards won

  • 1981 Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a TV Special; for Mom, the Wolfman and Me
  • 1982 Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Series; for Archie Bunker's Place

Nominations

  • 1980 Young Artist Award - Best Juvenile Actress in a TV Series or Special; for All in the Family
  • 1981 Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Series; for Archie Bunker's Place
  • 1982 Golden Globe Award - Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV; for Archie Bunker's Place
  • 1983 Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Series; for Archie Bunker's Place
  • 1984 Young Artist Award - Best Young Actress in a Television Series; for Archie Bunker's Place

References

External links



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