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Orphan Annie's Author

Little Orphan Annie - in all her forms.

Click on the gallery to see all the images.

Mary Alice Smith Mary Alice Smith was the REAL Little Orphant Annie. She was actually an "orphant Allie" but a typesetter misread the poet, James Whitcomb Riley's, handwriting and changed the "Allie" to Annie."	Mary Alice (Smith) Gray This is a photo that was used for publicity purposes by a man who took Mary Alice on tour after Riley's death. He would present a program on Riley, and then bring Orphan Annie out to answer questions from the audience. Mary Alice was in her 70's when she did this.	Mary Alice (Smith) Gray Another photo of Mary Alice (Smith) Gray - Riley's Little Orphant Allie/Annie
LOA by Will Vawter This is an iconic image of Annie by Riley's main illustrator, Will Vawter. Vawter used people from Brown County, Indiana - where he lived in an artist colony - as inspiration for his drawings. This one is of Sarah Spicer Hardin who was 8 at the time. Hardin stated she remembered Vawter as a kindly man who gave her 50 cents for posing for this picture, and he always had candy in his pockets.	LOA by Vawter And Thist as she clicked her heels to turn and run and hide, there was two great big black things -astandin by her side. This is a verse from Riley's Little Orphant Annie poem - -and Vawter's illustration aptly illuminates the verse.	LOA by Betts Little Orphant Annie by Ethel Franklin Betts. Ethel Franklin Betts was an artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This image appeared on the cover of Riley's books: "Riley Child Verse" and "A Host of Children: James Whitcomb Riley." This is an image that inspired a Tiffany glass window design.
Tiffany LOA Little Orphant Annie - a Tiffany stained glass design - based on an Ethel Franklin Betts illustration. To my knowledge - this window was never made.	Annies portrait by Betts Little Orphant Annie as depicted for Riley's book "Orphant Annie Storybook" by Ethel Franklin Betts. Riley gave the artist a description of Annie - and she drew this image from that description.	1918 LOA ad An ad for the 1918 Little Orphant Annie film staring Colleen Moore. This movie is based on the James Whitcomb Riley poem.
LOA DVD Cover of the Little Orphant Annie DVD - which has the 1918 Silent film.	LOA 1918 screen shot A colorized screen shot of the 1918 Little Orphant Annie film. Colleen Moore portrayed Annie - - she is seen here in the blue dress. The man is supposed to be her uncle and the lady is the matron for the orphanage where she lived.	Colleen Moore as LOA Colleen Moore as Little Orphant Annie from the 1918 film.
Raggedy Ann Patent The Patent that Johnny Gruelle submitted for Raggedy Ann. Raggedy Ann is named for two of James Whitcomb Riley's poems - "The Raggedy Man" and "Little Orphant Annie."	Modern Raggedy Ann Raggedy Ann - a creation by Johnny Gruelle - a close friend of James Whitcomb Riley.	Orphant Annie Storybook cover Orphant Annie Story Book by Johnny Gruelle. This book was written in memory of James Whitcomb Riley - the creator of the Orphant Annie character. Gruelle grew up in the same Indianapolis neighborhood where Riley lived. Upon the poet's death, Gruelle created this book in memory of his good friend.
Orphan Annie by Gruelle Little Orphant Annie as depicted by illustrator - Johnny Gruelle in the Little Orphant Annie Story book.	Little Orphan Annie Comic Strip The comic strip Orphan Annie - created by Harold Gray	Orphan Annie and Sandy Little Orphan Annie as depicted by Harold Gray. Gray's LOA is noted for her "empty eyes."
Annie's first strip The very first Orphan Annie Comic Strip by Harold Gray	1932 Little Orphan Annie movie Little Orphant Annie Ad for the 1932 movie starring Mitzi Green	Mitzi Green star of 1932 LOA Mitzi Green as Little Orphant Annie
1938 Little Orphan Annie movie 1938 Little Orphan Annie starring Ann Gillis ad	LOA 1938 Ann Gillis movie still Ann Gillis starring in a LOA from 1938	Radio Orphan Annie Radio Orphan Annie was the first program targeted towards children. It's first sponsor was Ovaltine
Shirley Bell was Radio Orphan Annie Shirley Bell - the original star of Radio Orphan Annie	Radio Orphan Annie Theme Song Who is that little chatterbox?	Radio Orphan Annie.jpg Radio Orphan Annie had a Secret Society where you could get decoder pins to decode the secret message from each radio program.
LOA and Captain Sparks Captain Sparks with Quaker Wheat Sparkies would sponsor Radio Orphan Annie during the war years.	Orphant Annie Millies Miniatures Orphant Annie as a Millie's Miniatures doll. Millie Davis was the creator of these handmade dolls that were made in Riley's hometown of Greenfield and sold from the James Whitcomb Riley Boyhood Home.	LOA by Madam Alexander James Whitcomb Riley's version of Little Orphant Annie - as depicted by Madam Alexander
Orphant Annie by Lenci Mascotte A Lenci Mascotte doll - representing Riley's version of LOA	Modern Annie Comic Strip logo The modern logo for the Little Orphan Annie Comic strip. She also has a totally new look.	Modern Annie Modern Comic strip Annie's new look
Annie Logo Annie - the musical opened on Broadway in 1977 - based on the Harold Gray comic strip	Andrea McCardle as LOA Andrea McCardle was the first LOA on stage	Annie the movie Annie the movie came out in 1982 - based on the popular musical
Aileen Quinn as LOA Aileen Quinn starred in Annie the movie	Orphant annie by Robin Woods Riley's Orphant Annie as a doll made by Robin Woods	Orphant annie by Wendy Lawton Riley's Little Orphant Annie as a doll by Wendy Lawton
LOA by Jamie Stempnik.jpeg A merging of the two Annie characters in a modern rendition by Jamie Stempnik - both the elements of Riley's character - the broom and the verse above - and elements of the Gray character - the empty eyes and the dress are seen in this interpretation of Little Orphant Annie	Annie 2014 The poster from the 2014 version of the Annie movie.

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