Caroline Sunshine
Encyclopedia
Caroline Sunshine is an American
actress. She is best known for her role as Barbara Winslow in the Fox
family film, Marmaduke
, and for her co-starring role as flashy European exchange student Tinka Hessenheffer on the Disney Channel
comedy series Shake It Up
.
to parents Thom and Karen Sunshine. She was raised in Orange County, California
, and has two younger brothers, John (born in 1997) and Christopher (born in 2000). Sunshine began studying ballet at the age of 3 and landed her first lead role playing Goldilocks in a kindergarten play. She later moved on to acting with the Orange County Children's Theater and dancing competitively with the South Coast Performing Arts studio in Tustin, California
. Sunshine's stage credits include Annie Warbucks
at the Orange County Children's Theatre, The Nutcracker
at the Academy of Dance and South Coast Performing Arts, and Stage Door
at the Lutheran High School of Orange County
.
, and Cap'n Crunch
. In 2010, Sunshine filmed her first pilot for the CBS
sitcom, Team Spitz, co-starring as the teenage daughter of a high school coach played by Rob Riggle
of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. In the summer of that same year, she gained popular notoriety for her role as Barbara Winslow in her first feature film, Marmaduke
, based on the comic strip
of the same name.
In the fall of 2010, Sunshine landed what would become a co-starring role on the Disney Channel
original series, Shake It Up
as European exchange student, Tinka Hessenheffer alongside Kenton Duty
as her flamboyant fraternal twin brother, Gunther. The glitzy brother/sister duo of Gunther and Tinka is said to be inspired by Ryan and Sharpay Evans of Disney's High School Musical
franchise. While finding some aspects of the show formulaic, People Magazine critic, Tom Gliatto expressed appreciation for the comedic twosome's work on the series, writing - "Shake It Up doesn't shake up the kidcom formula, but it has something more than the usual shiny-sparkly cuteness... The best performances are from Caroline Sunshine and Kenton Duty as an overbearing brother-and-sister act from abroad named Tinka and Gunther. They're like High School Musical's Sharpay split in two and speaking in an unplaceable accent."
with her father Thom, her mother Karen, and her two younger brothers, Johnny and Chris. In her free time she enjoys dancing, traveling, cooking, baking, and photography, as well as outdoor activities including going to the beach, surfing, snorkeling and rafting. In February 2011, Sunshine became the spokesmodel for the teen fragrance, "Puppy Love 4 Girlz". "Puppy Love" Fragrances is committed to helping homeless dogs and puppies, with a portion of all proceeds of the perfume going to local animal shelters. In May 2011, Sunshine was named one of Dream Magazine's "Top 16 Under 16".
In addition to her work with "Puppy Love", Sunshine is involved in several other charitable causes including the "Joyful Sewing Organization", which makes blankets for cancer patients, "Working Wardrobes", which provides assistance to underprivileged women and victims of domestic abuse, the "Adopt A Hero" program, which provides for the needs of soldiers and their families, the "Loaves and Fishes Ministry" which helps to feed the homeless, and the "Thirst Project" which is dedicated to providing clean drinking water to communities in developing nations.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. She is best known for her role as Barbara Winslow in the Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
family film, Marmaduke
Marmaduke (film)
Marmaduke is an American live action film adaptation of Brad Anderson's comic strip Marmaduke. The film centers on a rural Kansas family and their pets – a Great Dane named Marmaduke and a Balinese cat named Carlos – as the family relocates to California.-Plot:Marmaduke is a Great Dane living in...
, and for her co-starring role as flashy European exchange student Tinka Hessenheffer on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
comedy series Shake It Up
Shake It Up (TV series)
Shake It Up is an American television sitcom airing on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on November 7, 2010. Created by Chris Thompson and starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya, the show follows the adventures of Cece Jones and Rocky Blue as they star as background dancers on...
.
Early life
Caroline Sunshine was born September 5, 1995, in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
to parents Thom and Karen Sunshine. She was raised in Orange County, California
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, and has two younger brothers, John (born in 1997) and Christopher (born in 2000). Sunshine began studying ballet at the age of 3 and landed her first lead role playing Goldilocks in a kindergarten play. She later moved on to acting with the Orange County Children's Theater and dancing competitively with the South Coast Performing Arts studio in Tustin, California
Tustin, California
-Top employers:According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Tustin had a population of 75,540. The population density was 6,816.7 people per square mile...
. Sunshine's stage credits include Annie Warbucks
Annie Warbucks
Annie Warbucks is a musical with a book by Thomas Meehan, music by Charles Strouse, and lyrics by Martin Charnin. A sequel to the 1977 Tony Award-winning hit Annie, based on Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie comic strip, it begins immediately after Annie ended.-Plot:On Christmas morning in 1933,...
at the Orange County Children's Theatre, The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
at the Academy of Dance and South Coast Performing Arts, and Stage Door
Stage Door
Stage Door is a RKO film, adapted from the play by the same name, that tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film stars Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Adolphe Menjou, Gail Patrick, Constance Collier,...
at the Lutheran High School of Orange County
Lutheran High School of Orange County
Lutheran High School of Orange County is a private Lutheran high school in Orange, California, founded in 1973. In 2011 it was announced that the school would no longer acknowledge Wood Shop as a useful class by terminating the program....
.
Career
In 2006, Sunshine began going on professional auditions at the age of 11, and landed her first role in a commercial for Amazing Allysen the talking doll, as well as commercial work for Yoplait Go-GurtGo-Gurt
Go-Gurt is an American brand of yogurt marketed to children. It is squeezed out of a tube directly into the mouth, instead of being eaten with a spoon. It was introduced by General Mills' licensed Yoplait in 1999.-Background:...
, and Cap'n Crunch
Cap'n Crunch
Cap'n Crunch is a product line of sweetened corn and oat breakfast cereals introduced in 1963 and manufactured by Quaker Oats Company. Quaker Oats has been a division of PepsiCo since 2001. The product line is heralded by a cartoon mascot named Cap'n Crunch, a sea captain .-Development:Pamela Low,...
. In 2010, Sunshine filmed her first pilot for the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom, Team Spitz, co-starring as the teenage daughter of a high school coach played by Rob Riggle
Rob Riggle
Robert Allen "Rob" Riggle, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and United States Marine Corps officer. He is best known for his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show from 2006–2008, as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2004–2005, and for his comedic roles in films such...
of The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. In the summer of that same year, she gained popular notoriety for her role as Barbara Winslow in her first feature film, Marmaduke
Marmaduke (film)
Marmaduke is an American live action film adaptation of Brad Anderson's comic strip Marmaduke. The film centers on a rural Kansas family and their pets – a Great Dane named Marmaduke and a Balinese cat named Carlos – as the family relocates to California.-Plot:Marmaduke is a Great Dane living in...
, based on the comic strip
Marmaduke
Marmaduke is a newspaper comic strip drawn by Brad Anderson from 1954 to the present day. The strip was created by Anderson, with help from Phil Leeming and later Dorothy Leeming , and Paul Anderson. The strip revolves around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke...
of the same name.
In the fall of 2010, Sunshine landed what would become a co-starring role on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
original series, Shake It Up
Shake It Up (TV series)
Shake It Up is an American television sitcom airing on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on November 7, 2010. Created by Chris Thompson and starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya, the show follows the adventures of Cece Jones and Rocky Blue as they star as background dancers on...
as European exchange student, Tinka Hessenheffer alongside Kenton Duty
Kenton Duty
Kenton Duty is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his recurring role as "Young Jacob" on the final season of the ABC primetime drama, Lost, and for his co-starring role as the flamboyant European exchange student, Gunther Hessenheffer on the Disney Channel comedy series, Shake It...
as her flamboyant fraternal twin brother, Gunther. The glitzy brother/sister duo of Gunther and Tinka is said to be inspired by Ryan and Sharpay Evans of Disney's High School Musical
High School Musical
High School Musical is a 2006 American television film, first in the High School Musical film franchise. Upon its release on January 20, 2006, it became the most successful film that Disney Channel Original Movie ever produced, with a television sequel High School Musical 2 released in 2007 and...
franchise. While finding some aspects of the show formulaic, People Magazine critic, Tom Gliatto expressed appreciation for the comedic twosome's work on the series, writing - "Shake It Up doesn't shake up the kidcom formula, but it has something more than the usual shiny-sparkly cuteness... The best performances are from Caroline Sunshine and Kenton Duty as an overbearing brother-and-sister act from abroad named Tinka and Gunther. They're like High School Musical's Sharpay split in two and speaking in an unplaceable accent."
Personal life
Sunshine currently lives in Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
with her father Thom, her mother Karen, and her two younger brothers, Johnny and Chris. In her free time she enjoys dancing, traveling, cooking, baking, and photography, as well as outdoor activities including going to the beach, surfing, snorkeling and rafting. In February 2011, Sunshine became the spokesmodel for the teen fragrance, "Puppy Love 4 Girlz". "Puppy Love" Fragrances is committed to helping homeless dogs and puppies, with a portion of all proceeds of the perfume going to local animal shelters. In May 2011, Sunshine was named one of Dream Magazine's "Top 16 Under 16".
In addition to her work with "Puppy Love", Sunshine is involved in several other charitable causes including the "Joyful Sewing Organization", which makes blankets for cancer patients, "Working Wardrobes", which provides assistance to underprivileged women and victims of domestic abuse, the "Adopt A Hero" program, which provides for the needs of soldiers and their families, the "Loaves and Fishes Ministry" which helps to feed the homeless, and the "Thirst Project" which is dedicated to providing clean drinking water to communities in developing nations.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Marmaduke Marmaduke (film) Marmaduke is an American live action film adaptation of Brad Anderson's comic strip Marmaduke. The film centers on a rural Kansas family and their pets – a Great Dane named Marmaduke and a Balinese cat named Carlos – as the family relocates to California.-Plot:Marmaduke is a Great Dane living in... |
Barbara Winslow | — |
| Television | |||
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | What's the Word? | Herself | Promo for Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board is the 70th Disney Channel Original Movie and is the sequel to the 1999 film Johnny Tsunami. The movie premiered on Disney Channel on June 8, 2007. 1.3 million viewers watched this movie in the U.L placing 3rd in its timeslot... |
| 2010 | Made in Hollywood | Herself | — |
| 2010 | Team Spitz | Lizzie Spitz | (TV pilot) |
| 2010–present | Shake It Up Shake It Up (TV series) Shake It Up is an American television sitcom airing on Disney Channel in the United States. The series premiered on November 7, 2010. Created by Chris Thompson and starring Bella Thorne and Zendaya, the show follows the adventures of Cece Jones and Rocky Blue as they star as background dancers on... |
Tinka Hessenheffer | Season 1: Recurring / Season 2: Co-starring |
| 2011 | A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm A.N.T. Farm is a Disney Channel television sitcom that premiered on May 6, 2011 as a special preview and continued as a regular series on June 17, 2011. The pilot episode, "TransplANTed" aired after the series finale of The Suite Life on Deck... |
Ella | Episode: "Some EnchANTed Evening" |