Caroline Sunshine

Caroline Sunshine

Caroline Sunshine (born September 5, 1995) is an American actress, dancer and singer. 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.

Early life

Caroline Sunshine was born September 5, 1995, in Atlanta, Georgia to parents Thom and Karen Sunshine. She was raised inOrange 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 inTustin, 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.

Career

[1][2]Sunshine in June 2011

In 2006, Sunshine began going to 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 forYoplait Go-Gurt, and Cap'n Crunch. In 2010, Sunshine filmed her first pilot for the CBSsitcom, Team Spitz, co-starring as the teenage daughter of a high school coach played byRob 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 Europeanexchange student, Tinka Hessenheffer alongside Kenton Duty as her flamboyant twin brother, Gunther Hessenheffer. The glitzy brother/sister duo of Gunther and Tinka is said to be inspired by Ryan and Sharpay Evans of Disney's High School Musicalfranchise. 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." She was a recurring cast member in Season 1 and a series regular in Seasons 2 and 3. Caroline is currently working on Shake It Up.

Personal life

Sunshine currently lives in Orange County, California 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 Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center, which offers in-home parenting classes to families to break the generational cycle of 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	Title	Role
2010	Marmaduke	Barbara Winslow

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	What's the Word?	Herself	"Johnny Kapahala: Back on Board" (Season 1, Episode 7)
2010	Team Spitz	Lizzie Spitz	"Pilot"
2010–present	Shake It Up	Tinka Hessenheffer	Recurring season 1 Main cast beginning season 2
2012	A.N.T. Farm	Ella	"Some EnchANTed Evening" (Season 1, Episode 20)

Discography

Promotional singles

Song	Year	Album
"Roam" (with Davis Cleveland, Kenton Duty and Adam Irigoyen)	2012	Treasure Buddies

Other appearances

Title	Year	Album
"The Star I R"	2012	Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance
"All I Want For Christmas Is You"		Disney Channel Holiday Playlist
"After Party" (with Roshon Fegan)	2013	Shake It Up: I <3 Dance

Awards and Nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2011	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series (shared with Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, Adam Irigoyen and Kenton Duty)	Shake It Up	Nominated
2012	Young Artist Awards	Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series (shared with Zendaya, Bella Thorne, Davis Cleveland, Roshon Fegan, Adam Irigoyen and Kenton Duty)	Shake It Up

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Caroline Sunshine is "Tinka"". Disney Channel Medianet. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} "Tustin teen stars in 'Marmaduke'". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
3. ^ ^a b c d "Meet Marmaduke Star Caroline Sunshine!'". Hollywood Teen 'Zine. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
4. ^ "Disney Channel show stars actress with Chicago ties". WLS-TV: ABC Chicago. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
5. ^ ^a b "Caroline Sunshine Exclusive Interview". The Star Scoop. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
6. ^ ^a b "Caroline Sunshine Interview'". Portrait Magazine. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
7. ^ "Characters - Gunther & Tinka - Shake It Up! - Disney Channel". Disney Channel Online. Disney. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
8. ^ "'Shake It Up': Meet Gunther & Tinka". ClevverTV. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
9. ^ "1 on 1 with Caroline Sunshine & Kenton Duty". Fanlala. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
10. ^ ^a b "When It Comes to Gay Characters, When Will the Teen Channels Grow Up?".AfterElton.com. Retrieved 2010-12-24.
11. ^ "O.C. teen lands role in Disney Channel's new "Shake It Up" series". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
12. ^ "Caroline Sunshine & Kenton Duty: Disney's New Ryan & Sharpay!". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
13. ^ "Picks and Pans: Shake It Up". People Magazine. December 20, 2010.
14. ^ ^a b "Top 16 Under 16: Caroline Sunshine". DreamMagazine.com. Retrieved May 2011.
15. ^ "Caroline Sunshine Launches New Teen Fragrance". Net News Publisher. February 25, 2011.
16. ^ ^a b "Puppy Love Spokesmodel Caroline Sunshine". Puppy Love Frangrances. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
17. ^ "Dream Magazine - May 2011 Cover". DreamMagazine.com. Retrieved May 2011.
18. ^ "Caroline Sunshine on Pet Life Radio". Pet Life Radio. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
19. ^ "Caroline Sunshine Interview". Star Chat Magazine. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
20. ^ "Premiere of 'Shake It Up'". TheFutonCritic.com. October 2010.
21. ^ "Season 2 Premiere of 'Shake It Up'". TheFutonCritic.com. August 2011.
22. ^ "Roam (From "Treasure Buddies") - Single". iTunes. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
23. ^ "32nd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved March 5, 2011.
24. ^ "33rd Annual Young Artist Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Retrieved March 31, 2012.