TLDR: Danielle Brisebois, who played Stephanie Mills on All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place from 1978 to 1983, ditched acting in her 20s and became one of the most successful songwriters in pop music, co-writing massive hits like “Unwritten” (the theme from The Hills), “Pocketful of Sunshine,” and “Lost Stars,” which earned her an Oscar nomination in 2015.
At 56, she’s married to producer Nick Lashley with twin daughters, still writing songs in 2025, and represents one of the rare child stars who escaped the curse and built an even bigger second career.
Remember little Stephanie Mills from All in the Family? The nine-year-old niece who moved in with Archie and Edith Bunker in 1978?
She’s 56 now. And she didn’t become a cautionary tale. She became a powerhouse.
While most child stars crash and burn, Danielle Brisebois walked away from acting in her 20s and reinvented herself as a Grammy-nominated, Oscar-nominated songwriter who’s written some of the biggest pop hits of the past 20 years.
You’ve heard her songs even if you don’t know her name. “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield? That was Danielle. “Pocketful of Sunshine”? Also Danielle. “Lost Stars” from the movie Begin Again? That earned her an Academy Award nomination.
Unlike Carroll O’Connor, whose life was destroyed by his son’s addiction, or Sherman Hemsley, who died broke, Danielle figured out how to build lasting wealth and success on her own terms.
The Little Girl Who Joined The Bunkers
Danielle was born in Brooklyn on June 28, 1969. By age five, she was already working. Her film debut came in 1976 in The Premonition. But her big break was Broadway.
In 1977, at age seven, she was cast as Molly, the youngest orphan, in the original Broadway production of Annie. That role changed everything.
A year later, Norman Lear cast her as Stephanie Mills on All in the Family. The show was in its ninth season and needed a refresh. Stephanie was introduced as Archie and Edith’s nine-year-old niece who’d been abandoned by her father.
The character was smart, vulnerable, and Jewish, which created interesting dynamics in the Bunker household. Danielle played her with a precocious wit that made her more than just “the cute kid.”
When All in the Family became Archie Bunker’s Place in 1979, Stephanie stayed. Danielle appeared in 81 episodes over four seasons, documenting her character’s transition from childhood to adolescence.
This was rare. Most child actors got replaced as they aged. Danielle kept the job and kept getting better.
Five Award Nominations Before Age Fifteen
Danielle wasn’t just cute. She was good. Really good.
Between 1980 and 1984, she received five Youth in Film Award nominations and won twice. In 1982, when she was just 12 years old, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series.
A Golden Globe nomination at 12. That’s how seriously the industry took her talent.
She also appeared on variety shows like Battle of the Network Stars and Circus of the Stars, which were huge promotional vehicles in the early 1980s. She was a CBS network staple, a household name.
When Archie Bunker’s Place ended in 1983, Danielle successfully navigated the “awkward years” that kill most child actor careers. She landed a recurring role on the primetime soap Knots Landing, playing Mary-Frances Sumner.
Throughout the mid-to-late 1980s, she guest-starred on shows like Hotel, Murder, She Wrote, Mr. Belvedere, and the daytime soap Days of Our Lives.
But by the late 1980s, she was done with acting. The appeal was gone. She wanted to make music.
She Walked Away From Hollywood To Become A Musician
In the early 1990s, Danielle met Gregg Alexander, a singer-songwriter and producer. They formed a creative partnership that would define the next three decades of her career.
She provided backing vocals on Alexander’s 1992 album. Then in 1994, she released her own album, Arrive All Over You, produced by Alexander. It showcased an alternative pop-rock sound influenced by The Beatles, Blondie, and The Cure.
The album had moderate success in Europe. Singles like “What If God Fell from the Sky” and “Gimme Little Sign” got some traction. But the most important song was “Just Missed the Train,” which she co-wrote with Scott Cutler.
That song became a standard. Kelly Clarkson covered it. So did multiple other artists. It proved Danielle could write hits.
Her second album, Portable Life, was recorded in 1999 but didn’t get released until 2008 because RCA Records canceled it. That’s the music industry for you. But by then, Danielle had moved on to something bigger.
The New Radicals Made Her A Rock Star
In 1997, Danielle and Gregg Alexander formed the New Radicals in Los Angeles. She played keyboards and percussion and sang background vocals. Gregg was the frontman.
Their only album, Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too, came out in 1998. The single “You Get What You Give” became a massive international hit. Number one in Canada and New Zealand. Top five in the UK. Over a million copies sold.
Danielle’s harmonies on tracks like “Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough” and “Jehovah Made This Whole Joint For You” were distinctive. She wasn’t just a backing musician. She was integral to the sound.
Then, at the height of their fame in 1999, Gregg Alexander disbanded the group. He was exhausted from touring and wanted to focus on songwriting and production. Danielle supported the decision and followed him into the studio.
It was the best career move she ever made.
In 2021, the New Radicals reunited for one performance: President Joe Biden’s inauguration. “You Get What You Give” was Biden’s late son Beau’s favorite song. It was a beautiful, emotional moment that reminded everyone how iconic the band had been.
She Wrote The Biggest Pop Anthems Of The 2000s
After the New Radicals, Danielle became a behind-the-scenes hitmaker. She co-wrote and produced songs for some of the biggest names in pop music.
In 2004, she co-wrote “Unwritten” for Natasha Bedingfield’s debut album. The song hit number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It became the theme song for MTV’s The Hills. It earned Bedingfield a Grammy nomination.
Everyone knows that song. If you were alive in the mid-2000s, you heard it everywhere. That was Danielle.
She followed it up with “Pocketful of Sunshine,” another Bedingfield hit that went top ten and won multiple BMI Awards, including Song of the Year.
She also wrote songs for Kelly Clarkson, Donna Summer, Paula Abdul, Kylie Minogue, Halestorm, and Leona Lewis. She could write rock, pop, dance, anything. Her versatility was insane.
Her work on Donna Summer’s final album Crayons in 2008 helped Summer achieve a contemporary sound while respecting her disco roots. The single “Stamp Your Feet” hit number one on the Billboard Dance chart.
The Oscar Nomination That Proved She’d Made It
In 2013, Danielle co-wrote and co-produced several songs for the film Begin Again, directed by John Carney. The songs were performed by Adam Levine and Keira Knightley.
The standout track was “Lost Stars.” It became a critical and commercial success. In 2015, Danielle and Gregg Alexander received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
An Oscar nomination. For the little girl from All in the Family.
The song also won the Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Song in a Feature Film. It was formal recognition that Danielle Brisebois had mastered the craft of songwriting at the highest level.
She went from playing Stephanie Mills to sitting in the Dolby Theatre at the Academy Awards as a nominee. Not many child stars can say that.
Her Private Life In 2026
Danielle married Nick Lashley, a British producer and songwriter, on August 2, 2008. They held the wedding at Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos, California. The tables were named after different types of guitars, which is very on-brand for two music industry professionals.
In December 2013, they had twin daughters, Charlotte and Lola Lashley. Danielle has kept her daughters completely out of the spotlight, protecting them from the media scrutiny she experienced as a child star.
She still works. In 2025, she attended the BMI Pop Awards in May at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. In September, she was at the MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in New York.
These appearances confirm she’s still active in the industry, still collaborating with Gregg Alexander, still writing songs.
Her songs continue to find new audiences. “Unwritten” and “Pocketful of Sunshine” get used in movies like Anyone But You and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. They’re on constant radio rotation. They’re TikTok sounds.
Every time one of her songs plays, she gets paid. That’s the beauty of being a songwriter. Your work keeps earning long after you’ve moved on to the next project.
The Blueprint For Escaping Child Stardom
Danielle Brisebois represents something rare: a child star who not only survived but thrived by completely changing careers.
She didn’t try to stay relevant as an actress. She didn’t do reality TV or Dancing with the Stars. She didn’t write a tell-all book about Norman Lear or the cast of All in the Family.
Instead, she learned a new craft. She became excellent at it. She built a second career that’s arguably more successful than her first.
While Sally Struthers is still working at 78 to pay her bills, Danielle built a royalty stream that pays her whether she works or not. While Jean Stapleton died with $10 million after working until 2001, Danielle’s songwriting royalties will keep generating income for decades.
“Unwritten” alone has been streamed billions of times. Every play generates a fraction of a cent. Multiply that by billions, and you start to understand the financial power of owning hit songs.
Danielle controls her creative output. She works when she wants. She lives privately with her family. She avoided the tabloids, the scandals, the bankruptcy that destroy most child stars.
From Archie’s Niece To The Pop Canon
There’s a beautiful symmetry to Danielle’s career. Her voice from the original Broadway cast of Annie was sampled by Jay-Z for “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” in 1998. A clip of her as a seven-year-old girl became part of one of hip-hop’s biggest hits.
Decades later, she’s writing the pop anthems that define entire generations. “Unwritten” is the sound of the mid-2000s. “Pocketful of Sunshine” is pure joy in musical form. “Lost Stars” is heartbreak and hope.
She went from being Stephanie Mills, the little girl living with the Bunkers on All in the Family, to being one of the architects of modern pop music.
Most people don’t even know she’s the same person. And that’s exactly how she wants it.
At 56, Danielle Brisebois has achieved what most child stars never do: complete reinvention, creative control, financial security, and a private family life away from the cameras.
She didn’t just escape the child star curse. She built a legacy that will outlast all of them.
