Ariel Winter Workman is an American actress and voice actress. She is known for her role as Alex Dunphy in the comedy series Modern Family, as well as the voice of the title character in the Disney Junior show Sofia the First and the voice of Penny Peterson in the 2014 animated filmMr. Peabody and Sherman. Winter and her fellow Modern Family cast members won four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
Winter obtained her first entertainment industry job in a Cool Whip commercial advertisement in 2002 when she was four years old. She had her first television role in an episode of Listen Up!, and followed it with appearances in a variety of shows such as Freddie, Monk, Bones, and ER. In the animated children's show Phineas and Ferb, she voiced the character of Gretchen before winning the regular role of Alex Dunphy in the series Modern Family, which premiered in 2009. She has continued to work in TV animation, including providing the voice of Marina the Mermaid on Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates. In 2012, Winter was cast as Sofia, the lead character in a then-new Disney animated franchise Sofia the First. The series premiered in January 2013 on Disney Junior. In 2014, she voiced Penny Peterson, Sherman's enemy turned friend in the 2014 Dreamworks Animation film Mr. Peabody and Sherman. She also lent her voice to characters in the animated films, Disney's Bambi II and Blue Sky's '. Winter has appeared in feature films, most notably in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Speed Racer, Duress, Opposite Day, and '. For her leading role in the film The Chaperone, she was nominated at the Young Artist Awards 2012 as Best Actress in a Motion Picture.
Personal life
In October 2012, Winter's sister Shanelle Workman filed to become her guardian, alleging that their mother had been physically and emotionally abusive. On May 5, 2014, the court ordered guardianship to Workman and permanently removed Winter from her mother's guardianship. Their mother later released a statement stating that "the family has moved beyond the conflict". On May 15, 2015, Winter declared on Twitter that she was officially emancipated. In June 2015, at age 17, Winter underwent breast reduction surgery. Winter attended Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles, graduating in June 2016. In April 2016, she was accepted to University of California, Los Angeles and scheduled to begin there in the fall quarter of 2016. However, on September 12, she confirmed that she planned to attend UCLA in fall 2017. On her decision to attend college, she explained, "You gotta have something else you can do. I've always been interested in law, so I think it'll definitely be something that I'll love to do and also go to school for." In 2018, Winter took an indefinite hiatus from UCLA to focus on her work. In April 2019, she attended WE Day event in Tacoma, Washington. Winter is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.
