Annette Funicello



Funicello in 1968

Born: Annette Joanne Funicello, October 22, 1942; Utica, New York, U.S.
Died: April 8, 2013 (aged 70); Bakersfield, California, U.S.

Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She rose to prominence as one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles "O Dio Mio", "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess", as well as establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.

In 1992, Funicello announced that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 1987. She died of complications from the disease on April 8, 2013.

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Career

The Mickey Mouse Club



Funicello as a Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club (1956)

Funicello took dancing and music lessons when she was a child in order to overcome her shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by Walt Disney when she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a dance recital at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, California. Disney cast her as one of the original Mouseketeers. She was the last to be selected, and one of the few cast-members to be personally selected by Walt Disney himself.

In 1955 she signed a seven year contract with Disney at $160 a week to rise to $500 a week if all options were exercised.

Funicello proved to be very popular and by the end of the first season of The Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her Disney Legends biography - more than any other Mouseketeer.

She had a crush on fellow Mouseketeer Lonnie Burr. In 1958, at the finale of the show, she had to say goodbye to each of the members of its cast, and, in her own words, "I never cried so hard in my life".

In addition to appearing in many Mouseketeer sketches and dance routines, Funicello starred in several serials on The Mickey Mouse Club. These included Adventure in Dairyland, the second and third Spin and Marty serials – The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956) and The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957), and Walt Disney Presents: Annette (1958) (which co-starred Richard Deacon).

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Mickey Mouse Club S2 - Fun With Music Day Roll Call
58,086 views • Mar 11, 2017

MickeyMouseClubChannel
1.75K subscribers

This is the recycled roll call segment featured every Monday on the second season (1956-1957) for Fun With Music Day. This version has better video and sound quality than the one already uploaded on Youtube.

Featuring:
Jimmie Dodd
Karen Pendleton
Cubby O'Brien
Doreen Tracey
Lonnie Burr
Darlene Gillespie
Dennis Day
Cheryl Holdridge
Jay Jay Solari
Annette Funicello
Tommy Cole
Sharon Baird
Bobby Burgess (the way that Bobby's face was darkened for the Indian bit would never make it on TV today)
and Roy Williams.

WARINING: THIS CHANNEL IS NOT AFFILIATED OR ASSOCIATED WITH THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY IN ANY WAY. ALL CONTENT ON THIS CHANNEL IS OWNED BY THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY.

Mark Whitman
10 months ago

I lived this in prime time and was 6 7 and 8 years old during its reign. Loved them all especially very talented Darlene!! Both Annette and Dennis died tragically... so sad!! Annette wasted away from MS and of course, Dennis' body just found. This and original American Bandstand in Philadelphia are fond childhood memories!