Annette Funicello obit

Annette Funcillo has died. She was not on the list.

Annette Funicello Dies at 70

The wholesome star of Disney's "Mickey Mouse Club" and several 1960s beach movies with Frankie Avalon was 70.

Annette Funicello, the wide-eyed child star of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club who became a pop-culture icon with her series of frolicking beach-movie roles opposite Frankie Avalon in the 1960s, has died. She was 70.

Funicello, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 and became a spokeswoman for treatment of the disease, died Monday at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., The Walt Disney Co. announced. She had been absent from the public eye for many years.

Although single names were not in vogue at the time, Funicello's popularity was so wide and her personality so familiar that she was “Annette.” No last name needed.

The quintessence of innocence, mixed with dark good looks and beguiling charm, she was a male ideal and a female role model. Wholesome in the best sense, Funicello was drive-ins, sock hops, beach parties and malted milks -- the personification of a seemingly innocent era.

Indicative of her sweetheart status, Charles Schulz ran a cartoon when she married agent Jack Gilardi in 1965: “Good grief: Annette Funicello is getting married,” Charlie Brown deadpanned.

Funicello's discovery almost was accidental. In 1955, when Walt Disney was looking for a girl to round out the cast of his Mickey Mouse Club TV show, he happened to attend an amateur review in Burbank, where he saw Funicello perform in a “Ballet vs. Jive” number. Although the last to be hired, Funicello rapidly became the No. 1 Mouseketeer in terms of fan mail -- 6,000 letters a month in the first season the show aired on ABC. Only Elizabeth Taylor received more fan mail as a “child star.”

In 1960, the 18-year-old Funicello was named “Teenager of the Year” by a teen magazine, having held the top spot in all of its popularity polls.

In addition to her Mouseketeer role, she appeared in two Mickey Mouse Club serials, Spin and Marty and Adventures in Dairyland. When The Mickey Mouse Club went off the air in 1960 and the Mouseketeers disbanded, Funicello's contract was the only one renewed, and she was given features roles in the “Walt Disney Presents” series Zorro and The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca. On loan-out, she guest-starred on several episodes of Make Room for Daddy, starring Danny Thomas, in 1959.

Her first toplining movie role was playing Avalon's marriage-minded sweetheart, Dolores, aka Dee Dee, in Beach Party (1963). Before filming, Disney asked her not to wear a bikini but rather a conventional one-piece swimsuit so that her squeaky-clean image would remain intact. She consented.

Funicello subsequently starred again in such fun fare as Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Pajama Party (1964), all released in 1964, and then Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine the following year. She played the delightful Dee Dee in most of these films, often opposite Avalon. Funicello was a participant in Seattle Seafair's Torchlight Parade in 1963.

"Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mousketeer and a true Disney Legend," Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. "She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent.

"Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace. All of us at Disney join with family, friends and fans around the world in celebrating her extraordinary life."

Filmography

    The Shaggy Dog (1959) - Allison D'Allessio

    Babes in Toyland (1960) - Mary Quite Contrary

    Beach Party (1963) - Dolores

    The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) - Jennifer

    Muscle Beach Party (1964) - Dee Dee

    Bikini Beach (1964) - Dee Dee

    Pajama Party (1964) - Connie

    Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) - Dee Dee

    The Monkey's Uncle (1965) - Jennifer

    Ski Party (1965, Cameo) - Prof. Sonya Roberts (uncredited)

    How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) - Dee Dee

    Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965, Cameo) - Girl in Dungeon

    Fireball 500 (1966) - Jane Harris

    Thunder Alley (1967) - Francie Madsen

    Head (1968) - Minnie

    Lots of Luck (1985, TV Movie) - Julie Maris

    Back to the Beach (1987) - Annette

    Troop Beverly Hills (1989, Cameo)

Television work

    Mickey Mouse Club (1955–1959; 1977; 1980; 1990; 1993)

    Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law (1959) (compilation of episodes from Wonderful World of Color serial) - Chiquita Bernal

    The Danny Thomas Show (cast member in 1959) - Gina Minelli

    Zorro (1959-1961) - Anita Cabrillo / Constancia de la Torre

    The Horsemasters (1962) - Dinah Wilcox

    Escapade in Florence (1962) - Annette Aliotto

    Burke's Law (1963-1965) - Anna Najensky / Dorrie Marsh

    Wagon Train (1963, Episode: "The Sam Pulaski Story") - Rose Pulaski

    The Greatest Show on Earth (1964, Episode: "Rosetta") - Melanie Keller

    Easy Does It... Starring Frankie Avalon (1976 (four-week summer variety series)

    Love, American Style segment "Love and the Tuba" (with Frankie Avalon, 1971) - Millie (segment "Love and the Tuba")

    Frankie and Annette: The Second Time Around (1978, TV Movie) (unsold pilot) - Annette

    Fantasy Island episode "Ghostbreaker" (1978) [34]

    The Mouseketeer Reunion (November 23, 1980)

    Lots of Luck (1985; made-for-TV movie)

    Growing Pains episode "The Seavers and the Cleavers" (guest star, 1985)

    Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (guest star, 1988)

    Full House episode "Joey Goes Hollywood" (guest star with Frankie Avalon, March 29, 1991)

    A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995; made-for-TV movie) - Annette Funicello (final film role)

    The Mickey Mouse Club Story (1995; documentary)