Mouseketeer and beach party babe Annette Funicello

1942-2013

When Annette Funicello put on mouse ears for the new Disney variety show Mickey Mouse Club, she quickly became the favorite of the ensemble. She got her own spinoff series, Annette, in 1958, taking the first steps toward a recording career with the hit “How Will I Know My Love?” She traded the ears for a bikini in several beach party musicals with Frankie Avalon, achieving peak fame as a teen queen. Through it all, Funicello maintained a sterling reputation as the modest girl next door.

Walt spotted her at the ballet.

Funicello was born into a blue-collar Italian American family in Utica, NY, and grew up in Los Angeles. In 1955, Walt Disney scouted the 12-year-old in a ballet performance, and she got the last of 24 spots on Disney’s new TV show. Fans fell immediately in love with the friendly Mouseketeer with the curly black hair.

Everyone wanted to be her friend (or boyfriend).

Judging by the letters (thousands) she got each week, fans couldn’t get enough. After her series Annette ended, she stayed with Disney, making films that included The Shaggy Dog (’59) and Babes in Toyland (’61).

She wore a large, demure bikini.

In the 1960s, Funicello got the go-ahead from Disney to star in teen beach movies, provided they preserved Funicello’s clean image. She and co-star Frankie Avalon, who played her boyfriend, surfed, swam and squabbled in this wholesome series with musical upand-comers and paper-thin plots.

Making records was a logical step.

Though she joked that she had only a “three-note range,” Funicello’s songs found an audience: Tall Paul (’59) and O Dio Mio (’60) were both Top 10 hits. She recorded several albums with plays on her name, like Italiannette and Hawaiiannette.

Her organization helped others.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987, Funicello kept her condition private for several years. In 1999, she established a nonprofit foundation, still active today, to research MS and other neurological disorders.

~ Annette Funicello ~ “I’m not putting on any airs. I’m not trying to fool anybody. I’m a happy person.”