ANNETTE JOANNE FUNICELLO ,AMERICAN ACTRESS 1942,OCTOBER 22-2013 APRIL 8

ANNETTE JOANNE FUNICELLO ,AMERICAN 

ACTRESS  1942,OCTOBER 22-2013 APRIL 8

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.[1] 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 had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She died of complications from the disease on April 8, 2013.
Early life
Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York, to Italian Americans Virginia Jeanne (née Albano; 1921 – 2007) and Joseph Edward Funicello (1916 – 2009).[2] Her family moved to Southern California when she was four years old.[3]

Career
The Mickey Mouse Club

Funicello as a Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club (1956)
Funicello took dancing and music lessons as a child to overcome 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.[4][5]

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.[6]

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).

Singing career
In a hayride scene in the Annette serial, she performed the song that launched her singing career. The studio received so much mail about "How Will I Know My Love" (lyrics by Tom Adair, music by Frances Jeffords and William Walsh[7][8]), that Walt Disney issued it as a single, and gave Funicello (somewhat unwillingly) a recording contract.[9]

A proposed live-action feature Rainbow Road to Oz was to have starred some of the Mouseketeers, including Darlene Gillespie as Dorothy and Funicello as Ozma. Preview segments from the film aired on September 11, 1957, on Disneyland's fourth anniversary show.[10] By then, MGM's The Wizard of Oz had already been shown on CBS Television for the first time. Theories on why the film was abandoned include Disney's failure to develop a satisfactory script, and the popularity of the MGM film on television. Disney ultimately replaced this film project with a new adaptation of Babes in Toyland (1961), which starred Funicello as "Mary Contrary".

Post-Mickey Mouse Club

Funicello and Richard Tyler on The Danny Thomas Show (1959)
After the Mickey Mouse Club, she remained under contract with Disney for a time. She had a role on the Disney television roles in Zorro, playing Anita Cabrillo in a three-episode storyline about a teen-aged girl arriving in Los Angeles to visit a father who does not seem to exist. This role was reportedly a birthday present from Walt Disney, and the first of two different characters played opposite Guy Williams as Zorro.[11]

She had a multiple-episode guest arc on Make Room for Daddy as an Italian exchange student.[12]

Annette made her feature film debut in the Disney-produced comedy The Shaggy Dog (1959) with Fred MacMurray and Tommy Kirk. The film was a huge hit at the box office.[13]

Although uncomfortable being thought of as a singer, Funicello had a number of pop record hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, mostly written by the Sherman Brothers and including: "Tall Paul", "First Name Initial", "O Dio Mio", "Train of Love" (written by Paul Anka) and "Pineapple Princess". They were released by Disney's Buena Vista label. Annette also recorded "It's Really Love" in 1959, a reworking of an earlier Paul Anka song called "Toot Sweet". Paul Anka was noted to have a crush on her, however, Walt Disney overprotected Annette, which broke Paul's heart. This resulted in his song "Puppy Love", which was inspired by his hopeless romantic crush on Annette.

In an episode of the Disney anthology television series titled "Disneyland After Dark", Funicello can be seen singing live at Disneyland. Walt Disney was reportedly a fan of 1950s pop star Teresa Brewer and tried to pattern Funicello's singing on the same style. However, Funicello credits "the Annette sound" to her record producer, Tutti Camarata, who worked for Disney in that era. Camarata had her double-track her vocals, matching her first track as closely as possible on the second recording to achieve a fuller sound than her voice would otherwise produce.[citation needed] Early in her career, she appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood.[9]

In December 1959, Funicello attempted to have her contract with Disney set aside, claiming that it was unquitable and that she was without an agent or legal counsel when she signed it. She was on $325 a week. The court refused.[14]

Return to Disney
In 1961, Funicello returned to Zorro playing a different role. She starred in a big budget musical for Disney, Babes in Toyland (1961), alongside Tommy Sands and Kirk.[15]

She also appeared in two television movies filmed in Europe for Disney alongside Kirk, both of which were released theatrically in some markets: The Horsemasters (1961), shot in England, and Escapade in Florence (1962), filmed in Italy.[16]

Beach Party Series

Funicello and Frankie Avalon at the height of the "Beach Party" era
Funicello moved on from Disney to become a teen idol, starring in a series of "Beach Party" movies with Frankie Avalon for American International Pictures. These started with Beach Party (1963), which was so successful American International Pictures signed Funicello to a seven-year contract and starred her in a series of beach party movies.[17]

Funicello guest-starred on episodes of Wagon Train, Burke's Law and The Greatest Show on Earth, then did another two-part Disney telemovie with Kirk, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964). This was released to cinemas in the US and became a surprise box office hit.

Also popular were the follow ups to Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party (1964) and Bikini Beach (1964).

When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney requested that she wear only modest bathing suits and keep her navel covered. However, she wore a pink two-piece in Beach Party, a white two-piece fishnet suit in the second film (Muscle Beach Party) and a blue and white bikini in the third (Bikini Beach). All three swimsuits bared her navel, particularly in Bikini Beach, where it is visible extensively during close up shots in a sequence early in the film when she meets Frankie Avalon's "Potato Bug" character outside his tent.[18]

Funicello made Pajama Party (1964) for AIP with Kirk, not Avalon, though it was an unofficial Beach Party movie and Avalon made a cameo. Avalon was back as Funicello's co-star in Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), then she and Kirk did a sequel to Merlin Jones, The Monkey's Uncle (1965). The Monkey's Uncle featured Annette singing with The Beach Boys and was another huge hit.[19]

Funicello made a cameo in two AIP comedies starring Avalon, Ski Party (1965) and Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), then she did How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) with Dwayne Hickman. Box office receipts for the series were in decline, and neither Avalon or Funicello appeared in the final installment, The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).

Stock Car Racing Films
AIP tried a new formula with stock car racing films, starting with Fireball 500 (1966) which starred Funicello, Avalon and Fabian Forte. The movie was popular enough for them to try another stock car movie, Thunder Alley (1967) with Funicello and Fabian. It would be her last lead in a feature film for two decades.

Funicello guest starred on Hondo and had a short role in Head (1968), opposite The Monkees.

1970s and 1980s
During the 1970s, Funicello focused on raising her family. However she still occasionally acted, making guest appearances on shows like Love, American Style, Easy Does It... Starring Frankie Avalon, Fantasy Island and The Love Boat.

In 1979, Funicello began starring in a series of television commercials for Skippy peanut butter.[20]

She starred in a TV movie for Disney, Lots of Luck (1985) then was reunited with Avalon in Back to the Beach (1987). The two would also perform together live.[21]

Later career
Her autobiography, dictated to Patricia Romanowski and published in 1994, was A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story. The title was taken from a song from the Disney movie Cinderella.

A television film based on the book, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story, was made in 1995. In the final scene, the actress portraying Funicello (Eva LaRue), using a wheelchair, turns away from the camera — turning back, it is Funicello herself, who delivered a message to a group of children.

During this period, she produced a line of teddy bears for the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company.[3] The last collection in the series was made in 2004. She also had her own fragrance called "Cello, by Annette".

"Now that I've gone public with my illness, they can't do enough," she said in 1994. "They even send me home remedies to try. Everyone says, `God bless you and I'm praying for you.' " [6]

Personal life

Funicello and Frankie Avalon reunited for the television special Good Ol' Days, 1977
Funicello's best friend was actress and singer Shelley Fabares. She and Fabares had been friends since they were young teenagers in a catechism class, and Fabares was a bridesmaid at Funicello's first wedding. She was also very close to fellow Mouseketeers Lonnie Burr (she later claimed in an autobiography that he was her first boyfriend during the first season of the Mickey Mouse Club), Sharon Baird, Doreen Tracey, Cheryl Holdridge, her Disney co-star, Tommy Kirk, and her Beach movies co-star, Frankie Avalon. She dated Canadian singer/songwriter Paul Anka and he wrote his hit song "Puppy Love" about her. Annette was raised in a Catholic family.[22]

Marriages and children

Funicello was married to her first husband, Jack Gilardi, from 1965 until 1981. They had three children: Gina Portman (b. 1965), Jack Jr. (b. 1970), and Jason (b. 1974). In 1986, she married California harness racing horse breeder/trainer Glen Holt.[3] The couple was frequently seen at Los Alamitos Race Course and at Fairplex in Pomona in the 1980s and 1990s attending harness horse races.

In March 2011, her longtime Encino, California, home caught fire. She suffered smoke inhalation, but was otherwise unharmed.[23]

After the fire, Funicello and Holt then began living full-time at the modest ranch that they had purchased decades earlier, located just south of Shafter, California (north of Bakersfield). That remained her primary residence until her death.[24]

Illness, death and legacy
In early 1987, Funicello reunited with Frankie Avalon for a series of promotional concerts to promote their film Back to the Beach. She began to suffer from dizziness and balance issues, but initially kept the episodes from family and friends. In 1992, Funicello announced that she was suffering from multiple sclerosis.[25] She felt that it was now necessary to go public in order to combat rumors that her impaired ability to walk was the result of alcoholism. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.[26]

On October 6, 2012, the CTV flagship current affairs program W5 profiled Funicello following her fifteen years away from the public eye. The program revealed that her disease had severely damaged her nervous system; Funicello had lost the ability to walk in 2004, the ability to speak in 2009, and, at the time of the profile, she required round-the-clock care in order to survive. In the profile, Holt and her closest friend, actress Shelley Fabares, discussed Funicello's state at the time, as well as the numerous medical interventions and treatments that had been attempted in order to improve her condition.[27]

On April 8, 2013, Funicello died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, California, at age 70, from complications due to multiple sclerosis.[28] At the time of her death, Funicello's family and Fabares were with her.[29] Her funeral was a private ceremony held on April 12, 2013, at the Cherished Memories Memorial Chapel in Bakersfield, California.[30] Commenting on her death, Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company, said,

Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mouseketeer, and a true Disney Legend. 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.[31]

Media coverage of Funicello's death was almost completely overshadowed by that of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher who died on the same day.[citation needed]

After her death, the Disney Channel Original movie Teen Beach Movie (2013) was dedicated to her memory.[citation needed]

In 1992, she was inducted as a Disney Legend.[32]

She received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for motion pictures on September 14, 1993, located at 6834 Hollywood Blvd.

In the Disney Village shopping and dining area of Disneyland Paris, a 1950s themed restaurant, Annette's Diner, is named after her.

Filmography

Funicello as a participant in Seattle Seafair's Torchlight Parade, 1963
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)
Books

Born October 22, 1942 in Utica, New York, USA
Died April 8, 2013 in Bakersfield, California, USA  (complications from multiple sclerosis)
Birth Name Annette Joanne Funicello
Nickname Annie
Height 5' 1" (1.55 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Annette Joanne Funicello achieved teenage popularity starting in October 1955 after she debuted as a Mouseketeer. Born on October 22, 1942 in Utica, New York, the family had moved to California when she was still young. Walt Disney himself saw her performing the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet school's year-end recital in Burbank and decided to have her audition along with two hundred other children. Annette became the last Mouseketeer of the twenty-four that was picked. By the run-through in 1958 of The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) in which she appeared in her own multi-segmented series entitled "Annette", she had become the most popular Mousketeer of them all and the only one kept under contract by Walt Disney after he canceled the show. Her popularity was such that by the late 1950s, she was simply known as "Annette" -- America's sweetheart and the first "crush" for many a teenage baby boomer. Whenever anyone spoke of Annette, no last name was ever needed as everyone knew who you were talking about.

The popular teenager became synonymous with wholesome entertainment and was borrowed by Danny Thomas in 1959 to play Gina, a foreign exchange student, on The Danny Thomas Show (1953) (aka "The Danny Thomas Show") and also that same year had a recurring role on the Disney television series Zorro (1957). She made her well as other Disney film vehicles for several years, including The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1960) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965). During this time, the modest young singer had a couple of hit singles on the "Hot 100" charts, notably, "Tall Paul", and as a result, traveled with Dick Clark's caravan on singing tours around the country. At one point, she and teen idol Paul Anka became an item and he wrote both "Puppy Love" and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" with her in mind. Their busy careers led to them parting ways.

During the early 1960s, American International Films wanted to use her in a fun-on-the-beach movie. They presented the idea to "Mr. Disney", as Annette always called him and with whom she was still under contract. To everyone's surprise, he gave his consent, with the only condition being that she make sure her navel was completely covered by a one piece bathing suit. The first movie, aptly titled Beach Party (1963) starred Robert Cummings and Dorothy Malone as the older generation who explore the younger set represented by Annette (as "Dee Dee") and her love interest Frankie Avalon (as "Frankie"). The "teenage" couple (actually she was 20 and he 23) proved so popular in this that they were whisked into a number of sand-and-surf romps (Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)) that showcased the actors engaging in harmless fun while singing and dancing in the sand, and falling into silly slapstick.

After the surfing craze died out in 1965, Annette married Jack Gilardi, Paul Anka's agent, and became the mother of his three children -- Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. While appearing in a few other movies that did nothing to further her career, including Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967) and Head (1968), she appeared as a guest on shows and, most famously, became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter in a host of commercials. But she phased out her career in favor of family.

She and Gilardi divorced in 1983. Three years later, she married Glen Holt, a harness racing horse breeder/trainer. Within a year into her second marriage, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She hid her condition for five years before making a formal announcement (in 1992) for fear that her uncontrollable movements might be characterized by drunkenness. She became the most famous spokesperson for the disease. Annette's life was filmed as a television movie with A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995) co-starring her good friend, Shelley Fabares. Receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993, Annette was eventually wheelchair-ridden and went into complete seclusion.

Following a tragic March 2011 incident in which their Los Angeles house burnt to the ground and both Annette and husband Glen were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, the couple moved to Bakersfield, California. A little more than a year later, and over 25 years after she was diagnosed with this long and painful illness, Annette passed away on April 8, 2013 from complications at age 70. To the present, her foundation continues to raise money to help find cures for this and other debilitating disorders, including Lou Gehrig's disease.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Hafker thehuntzie@yahoo.com

Spouse (2)
Glen Holt (3 May 1986 - 8 April 2013) ( her death)

Jack Gilardi (9 January 1965 - 21 March 1983) ( divorced) ( 3 children)
Trade Mark (3)
Disney movies and Beach Party movies
Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer
Her sweet smile.
Trivia (25)
Underwent brain surgery to slow down the tremors which result from her multiple sclerosis. She was recovering at home. [November 1999]
In 1987, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She kept her condition a secret and felt that this was necessary to go public in order to combat rumors that her impaired ability to walk was the result of alcoholism.
Her son, Jason Gilardi, is the drummer for the rock band Caroline's Spine, which was once signed to the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records. He also appears as himself in her biopic, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995).
Had appeared with Frankie Avalon in eleven films: Beach Party (1963), Bikini Beach (1964), Muscle Beach Party (1964), Pajama Party (1964), Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967), Back to the Beach (1987) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989).
When she made the various beach pictures for American International Pictures (AIP), she was still technically under contract to Disney, doing the AIP films on a loan-out basis, something of which Walt Disney always emphatically reminded her.
Her favorite television series was Zorro (1957). For her birthday one year, Walt Disney (who knew she was a huge fan of the series) arranged to have her guest star on one episode.
When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney asked her to not wear a bikini and instead wear a one-piece swimsuit because she had an image to uphold. She agreed.
In 1977, Annette played the Blue Fairy in Disneyland's "Main Street Electrical Parade".
Paul Anka wrote the song "Puppy Love" about his romance with her.
When she began working for the Disney studio, she suggested to her employer that she change her Italian family name of Funicello to something more "American", as was often done in those days. Walt Disney vehemently argued against this idea, saying that her own name was actually an asset because it was so unique that no one who heard it would ever be able to forget it. He convinced the young actress to retain it.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 14, 1993.
Her biggest hit single was "Tall Paul" (#7 US Pop 1959). She had later success with "Pineapple Princess" which peaked at #11 US Pop, in the summer of 1960.
She spent her final years mostly confined to a wheelchair that was specially designed by her horse-trainer husband with a seat from a harness-racing sulky.
Her home suffered major fire damage and wheelchair-bound Annette and her husband were hospitalized and treated for smoke inhalation. [March 2011]
Annette still resided in her first house several miles from where she grew up. She had a collectable bear business, a line of perfume and she started the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders (2006).
Died four days after film critic Roger Ebert. Both were unable to eat, drink and talk for their last years. They were also born in 1942 and died aged 70.
She was 17 years old at the time the Sweetheart of the Valley Mayors honor was given to her. It came about when "Television's Singing Troubadour, Jimmie Jackson" arranged for her to be given the designation of the "Sweetheart of the San Fernando Valley Mayors" at the May 2, 1957, grand opening of his new Tambour restaurant (tambour is African for "Drum") in Tarzana. Jackson was a longtime friend of Annette's parents Joe and Virginia, and wanted to do something special for their daughter in connection with his restaurant's opening. Jackson called together some of his old friends and former guests from his Hollywood television show, "Memory Lane" who were now "Honorary" mayors of various small towns in the San Fernando Valley. Covering the event was the "Valley News and Green Sheet"--now "The Valley News"--and the Los Angeles Times. Annette was escorted by film and television performer, J.P. Sloane. Annette would also appear with Jackson and Sloane five years later in a television special titled, An Evening at the Inn (1962).
When asked in a 20/20 interview how she got the role as a mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club program, she replied: "I was the ethnic one. Everybody else looked like I wanted to look my entire life: blue eyed and freckle faced.".
Following her death, she was cremated and interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in Los Angeles, California.
Her funeral was conducted in a private ceremony at Cherished Memories Memorial Chapel in Bakersfield, California.
Daughter of Joe Funicello and Virginia Funicello.

Had two brothers: Michael Funicello and Joey Funicello.
Mother of Gina Portman, Jack Gilardi Jr. and Jason Gilardi.
Mother-in-law of John Portman.
Died on the same day as Margaret Thatcher.
Personal Quotes (1)
The Disney studio wasn't like other studios. It was just like home - it always had a small-town, family atmosphere.