Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an
American actress and
singer. Beginning her professional career as a
child performer at the age of twelve, Funicello 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 from complications of the disease on April 8, 2013.
[3]
Early life
Funicello as a Mouseketeer on
The Mickey Mouse Club (1956)
Annette Joanne Funicello was born in
Utica, New York, to
Italian Americans Virginia Jeanne (née Albano) and Joseph Funicello.
[4] Her family moved to
Southern California when she was four years old.
[5]
Career
The Mickey Mouse Club
Annette 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. She proved to be very popular and by
the end of the first season of
Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her
Disney Legends biography.
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,
Walt Disney Presents: Annette (which co-starred
Richard Deacon), and the second and third
Spin and Marty serials –
The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty and
The New Adventures of Spin and Marty.
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.
[6] 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).
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]
Singing and acting
Funicello and Richard Tyler on
The Danny Thomas Show (1959)
After the
Mickey Mouse Club, she remained under contract with Disney for a time, with television roles in
Zorro, Elfego Baca, and
The Horsemasters. For
Zorro
she played Anita Campillo in a three-episode storyline about a
teen-aged girl who arrives 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. Annette also co-starred in Disney-produced movies such as
The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and
The Monkey's Uncle.[10]
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"; Anka reworked the song for a third time in 1962 as "Johnny's Theme" and it opened
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
on television for the next three decades. 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 in 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]
Funicello and Frankie Avalon at the height of the "Beach Party" era
Beach icon and spokeswoman
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 included
Beach Party (1963),
Muscle Beach Party (1964),
Bikini Beach (1964),
Pajama Party (1964),
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). The wholesome image earned in these films gained her a reference in the
Grease song "Look at me, I'm
Sandra Dee."
When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney requested that she only wear 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.
[11]
She and Avalon became iconic as "beach picture" stars and were re-united in 1987 for the
Paramount film
Back to the Beach, parodying their own surf-and-sand films two decades earlier. They toured the country as a singing act.
In 1979 Funicello began starring in a series of
television commercials for
Skippy peanut butter.
[12]
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
made-for-TV movie 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.
[5] The last collection in the series was made in 2004. She also had her own fragrance called "Cello, by Annette".
In 1992, she was inducted as a
Disney Legend.
[13]
Personal life
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.
Marriages and children
Funicello and Frankie Avalon reunited for the television special
Good Ol' Days, 1977
Funicello was married to her first husband, Jack Gilardi, from 1965
until 1981. They had three children: Gina (b. 1966), Jack, Jr. (b.
1970), and
Jason (b. 1974). In 1986, she married California harness racing horse breeder/trainer Glen Holt.
[5] The couple were 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
Encino, California home caught fire. She suffered smoke inhalation, but was otherwise unharmed.
[14]
After the fire, Funicello and Holt then began living full time at the
modest ranch that they purchased decades earlier, located just south of
Shafter, California (north of Bakersfield). That remained her primary residence until her death.
[2]
Illness and death
In 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 dizzy spells, but kept her failing health from
her friends and family. In 1992, Funicello announced that she was
suffering from
multiple sclerosis.
[15]
She had kept her condition a secret for many years, but felt it
necessary to go public 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.
On October 6, 2012, the
CTV flagship current affairs program
W5
profiled Funicello as an update on her after she had spent fifteen
years out of the public eye. The profile 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, required round-the-clock care to survive. In the profile, Holt
and Fabares discussed Funicello's current state, as well as the numerous
medical interventions and treatments attempted to improve her
condition.
[16]
On April 8, 2013, Funicello died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in
Bakersfield, California, at the age of 70, from complications due to her multiple sclerosis.
[17] 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 Mousketeer, 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.[18]
Discography
Numbers in parentheses indicated peak position in
Billboard charts.
[19]
Albums
Mono albums
- Annette – Vista BV-3301 (1959)
- Annette Sings Anka (#21) – Vista BV-3302 (1960)
- Hawaiiannette (#38) – Vista BV-3303 (1960)
- Italiannette – Vista BV-3304 (1960)
- Dance Annette – Vista BV-3305 (1961)
- The Story of My Teens – Vista BV-3312 (1962)
Stereo albums
- Annette's Beach Party (#39) – Vista BV-3316 (Mono)/STER-3316 (Stereo) (July 1963)
- Muscle Beach Party – Vista BV-3314/STER-3314 (April 1964)
- Annette On Campus – Vista BV-3320/STER-3320 (1964)
- Annette At Bikini Beach – Vista BV-3324/STER-3324 – (September 1964)
- Pajama Party – Vista BV-3325/STER-3325 (November 1964)
- Something Borrowed Something Blue – Vista BV-3328/STER-3328 (1964)
- Annette Sings Golden Surfin' Hits – Vista BV-3327/STER-3327 (July 1965)
- Annette Funicello – Vista BV-4037 (1972)
- Annette Funicello Country Album – Starview 4001 (1984)
- Best of Annette – Rhino RNDF-206 (1984) (also released as a picture disk on Rhino RNLP-702)
- Annette: A Musical Reunion with America's Girl-Next-Door – Vista 60010 (1993)
- A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes – Time/Warner 520564 (April 16, 1995)
- The Best of Annette – Vista (August 14, 1991)
Singles
- "How Will I Know My Love"/"Don't Jump To Conclusions" – Disneyland 102 (1958)
- "That Crazy Place In Outer Space"/"Gold Doubloons and Pieces of Eight" – Disneyland 114 (1958)
- "Tall Paul" (#7)/"Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me" – Disneyland 118 (1959)
- "Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy" (#73)/"Lonely Guitar" – Vista 336 (1959) (later pressings feature "Love Me Forever" as the B-side)
- "Lonely Guitar" (#50)/"Wild Willie" – Vista 339 (1959)
- "Especially For You"/"My Heart Became Of Age" – Vista 344 (1959)
- "First Name Initial" (#20)/"My Heart Became of Age" (#74) – Vista 349 (1959)
- "O Dio Mio" (#10)/"It Took Dreams" – Vista 354 (1960)
- "Train of Love" (#36)/"Tell Me Who's The Girl" – Vista 359 (1960)
- "Pineapple Princess" (#11)/"Luau Cha Cha Cha" – Vista 362 (1960)
- "Talk to Me Baby" (#92)/"I Love You Baby" – Vista 369 (1960)
- "Dream Boy" (#87)/"Please, Please Signore" – Vista 374 (1961)
- "Indian Giver"/"Mama, Mama Rosa (Where's The Spumoni)" – Vista 375 (1961)
- "Hawaiian Love Talk"/"Blue Muu Muu" (#107) – Vista 384 (1961)
- "Dreamin' About You" (#106)/"Strummin' Song" – Vista 388 (1961)
- "That Crazy Place From Outer Space"/"Seven Moons (Of Batalyre) (By Danny Saval & Tom Tyron) – Vista 392 (1962)
- "The Truth About Youth"/"I Can't Do The Sum" – Vista 394 (1962)
- "My Little Grass Shack"/"Hukilau" – Vista 400 (1962)
- "He's My Ideal"/"Mr. Piano Man" – Vista 405 (1962)
- "Bella Bella Florence"/"Canzone d'Amoure" – Vista 407 (1962)
- "Teenage Wedding"/"Walkin' and Talkin'" – Vista 414 (1962)
- "Treat Him Nicely"/"Promise Me Anything" (#123) – Vista 427 (1963)
- "Merlin Jones"/"The Scrambled Egghead" – Vista 431 (1964)
Duets with Tommy Kirk
- "Custom City"/"Rebel Rider" – Vista 432 (1964)
- "Muscle Beach Party"/"I Dream About Frankie" – Vista 433 (1964)
- "Bikini Beach Party"/"The Clyde" – Vista 436 (1964)
- "The Wah-Watusi"/"The Clyde" – Vista 437 (1964)
- "Something Borrowed, Something Blue"/"How Will I Know My Love" –
Vista 438 (1965) (B-side is a new version of Annette's first recording)
- "The Monkey's Uncle"/"How Will I Know My Love" – Vista 440 (1965) (A-side features Annette with The Beach Boys)
- "Boy To Love"/"No One Else Could Be Prouder" – Vista 442 (1965)
- "No Way To Go But Up"/"Crystal Ball" – Vista 450 (1966)
- "What's A Girl To Do"/"When You Get What You Want" – Tower 326 (1967) (Annette's name is misspelled on both sides as "Annettte")
- "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"/"Merlin Jones" – Vista 475 (1970)
- "(Together We Can Make A) Merry Christmas"/"The Night Before Christmas" – Pacific Star 569 (1981)
Duets with Frankie Avalon
- "The Promised Land"/"In Between and Out Of Love" – Starview 3001 (1983)
Filmography
Television work
Book
- Funicello, Annette and Patricia Romanowski. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story 1994, ISBN 0-7868-8092-9
- The Annette Mysteries: Includes The Desert Inn Mystery, The Mystery at Moonstone Bay, The Mystery at Smugglers' Cove, and Sierra Summer
References
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (January 9, 2009). "Cheryl Holdridge dies at 64; popular Mouseketeer". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Beloved Mouseketeer and Iconic Teen Star Annette Funicello Passes Away". Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c "Annette Funicello Biography (1942–)". Crystal Reference, Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. 2003. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
- ^ Disneyland segment at YouTube
- ^ Disney Fake Book. New York: Hal Leonard Corporation. 1996. p. 74. ISBN 0-7935-4521-8.
- ^ "Annette Album Release". Discogs.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "Oct 22nd Happy 65th Birthday Annette" (video interview). You Remember That.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
- ^ Cotter, Bill (1997). The Wonderful World of Disney Television. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.
- ^ "The Myth of the Hidden Navel". Beachpartymoviemusic.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ "History of Skippy". Unilever. 2007. Archived from the original on February 22, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
- ^ "Disney Legends". Disney. 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
- ^ Oldenburg, Ann (March 12, 2011). "Annette Funicello suffers smoke inhalation during fire". www.usatoday.com. Retrieved March 17, 2011.
- ^ "Annette Funicello Fund For Neurological Disorders". California Community Foundation. 2008. Archived from the original on January 23, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
- ^ "Annette Funicello: Her life with multiple sclerosis". CTV. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
- ^ "Disney Icon Annette Funicello From Utica Dead At 70 Years Old". WODZ. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Beloved Disney Mouseketeer and Iconic Teen Star Annette Funicello Dies at Age 70". D23. Retrieved April 8, 2013.
- ^ "Billboard Artist Annette Funicello". Billboard.com. Retrieved February 20, 2012.
- ^ TV.com (March 3, 1979). "Fantasy Island: Birthday Party / Ghostbreaker – Season 2, Episode 20". TV.com. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
External links
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