Born on October 22, 1942, in Utica, New York, actress Annette Funicello remains one of the most famous child stars and pop culture figures of all time. She gained early fame as a leading "Mouseketeer" on Walt Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club. She later starred in films like The Shaggy Dog and the Beach Party series with Frankie Avalon. Funicello became a spokesperson for Skippy peanut butter and was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, campaigning for increased awareness and research on the disease. She opened the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Disorders in 1993. Funicello died on April 8, 2013, at age 70.
After leaving The Mickey Mouse Club, Annette Funicello remained under contract to Disney and appeared on TV shows such as Zorro (1957) and The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca (1958). She also starred in a number of Disney feature films, including The Shaggy Dog (1959), Babes in Toyland (1961), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965).
In the early 1960s, Funicello starred in a series of beach party films with Frankie Avalon, including Beach Party (1963), Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). During this time, she also recorded a series of Top 40 pop singles, including "Tall Paul," "First Name Initial," "How Will I Know My Love" and "Pineapple Princess."
In 1987, Funicello again teamed up with Frankie Avalon to co-produce and star as parents of a pair of troublesome teenagers in Paramount's Back to the Beach. Then, in 1989 and 1990, Avalon and Funicello staged a nostalgic concert tour, performing the beach party music and hit singles they made famous in the 1960s.
No comments:
Post a Comment