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Annette Funicello Passes Away at 70

Although first becoming famous on the original "Mickey Mouse Club" (she was 12 when the series began in 1955), Annette Funicello also had some success as a recording artist at the end of the 1950's (her biggest hits were "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess"), and may be best known for co-starring with Frankie Avalon in a series of "beach" pictures in the mid-1960's.
 
I used to love Annette Funicello doing those Skippy Peanut Butter ads as well as those Beach moves, including "Beach Blanket Bingo." I remember seeing the Lifetime movie "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes," about the life of this fine actress and singer. I'll never forget the scene where the star playing Annette announces during a rehearsal for a show "I'm very sick...I've got MS!" She was a fighter and a woman of inspiration. Goodbye, Annette.
 
This is a rare case where I'm actually relieved to see such a headline, given the suffering she's endured over the past two decades. Annette was originally thought of as a replacement when Sherry Jackson left Make Room for Daddy in 1958, but it turned out to only be for five episodes.
 
Annette's last two movies for AIP were racing movies - "Fireball 500" (with Frankie Avalon and Fabian) and "Thunder Alley" (with Fabian). She had a great song in the later movie, "When You Get What You Want". And she was also in Disney's "Zorro" for a few episodes.
 
RIP, Annette. Thoughts and prayers go to her family, friends, and colleagues.

I hope and pray that this may not be the second of a "threesome," but it's interesting that Annette is the second celebrity born in 1942 that has passed away in the past week--Roger Ebert was born on June 18, 1942 (Annette was born Oct. 22, 1942).

Then again, the blog post linked below has indicated Annette's passing is the last of a threesome that began Thursday with Roger Ebert--the author included documentary filmmaker Les Blank's passing yesterday at age 77 in the threesome (and one could also include Margaret Thatcher in the celebrity threes):

http://blogs.kcrw.com/whichwayla/20...ebert-les-blank-plus-pirating-game-of-thrones
 
...I seem to recall her last network TV appearance was on a1991 episode of Full House wherein she, Frankie Avalon and Dave Coulier's character are cast in a sitcom; after the first commercial break, Shawn Southwick is seen on a Hollywood Insider broadcast explaining that the sitcom had been turned into an animated series with Funicello, Avalon and Coulier turned into cartoon sharks...
 
Back to the Beach was a great movie. Loved how Funicello & Frankie Avalon parodied themselves and the beach movies.
 
brian4 said:
Back to the Beach was a great movie. Loved how Funicello & Frankie Avalon parodied themselves and the beach movies.
Click to expand...

...Though they would later be clenching their teeth in disgust over 2002's "From Justin to Kelly", which starred American Idol inaugural season winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini. One review said it best: "Beach Blanket Stinko!"

But yes, it was Annette who would pave the way for Lisa Whelchel on the lesser-known '70s MMC, and of course Britney Spears, Keri Russell, and Christina Aguilera on the '90s version
 
Slightly ot, IIRC yesterday was the birthday of another Mouseketeer, Darlene Gillespie. Sad irony.

Happy belated birthday, Darlene. RIP, Annette.

ixnay
 
BD Sullivan said:
This is a rare case where I'm actually relieved to see such a headline, given the suffering she's endured over the past two decades. Annette was originally thought of as a replacement when Sherry Jackson left Make Room for Daddy in 1958, but it turned out to only be for five episodes.
Click to expand...

She was only signed for five episodes, playing an exchange student. She was still under contract to Disney and worked as a loan out.

Then Terry came back played by Penny Parker. Danny Thomas turned town Mary Tyler Moore for the role because nobody would believe with her nose that she was related to him. This was before Marlo had a nose (and boob) job.

After Terry's return, they did a story arc in which she married Schneider from One Day At A Time and then was written out of the show. Apparently, Danny decided he did not want to do "teen themes" on the show and would have a cute little girl instead of an older teen as the one and only daughter on the show.

Reportedly, Jean Hagen and Sherry Jackson did not like working on the show and both left at the first opportunity.
 
I have a neat (at least to me) story about Back to the Beach.
Cincinnati had a beach party along the Ohio riverfront in 1987. It was a week or two before the movie was released. Someone (probably from a TV or radio station) was passing out promotional posters for the movie, and I got one.
I kept it for a while and had it hanging up by my desk. Then I became friends with Meg Bernardo, one of the administrative staff for the Association of Surfing Professionals, based in Huntington Beach, CA. I gave her the poster.
I visited her office once. She had umpteem framed (professionally) posters for various pro surfing contests. She also had the movie poster framed. It seemed to belong there moreso than at my desk in Cincinnati. I was thrilled and flattered to see it there, especially since Meg was a fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn, who was also in the movie.
 
Annette also had a memorable role in The Monkees' movie Head from 1968 where she appeared with Davy Jones.

I've noticed that Annette rarely did any dramatic roles either in movies or TV and it was solely in comedy and musical roles. She would have done great in dramatic roles with the right scripts and the right role.
 
Didn't get to say anything here; but (since I know some of the posters from the 506 forum) I'll repeat what I said there. Annette was (and I'll add, will always be) the standard all Disney affiliated-child/teen stars should be judged by; and most haven't even come close on or off-screen (can you imagine her pulling any of the shenanigans of, say, Miley Cyrus?)
 
A TV-related comment:

In 1976, Annette Funicello was a regular on a Summer replacement variety show on CBS hosted by her "Beach" films co-star Frankie Avalon and titled "Easy Does It".

I have also heard one urban legend about Miss Funicello, and maybe someone on these boards knows if it true or not: At the time of the "Beach" films, Funicello was still under contract to Disney and was "loaned out" to American International which filmed those movies.

The story I heard is that several top Disney executives, including Walt Disney himself, gave Annette a conditional go-ahead to star in those movies, provided that she only wear one-piece bathing suits in those movies!

Is this story true??
 
The passing of Annette Funicello is like losing a childhood friend. She reminded me of a more simple time in life where TV shows were geared more towards family instead of today's venue that is more centered on disfunctional families.

For 25 years this brave soul battled MS without asking for or seeking pity from the public. Instead she did what Annette would; put on a positive outlook for her situation.

For us "Baby Boomer" guys we lost our first crush and the world lost a kind and gentle person. :'(
 
In an interview on "Fresh Air from WHYY," Annette told Terry Gross that she was under contract to Disney and loaned to AI. Walt personally suggested (requested) she not wear a bikini and that she accepted. She seemingly felt free to decline his request and accepted his judgement. She spoke of "Mr. Disney" with great respect and agreed that a one-piece would be better suited for her wholesome image.
 
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