Annette Funicello

Annette Joanne Funicello (born October 22, 1942) is an American singer and actress. She was Walt Disney's most popular cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club, and went on to appear in a series of beach party films. Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York, to Italian-Americans Joseph and Virginia Funicello. Her family moved to Southern California when she was four years old. 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 in Burbank, California. Disney cast her as one of the original "Mouseketeers". She was the last to be selected, and the only one personally picked 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