*NEW* ANNETTE FUNICELLO DISNEY MOUSEKETEER DIES AT 70 (DETAILS)

Annette Funicello, a Disney Mouseketeer on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club who went on to fame by co-starring in several beach movies with Frankie Avalon in the 1960s, has died. She was 70.
Funicello, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1987 and became a spokeswoman for treatment of the disease, died Monday at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., the Walt Disney Co. announced
Although single names were not in vogue at the time, her popularity was so wide and her personality so familiar that she was "Annette." No last name needed.

The quintessence of innocence, mixed with dark good looks and beguiling charm, she was a male ideal and a female role model. Wholesome in the best sense, Funicello was drive-ins, sock hops, beach parties and malted milks -- the personification of a seemingly innocent era.

Indicative of her sweetheart status, Charles Schulz ran a cartoon when she married agent Jack Gilardi in 1965: "Good grief: Annette Funicello is getting married," Charles Brown deadpanned.

Funicello's discovery was almost accidental. In 1955, when Walt Disney was looking for a girl to round out the cast of his Mickey Mouse Club TV show, he happened to attend an amateur review in Burbank, where he saw Funicello perform in a "Ballet vs. Jive" number. Although the last to be hired, Funicello rapidly became the No. 1 Mouseketeer in terms of fan mail -- 6,000 letters a month in the first season the show aired on ABC. Only Elizabeth Taylor received more fan mail as a "child star."

In 1960, the 18-year-old Funicello was named "Teenager of the Year" by a teen magazine, having held the top spot in all of its popularity polls.

In addition to her Mouseketeer role, she appeared in two Mickey Mouse Club serials, Spin and Marty and Adventures in Dairyland. When The Mickey Mouse Club went off the air in 1960 and the Mouseketeers disbanded, Funicello's contract was the only one renewed, and she was given features roles in the "Walt Disney Presents" series Zorro and The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca. On loan-out, she guest-starred on several episodes of Make Room for Daddy, starring Danny Thomas, in 1959.

Her first toplining movie role was playing Avalon's marriage-minded sweetheart, Dolores, aka Dee Dee, in Beach Party (1963). Before filming, Disney asked her not to wear a bikini but rather a conventional one-piece swimsuit so that her squeaky-clean image would remain intact. She consented.

Funicello subsequently starred again as Dee Dee in such fun fare as Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Pajama Party (1964), all released in 1964, and then the following year Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine.

"Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mousketeer and a true Disney Legend," Disney Co. chairman and CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. "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."

Added Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney: "Everyone who knew Annette loved and respected her. She was one of the loveliest people I've ever known and was always so kind to everyone. She was also the consummate professional and had such great loyalty to my father."

Funicello was born Oct. 22, 1942, in Utica, N.Y., and the family moved to the San Fernando Valley when she was 4. At 5, she studied at the Margie Rix School of Dance in North Hollywood, and at 9 won her first beauty contest as Miss Willow Lake. She was schooled at the Disney Studio School.

[jurassicparkfreak]

RIP Annette, you were my favorite Mouseketeer.