Thread: RIP Annette Funicello

Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello dies at 70 - MSN TV News

For baby boomers in the US, she was a major pop culture icon. The original Mickey Mouse Club TV program from 1955-59 gave us our first look at not only Annette Funicello, but others including Don Grady of My Three Sons, and Bobby Burgess of The Lawrence Welk Show.

As the TV show drew to a close, Annette had a brief recording career with a couple of hit records (Tall Paul, Pineapple Princess), and finally the popular beach movies with Frankie Avalon. She was her usual perky self when pitching Skippy Peanut Butter on TV commercials. I grew up in the Los Angeles area, where the family made a lot of trips to the beach and to Disneyland. Whether "being there" when these things were taking place and being familiar with the area endeared me more to Annette, I can't say but I really doubt it. I've lived in Louisiana the last 41 years and the memories have not dimished. Annette was a national celebrity.

We all mourned her misfortune when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 25 years ago, which ultimately claimed her life, but people from my generation will never forget this all-American girl.