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Annette's Charm
Annette Funicello is also known as the original Musketeer, rising to fame as early as age 12 as singer and actress, and the most popular member of the original Mickey Mouse Club. Walt Disney himself saw her performing the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet school's year-end recital in Burbank and decided to have her audition along with two hundred other children. Annette became the last Mouseketeer of the twenty-four that was picked.
That would be the same Disney construct that would, decades later, give us the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato or Selena Gomez, to name just some of our biggest pop stars right now.
Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York, to Italian Americans Virginia Jeanne (née Albano) and Joseph Edward Funicello. Her family moved to Southern California when she was four years old.
Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles "O Dio Mio", "First Name Initial", "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess", as well as establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.
After the surfing craze died out in 1965, Annette married Jack Gilardi, Paul Anka's agent, and became the mother of his three children -- Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. While appearing in a few other movies that did nothing to further her career, including Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967) and Head (1968), she appeared as a guest on shows and, most famously, became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter in a host of commercials. But she phased out her career in favor of family.
She and Gilardi divorced in 1983. Three years later, she married Glen Holt, a harness racing horse breeder/trainer. Within a year into her second marriage, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She hid her condition for five years before making a formal announcement (in 1992) for fear that her uncontrollable movements might be characterized as drunkenness. She became the most famous spokesperson for the disease.
Annette passed away on April 8, 2013 from complications at age 70. To the present, her foundation continues to raise money to help find cures for this and other debilitating disorders, including Lou Gehrig's disease.
When she was 16, Funicello got her first car from her father, a white 1957 Ford Thunderbird, which she would use as a daily driver for the next decade. The car was originally finished in Colonial White (EE) and was reportedly repainted in purple by George Barris under Funicello’s ownership. The car is then said to have been painted silver circa 1968 and given to Funicello’s younger brother as a birthday gift, who drove it until it was sold out of the family. No one knows for a fact when the celebrity provenance was lost, but when the current owner picked it up in 2003 and decided to restore it, he had no idea who it had belonged to when purchased.
In 2004, the car was stripped and repainted in its current shade of red. The overhaul included reupholstering the interior in tan leather, and adding a tan convertible top, along with new chrome bumpers and trim. In 2021, the car sold for $150,000 US dollars.
Annette's Charm
Annette Funicello is also known as the original Musketeer, rising to fame as early as age 12 as singer and actress, and the most popular member of the original Mickey Mouse Club. Walt Disney himself saw her performing the lead role in "Swan Lake" at her ballet school's year-end recital in Burbank and decided to have her audition along with two hundred other children. Annette became the last Mouseketeer of the twenty-four that was picked.
That would be the same Disney construct that would, decades later, give us the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato or Selena Gomez, to name just some of our biggest pop stars right now.
Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York, to Italian Americans Virginia Jeanne (née Albano) and Joseph Edward Funicello. Her family moved to Southern California when she was four years old.
Funicello began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve. She was one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. As a teenager, she transitioned to a successful career as a singer with the pop singles "O Dio Mio", "First Name Initial", "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess", as well as establishing herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s.
After the surfing craze died out in 1965, Annette married Jack Gilardi, Paul Anka's agent, and became the mother of his three children -- Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. While appearing in a few other movies that did nothing to further her career, including Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967) and Head (1968), she appeared as a guest on shows and, most famously, became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter in a host of commercials. But she phased out her career in favor of family.
She and Gilardi divorced in 1983. Three years later, she married Glen Holt, a harness racing horse breeder/trainer. Within a year into her second marriage, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She hid her condition for five years before making a formal announcement (in 1992) for fear that her uncontrollable movements might be characterized as drunkenness. She became the most famous spokesperson for the disease.
Annette passed away on April 8, 2013 from complications at age 70. To the present, her foundation continues to raise money to help find cures for this and other debilitating disorders, including Lou Gehrig's disease.
When she was 16, Funicello got her first car from her father, a white 1957 Ford Thunderbird, which she would use as a daily driver for the next decade. The car was originally finished in Colonial White (EE) and was reportedly repainted in purple by George Barris under Funicello’s ownership. The car is then said to have been painted silver circa 1968 and given to Funicello’s younger brother as a birthday gift, who drove it until it was sold out of the family. No one knows for a fact when the celebrity provenance was lost, but when the current owner picked it up in 2003 and decided to restore it, he had no idea who it had belonged to when purchased.
In 2004, the car was stripped and repainted in its current shade of red. The overhaul included reupholstering the interior in tan leather, and adding a tan convertible top, along with new chrome bumpers and trim. In 2021, the car sold for $150,000 US dollars.