Charismatic actress and singer Annette Funicello was an incredible phenomenon in
the 1950s and 1960s, yet there are things that her fans may not know about her.
This is the untold truth of Annette Funicello.
Annette Funicello was only 12 years old when she was offered a chance to be a part of
Disney's children's TV show, The Mickey Mouse Club. In fact, she was chosen by Walt Disney
himself out of 200 kids at the audition. Born in Utica, New York, Funicello moved
with her family to California before she became a part of the iconic show in 1955.
Annette was easy to like and appealed to all kinds of viewers with her charm and fun persona.
Her former co-star, Frankie Avalon, who she worked with later in her career,
described Annette well when he said,
"She had a heart and a soul and a feeling about her that everybody
just connected to — male or female — without being pretentious in any way."
It's undeniable that Annette Funicello's image was largely connected to her role on The Mickey
Mouse Club. But guess what? Her family wasn't particularly keen on the opportunity in the
beginning. In her autobiography, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes:
My Story, Annette revealed that her family wasn't familiar with
the hype behind the "Mouseketeers," as the kids on the show were called.
In fact, her mom was confused and equated the show's title with The Three Musketeers.
For this reason, Annette's mom wondered why the
producers of The Mickey Mouse Club wanted a 12-year-old on their show.
Funicello minced no words when she stated that the
goofy-looking Mickey Mouse ears became a huge part of her history, explaining,
"I have said countless times, 'I owe everything to those ears,' and I mean it."
She added that she really didn't know that those ears would be the reason for
her to connect with countless kids in different parts of the world.
Annette Funicello quickly became a crowd favorite during her time as a Mouskeeter.
Her on-screen popularity also helped her bag her own series in 1958, titled Annette. It
had a total of 19 episodes, and Funicello played the role of a charming orphan girl who moves to
the city from the country. Reflecting on her show, Funicello wrote in her autobiography,
"Life wasn't easy for [the show's lead character] Annette MacLeod,
and I think that was one of the reasons viewers responded so enthusiastically to the series."
She added that it may seem unbelievable, but the show displayed immense depth and meaning.
She also stated that by the time Annette rolled around,
she'd managed to strike a chord in the hearts of her fans and was getting a lot of fan mail:
approximately 3,000 to 6,000 letters a month. Annette would later confess,
"No one was more surprised than I and, I learned later, some of the studio people, who in the
beginning were quite certain that another of the girl Mouskeeters would be the show's star."
However, by that time it was abundantly clear that
Annette was a huge fan favorite who had a loyal fan following.
In 1959, Annette made her film debut with Disney's The Shaggy Dog, which was a commercial
hit for the studio. In her autobiography, Annette detailed how Disney made the bold move of making
the movie in black and white so that the film's supernatural aspects wouldn't scare the audience.
"Oh, boy! How did you get in here?"
"What do you mean how did I get here? I live here."
She also wrote this about the film:
"Despite its far-fetched premise and a lukewarm critical response, The Shaggy Dog became a very
popular and commercially successful film, paving the way for later Fred MacMurray vehicles."
The actress added that she found it a lot of fun to be associated with her first feature film,
even though her part in it was by no means groundbreaking.
Singer and songwriter Paul Anka was quite taken with Annette Funicello,
and he didn't exactly keep it a secret. Turns out, she felt the same way about him, writing,
"As Paul wrote in his hit song about us, ["Puppy Love"],
just because we were 17 didn't mean that, for us, our love wasn't real."
However, the two couldn't actually find time for each other, as they were occupied with work.
When Funicello did reveal how she felt, Anka simply asked her,
quote, "What script did you get that from?"
And yet, it is undeniable that the two had a history and absolutely
courted each other. When NPR asked Funicello about it years later, she explained that the pair once
had a conversation about their relationship. Anka told her that it was a pity that everyone
referred to their romance as "puppy love" and didn't understand how deeply the two felt for
one another. Anka was then inspired to write the song that ended up becoming a popular hit.
Anka remembered the actress after she passed away, saying,
"Annette was a star from the time she was 12 years old, and I met her shortly after.
In addition to her talent, she was self-possessed, determined,
had incredible integrity, and was loved by everyone."
According to The New York Times, Walt Disney was approached by people from American International
Pictures to get Annette Funicello to be a part of a beach film. He believed it would
essentially be good clean fun but did advise the young actress to avoid showing too much skin,
particularly her navel. She agreed and respected Disney's suggestion.
Her first beach movie was Beach Party in 1963,
in which she worked with Frankie Avalon. The two would go on to make more beach movies together.
Funicello revealed in A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story that she caught
flak for complying with Disney's advice about not showing her navel on-screen.
She wrote that while most colleagues understood where she was coming from, a director or producer
would inevitably ask her to put on something more revealing. She remained adamant, however,
and always shot back that her conservative clothing choices were hers and hers only.
Ultimately, Funicello did enjoy working on the beach-party films and mentioned
that she actually got to make many friends through these projects.
"Man, bonehead's really swingin'!"
"I do believe."
Annette ended up falling for her agent, Jack Gilardi, and married him in 1965.
The pair met while working on the movie Babes in Toyland and ended up falling for each other.
Gilardi was Funicello's manager and agent for many years until they decided to get divorced in 1981.
Funicello reflected on falling in love with Gilardi, writing in her autobiography,
"We had known each other as manager and client, and as friends. One evening, I don't
know what happened. He looked at me, I looked at him, and suddenly we knew we were in love."
After that marriage ended, the actress found love again when she met a racehorse trainer
named Glen Holt. The couple were together until her death in 2013.
In the late 1980s, Annette was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,
an illness that would have a major impact on her life over the next 25 years. The New York
Times revealed that Funicello was optimistic and wouldn't get bogged down by her diagnosis,
starting a charity instead to help others zero in on a cure.
Annette didn't reveal her illness until 1992, when she realized it was important to issue
a public announcement. Around that time, she was being forced to endure unkind speculations
about the fact that she found it difficult to walk. According to The Guardian, some people
wondered whether she was an alcoholic. Annette's condition was rather severe,
and she eventually started using a wheelchair to get around. Her husband Glen later revealed that
he'd assured her that he'd always help her with anything she needed. Annette
Funicello was no victim, though. She studied her illness, trying to learn as much as she could.
She wrote that no doctor in the world could predict whether a patient with
multiple sclerosis would worsen in a few years.
Moreover, Funicello was open with her kids about her illness, making sure she read up
on it so that she was equipped to alleviate her children's doubts and answer their questions.
In March 2011, Annette and her family went through a scary experience when their California house
caught fire. The actress showed symptoms of smoke inhalation, and had to be rushed to a hospital
where she was immediately treated. Funicello was 68 at the time of the incident, and it was
believed that she, Holt, and a nurse escaped from the burning house after it caught fire.
Corliss Foster, a friend and neighbor, believed that Holt
must have helped his wife get out before things escalated, saying in an interview,
"Glen must have gotten her out of the house and put her in the backyard."
Thankfully, no one suffered serious injuries, and everyone was believed to be stable.
The blaze was rather intense when firefighting authorities reached the scene and began
working to put out the fire. According to Today, the fire began in the morning,
and it took firefighters around a half-hour to extinguish the blaze completely.
Unfortunately for Funicello, life got harder in her twilight years. Her illness worsened,
and her symptoms became more intense. She needed full-time help to get by,
and it was difficult for her to manage her daily activities alone. She was fed through
a tube and had to be taken care of 24/7. Funicello and her husband were optimists,
however. Glen Holt always believed that he'd see his wife get better one day and also fought
to get her access to experimental treatment options to reduce the severity of her symptoms.
Working against Annette, however, was the fact that her diagnosis
came at a time when not much was known about her illness.
This made it harder to stop the disease from progressing as much as it did over the years.
Videos taken in her later years showed the actress struggling to move. It is believed that her
cognitive functions probably remained unaffected, even as she fought to move and express herself.
Dr. Rock Heyman, director of the Pittsburgh Institute for MS care and research at the
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, stated that he had witnessed many patients with the
illness remain intellectually unaffected. As Dr. Heyman explained in an interview,
"I have seen patients who are unable to move their arms or
legs that are still intellectually active."
When Annette Funicello passed away in April 2013 at the age of 70,
her death was mourned by many across the world who remembered her for the unique person she was.
Her devastated children released a statement, which said,
"We are so sorry to lose Mother. She is no longer suffering anymore
and is now dancing in heaven. We love and will miss her terribly."
Disney's chairman, Bob Iger, also paid a tribute to the actress and said that she'll
forever be a huge part of the Disney family. He added that Funicello will
always be celebrated as one of Disney's most talented stars, one who managed to inspire a
whole generation with her talent and unique personality. Iger called Annette a beautiful
person and added that she confronted her physical challenges with grace and dignity.
Frankie Avalon also remembered his former co-star and said that the country had lost
one of its sweethearts. Avalon went on to say that he felt lucky to have been
friends with the actress and to have worked with her on so many projects.
"I mean I just pray for her everyday and I'm sure millions of people do the same thing."
In a moving statement, Avalon wrote:
"[Annette] will live on forever, I will miss her and the world will miss her."