Not every Mouseketeer retained their cherubic image after leaving The
Mickey Mouse Club. Here are tragic details about the original Mickey Mouse Club cast.
One would think that the sons of famed actor Mickey Rooney would be a huge pull
for the fledgling Mickey Mouse Club. In fact, Rooney himself once claimed that Mickey Mouse
was even named for him after he met Walt Disney as a kid. There is no documentation
to back up Rooney's unlikely claim, but it is a fact that Rooney's sons, Mickey Jr. and Tim,
were hired to appear on the Mickey Mouse Club based on their talents.
The twosome were quite good at acting, dancing, and singing, but neither of
them survived on The Mickey Mouse Club for very long. So, why did they end up leaving?
According to several reports, the young brothers were fired after getting into
trouble on the Disney lot. More specifically, the boys were apparently fooling around in the
Ink and Paint Department, the very room where mostly women artists applied magnificent colors
to Disney's cartoons and movies. Nobody was around when Mickey Jr. and Tim snuck in and began
switching the paint around by pouring it into the wrong-colored cans. They were immediately fired.
"Oh yeah, that was at the reunion. There's Mickey and there's me."
Although each pursued other careers, their father became estranged from them. Claiming elder abuse
by his family, Rooney Sr. left nothing to any of his eight children when he died in 2014.
Nine-year-old Paul Petersen was Mouseketeer who was fired after just
three weeks with the Mickey Mouse Club show. In 2017,
Petersen told the Courier & Press that one day casting crew member Lee Travers teased the boy
relentlessly, calling him "mouse," a nickname he knew Peterson hated. Petersen finally retaliated.
"I said 'don't call me that, fatso,' and punched him in the stomach."
At that moment, most unfortunately, Walt Disney himself was standing in the room and witnessed the
whole thing. According to Petersen, Disney called him into his office that same day and fired him
on the spot, though he later noted he's able to laugh about the incident now.
Luckily for Petersen, he went on to become a teen idol. His biggest role was as
Jeff on The Donna Reed Show from 1958 to 1966, but when the show ended, the young actor was
at a loss as Hollywood turned its back on him. Thankfully, Petersen had a deep love of music,
and the talent to back it up, to fall back on. His debut album "Lollipops and Roses" arrived in 1962.
Most importantly, Paul Petersen founded A Minor Consideration, a support group that helps young
actors establish boundaries in the workplace and gives them guidance for what happens after the
footlights fade. He still works to advocate for the rights and safety of child actors to this day.
Johnny Crawford, son of renowned television editor Robert Crawford, became a Mouseketeer at age nine.
"Well, Jimmie, I thought the Mouseketeers would like to meet my brother Bobby,
who's the second best fencer in the world!"
Within a year, however, the talented actor had moved on and appeared in shows like Crossroads,
The Lone Ranger, The Loretta Young Show, Sheriff of Cochise, and Whirlybirds. Today, though,
Johnny Crawford is best remembered as Mark, the son of rancher Lucas McCain
in The Rifleman. The show was a hit and the two stars had chemistry, but Mark McCain's innocence
came a bit undone when Crawford appeared nude in the 1973 movie, The Naked Ape.
Produced by Hugh Hefner and co-starring Victoria Principal, the film starred Crawford as the ape
who appears on a road trip being taken by some insecure teens who meet a couple of girls on the
way. After the film's premiere, Crawford also made news as the first man to appear completely
nude in Playboy magazine—and then went on to found the Johnny Crawford Orchestra and other projects.
As of 2020, Johnny was unfortunately suffering from
Alzheimer's Disease and having trouble meeting his medical bills. Thankfully his friend and
fellow former Mouseketeer Paul Petersen set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover his expenses.
London-born Doreen Tracey was among the original Mouseketeers and was
so good she appeared in the Walt Disney film Westward Ho, the Wagons! in 1956.
"Doreen?"
"I think it's called a weather house!"
She also appeared on The Donna Reed Show before embarking on a tour of performances
for the military during the Vietnam War. Fellow Mouseketeer Tommy Cole later told The Sun that
Doreen was affectionately nicknamed, quote, "Our Dodo" by the Mickey Mouse Club cast,
and was famous for always having a smile for everyone.
Unfortunately, the self-proclaimed, quote, "black sheep of Disney" was still on company time when
she posed nude in 1976. The nude photos of Tracey appeared in the December issue of Gallery
magazine, in which the actress wore nothing but her mouse ears from the Mickey Mouse Club.
After the magazine came out, Disney naturally took umbrage and fired Tracey over the photos.
Years later, in her 2001 autobiography Confessions of a Mouseketeer,
Tracey openly expressed her regret at posing for the photos.
"You get caught up in your own ego, not paying attention, not seeing the full repercussions."
That was enough for Disney, which welcomed the performer back with open arms and even
invited her to appear in a Mouseketeer reunion in 2015. The reunion was Doreen's
last public appearance on television. She died in 2018 after a battle with cancer.
Little Karen Pendleton was just nine years old when she got the job as Mouseketeer
on the Mickey Mouse Club. Although her father was a movie set designer,
Pendleton herself had no experience in acting when she landed the gig. She did,
however, know how to tap dance, and that was enough to make her a hit on the show,
often introducing cartoons for viewers to watch. And her talents were genuine,
leading to roles in Disney's Westward Ho, the Wagons! and The Magical World of Disney in 1956.
When Karen's contract expired in 1959, Disney tried to keep her on—but her father decided
it was best to decline the offer. Back in the real world, the girl was teased
by her classmates for her time on the show. Pendleton ultimately married and began a family,
giving birth to a daughter in 1973. A decade later, tragedy struck as Pendleton was in a car
accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. Still, Pendleton overcame the hardships,
went to earn a Master's degree and became an advocate for the disabled community.
She appeared at several Mouseketeer reunions before she passed away in 2019.
The Canadian-born Darlene Gillespie appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club for three seasons,
and developed a rivalry with fellow Mouseketeer Annette Funicello
over who could be the show's top female star.
"Hi there. I'm back."
Although Funicello won out with her own illustrious career, Gillespie did go on to
appear in several television shows—notably National Velvet and Dr. Kildare in 1962.
She also released some albums for Disney as well as her own country music record
under the name of Darlene Valentine. But Gillespie's personal life also
became fraught with complications, beginning with two divorces in 1968 and 1983.
Then, in 1998, Gillespie was convicted on a dozen counts for various crimes,
including securities fraud, mail fraud, and perjury. She was sentenced the following year
to two years in prison, but maintained her innocence throughout the ordeal. By 2011,
after various other legal issues, she was a retired nurse living quietly in California.
Dennis Day appeared on the Mickey Mouse Club show for two years before dropping into obscurity.
After pairing up with his partner, Ernest Caswell in the mid 1970s and appearing as a guest on a
1980 Mouseketeer reunion show, Day relocated to Oregon. There, he did small acting jobs at Living
History performances, and developed a successful line of jams and jellies with his partner.
Then, in 2018, Day was reported missing by his partner. After nine months of investigation his
former live-in handyman was arrested, along with two other women, in connection with Day's murder.
Although the surviving performers have continued to appear in public, there have only
been two official reunions for Disney's original Mouseketeers. The first one, in 1980, featured 31
of the original 39 Mouseketeers in a television special. Singer Paul Williams hosted the show,
which included song and dance numbers by noted Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and the others.
A special series of film montages also portrayed Mouseketeers Bobby Burgess, Darlene Gillespie,
Cubby O'Brien, and Sharon Baird performing alongside footage of their younger selves.
In 2015, a second reunion was held during Disney's D23 Expo, hosted by Lorraine Santoli,
author of The Official Mickey Mouse Club Book. Seven remaining Mouseketeers -- including
Sherry Alberoni, Sharon Baird, Bobby Burgess, Tommy Cole, Darlene Gillespie,
Cubby O'Brien, and Doreen Tracey -- were in attendance. As of today, eight of the
original Mouseketeers are still with us, which means another reunion could be on the horizon.
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