Annette Funicello — who won American hearts as a 12-year-old in Mickey Mouse ears, captivated baby boomers with slightly spicy beach movies and later championed people with multiple sclerosis, which ...

Annette Funicello, who first gained fame as a 12-year-old Mousekeeter on Disney’s “The Mickey Mouse Club” in the 1950s and then starred opposite Frankie Avalon in a series of musical beach party films ...

In the ever-changing landscape of American pop culture, only a precious few manage to grow up in front of an audience and remain beloved across decades. Actress and singer Annette Funicello was one of ...

Gina Gilardi Bleifer still has fond memories of her mother Annette Funicello. The legendary Disney Mouseketeer passed away in 2013 from complications due to multiple sclerosis, a disease she battled ...

LOS ANGELES — When she traded in her Mousketeer ears for a surfboard and a modest one-piece bathing suit, Annette Funicello helped create a world as fanciful as Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. It was the ...

This 1957 publicity photo released by The Walt Disney Company shows the Mouseketeers, including Annette, front right, with Walt Disney, center. Spin, (Tim Considine), top left, Marty, (David Stollery ...

“Mr. Disney said to me one day, ‘Annette, I have a favor to ask of you. I know all the girls are wearing bikinis, but you have an image to uphold. I would appreciate it if you would wear a one-piece ...