Annette Joanne Funicello (born October 22, 1942) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and actress. She was
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's most popular cast member of the original
Mickey Mouse ClubThe Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
, and went on to appear in a series of
beach party filmBeach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
s.
Early life and early stardom
Annette Joanne Funicello was born in
Utica, New YorkUtica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, to Italian-Americans Joseph and Virginia Funicello. Her family moved to
Southern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
when she was four years old.
Funicello took dancing and music lessons as a child to overcome shyness. In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
when she performed as the Swan Queen in
Swan LakeSwan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
at a dance recital in
Burbank, CaliforniaBurbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. Disney cast her as one of the original "Mouseketeers". She was the last to be selected, and the only one personally picked by Walt Disney himself. She proved to be very popular and by the end of the first season of Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her
Disney LegendsEstablished in 1987, the Disney Legends program recognizes people who have made an extraordinary and integral contribution to The Walt Disney Company. The honor is awarded annually during a special ceremony....
biography.
In addition to appearing in many Mouseketeer sketches and dance routines, Funicello starred in several
serialSerials are series of television programs and radio programs that rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode by episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from...
s on The Mickey Mouse Club. These included
Adventure in DairylandAdventure in Dairyland is a television serial that aired in 1956 on ABC as part of the second season of The Mickey Mouse Club. The serial starred Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and Sammy Ogg of Spin and Marty and featured Kevin Corcoran in his first Walt Disney production.-Plot:Annette Funicello...
,
Walt Disney Presents: AnnetteWalt Disney Presents: Annette was a television serial that ran on The Mickey Mouse Club during the show's third season . It starred Annette Funicello as Annette McCloud, a poor, orphaned country girl who moves into town with her upper-class aunt and uncle...
(which co-starred
Richard DeaconRichard Deacon , born in Philadelphia, was an American television and motion picture actor.-Career:The bald and usually bespectacled character actor often portrayed pompous or imperious figures. He made appearances on The Jack Benny Show as a salesman and a barber, and on NBC's Happy as a hotel...
), and the second and third
Spin and MartySpin and Marty was a popular series of television shorts that aired as part of ABC's Mickey Mouse Club show of the mid-1950s produced by Walt Disney. There were three serials in all, set at the Triple R Ranch, a boys' western-style summer camp. The first series of 25 eleven-minute episodes,...
serials - The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty and The New Adventures of Spin and Marty. In a hayride scene in the Annette serial, she performed the song that launched her singing career. The studio received so much mail about "How Will I Know My Love" (lyrics by
Tom AdairThomas "Tom" Montgomery Adair was an American songwriter, composer, and screenwriter.-Biography:Born in Newton, Kansas, worked at a power company and the Saturday Evening Post, writing numerous poems, while penning the songs in his spare time. In 1941, Adair met Matt Dennis in a club and the duo...
, music by Frances Jeffords and William Walsh), that Walt Disney issued it as a single, and gave Funicello (somewhat unwillingly) a recording contract.
Actress and singer
After the Mickey Mouse Club, she remained under contract with Disney for a time, with television roles in Zorro,
Elfego BacaElfego Baca was a gunman, lawman, lawyer, and politician in the closing days of the American wild west. Baca was born in Socorro, New Mexico just before the end of the American Civil War to Francisco and Juana Maria Baca. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas when he was a young child...
and The Horsemasters. For Zorro she played Anita Cabrillo in a three-episode storyline about a teen-aged girl who arrives in Los Angeles to visit a father who does not seem to exist. This role was reportedly a birthday present from Walt Disney, and the first of two different characters played opposite Guy Williams as Zorro. Annette also co-starred in Disney-produced movies such as
The Shaggy DogThe Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney film about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed into an Old English Sheepdog by an enchanted ring of the Borgias. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten...
,
Babes in ToylandBabes in Toyland is a 1961 Christmas musical film in Technicolor, directed by Jack Donohue, produced by Walt Disney, and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution. It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.The...
,
The Misadventures of Merlin JonesThe Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a 1964 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. Kirk plays a college student who experiments with mind-reading and hypnotism, leading to run-ins with a local judge...
, and
The Monkey's UncleThe Monkey's Uncle is a 1965 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk as genius college student Merlin Jones and Annette Funicello as his girlfriend, Jennifer. The title refers to a chimpanzee named Stanley, Merlin's legal "nephew" ; Stanley otherwise has little relevance to the plot...
.
Although uncomfortable being thought of as a singer, Annette had a number of
pop recordPop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, mostly written by the
Sherman BrothersThe Sherman Brothers are an American songwriting duo that specialize in musical films, made up of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman ....
and including: "Tall Paul," "First Name Initial," "O Dio Mio," "Train of Love" (written by
Paul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
) and "
Pineapple Princess"Pineapple Princess" is an American pop song made popular by Annette Funicello in the summer of 1960. It appeared on the LP album, Hawaiiannette...
." They were released by Disney's Buena Vista label. Annette also recorded "It's Really Love" in 1959, a reworking of an earlier
Paul AnkaPaul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
song called "Toot Sweet"; Anka reworked the song for a third time in 1962 as "Johnny's Theme" and it opened
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under the Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night....
on television for the next three decades. In an episode of the
Disney anthology television seriesThe Walt Disney anthology television series refers to a television series which has been produced by the Walt Disney Company under several different titles from 1955 to 2008...
titled "
Disneyland After DarkDisneyland After Dark was an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color that aired on April 15, 1962. Later, it was released theatrically overseas as a short subject....
," Annette can be seen singing live at Disneyland. Walt Disney was reportedly a fan of 1950s pop star
Teresa BrewerTeresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...
and tried to pattern Annette's singing in the same style. However, Funicello credits "the Annette sound" to her record producer,
Tutti CamarataSalvador "Tutti" Camarata was a composer, arranger and trumpeter.-Early life and career:Born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Camarata studied music at Juilliard School in New York - a student of Bernard Wagenaar, Joseph Littau, Cesare Sodero, and Jan Meyerowitz...
, who worked for Disney in that era. Camarata had her double-track her vocals, matching her first track as closely as possible on the second recording to achieve a fuller sound than her voice would otherwise produce. Early in her career, she appeared on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
interview program
Here's HollywoodHere's Hollywood is an American celebrity interview program which aired on weekday afternoons on NBC at 4:30 Eastern time from September 26, 1960, to December 28, 1962.-Overview:...
.
Beach icon and spokeswoman
She moved on from Disney to become a
teen idolA teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
, starring in a series of "
Beach PartyBeach party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films created by American International Pictures with their surprise 1963 hit, Beach Party, and copied by virtually every other studio...
" movies with
Frankie AvalonFrankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
for
American International PicturesAmerican International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
. These included
Beach PartyBeach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
,
Muscle Beach PartyMuscle Beach Party is the second of seven beach party films produced by American International Pictures. It was made in 1964 and was directed by William Asher, who also directed four other films in this series...
,
Bikini BeachBikini Beach is a 1964 teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in a series of seven films produced by American International Pictures .-Plot:School is out and...
,
Beach Blanket BingoBeach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures beach party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the beach party film series...
,
How to Stuff a Wild BikiniHow to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
and
Pajama PartyPajama Party is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures...
.
When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney requested that she only wear modest bathing suits and keep her navel covered. However, she wore a pink two-piece in Beach Party, a white two-piece fishnet suit in the second film (Muscle Beach Party) and a blue and white bikini in the third (Bikini Beach). All three swimsuits bared her navel, particularly in Bikini Beach, where it is visible extensively during close up shots in a sequence early in the film when she meets Frankie Avalon's "Potato Bug" character outside his tent.
She and Avalon became iconic as "beach picture" stars and were re-united in 1987 for the
ParamountParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
film
Back to the BeachBack to the Beach is a 1987 comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903...
, parodying their own surf-and-sand films two decades earlier. They toured the country as a singing act.
In 1979, Funicello began starring in a series of television commercials for
Skippy peanut butterSkippy is a commercial brand of peanut butter made in the United States. Ninety million jars of Skippy are sold annually. It was first sold on February 1, 1933.- History :...
.
Personal
Funicello was married to her first husband, Jack Gilardi, from 1965 until 1981. They had three children: Gina (b. 1966), Jack, Jr. (b. 1970), and
JasonJason Gilardi is the former drummer for the band Caroline's Spine. Gilardi's parents are Annette Funicello and Jack Gilardi....
(b. 1974). In 1986, she married California harness racing horse breeder/trainer Glen Holt.
Annette and Glen were frequently seen at
Los Alamitos Race CourseLos Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than any other track in the United States.-Early...
and at
FairplexFairplex, formerly known as the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, has been since 1922 the home of the L.A. County Fair. It is located in the city of Pomona, California. The L.A...
in
PomonaPomona was a goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Roman religion and myth. Her name comes from the Latin word pomum, "fruit," specifically orchard fruit. She was said to be a wood nymph and a part of the Numia, guardian spirits who watch over people, places, or homes...
in the 1980s and 1990s attending harness horse races.
In 1987, Annette reunited with Frankie Avalon for a series of promotional concerts to promote their film
Back to the BeachBack to the Beach is a 1987 comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903...
. She began to suffer from dizzy spells, but kept her failing health from her family.
Funicello announced in 1992 that she suffers from
multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
. She had kept her condition a secret for many years, but felt it necessary to go public to combat rumors that her impaired ability to walk was the result of
alcoholismAlcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. That same year, she was inducted as a Disney Legend. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.
Funicello's best friend is
Shelley FabaresMichele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...
. She and Fabares have been friends since they were young teenagers, and Fabares was a bridesmaid at Funicello's first wedding. She is also very close to fellow Mouseketeers
Sharon BairdSharon Baird is an American actress and dancer who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer.-Early life:Sharon Baird was born in Seattle, Washington to Eldon Baird, an aerospace worker, and Nikki Marcus, a future talent agent. She has one younger brother, Jimmy Baird, also a former child actor...
, Doreen Tracey, and her "Beach" movies co-star,
Frankie AvalonFrankie Avalon is an American actor, singer, playwright, and former teen idol.-Career:By the time he was 12, Avalon was on U.S. television playing his trumpet. As a teenager he played with Bobby Rydell in Rocco and the Saints...
.
Her
autobiographyAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
,
published in 1994The year 1994 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Kevin J. Anderson - Champions of the Force, Dark Apprentice and Jedi Search*Reed Arvin - The Wind in the Wheat*Greg Bear - Songs of Earth and Power...
, is A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story. The title is taken from a
song"A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is a song written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston for the Walt Disney film Cinderella . In the song Cinderella encourages her animal friends to never stop dreaming, and that theme continues throughout the entire story.The theme of...
from the Disney movie
CinderellaCinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
. A made-for-TV movie based on the book, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story, was made in 1995. In the final scene, the actress portraying Funicello (
Eva LaRueEva Maria LaRue is an American model and actress. She is best known as Doctor Maria Santos on All My Children, and is now a cast regular on CSI: Miami, portraying Detective Natalia Boa Vista of the Miami-Dade Police Department.-Early life:LaRue was born Eva Maria LaRuy in Long Beach, California to...
), riding in a wheelchair, is turned away from the camera — turning back, it is Funicello herself, who delivers a message to a group of children. During this period she also produced her own line of teddy bears for the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company. The last collection in the series was made in 2004. She also has her own fragrance, "Cello by Annette".
Her parents died within two years of each other. On September 2, 2007, Annette's mother, Virginia Funicello, died of
pneumoniaPneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, a month after her 86th birthday. On May 21, 2009, Annette's father, Joe Funicello, died of natural causes at the age of 93. The only on-screen appearance her parents made was in the above-mentioned A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story.
On March 10, 2011, her Encino, California, home caught fire. She suffered smoke inhalation, but was otherwise unharmed.
Albums
- Annette -- Vista BV-3301—1959
- Annette Sings Anka (#21) -- Vista BV-3302—1960
- Hawaiiannette (#38) -- Vista BV-3303—1960
- Italiannette -- Vista BV-3304—1960
- Dance Annette -- Vista BV-3305—1961
- The Story of My Teens -- Vista BV-3312—1962
-
- The above albums were issued in mono only
- Annette's Beach Party (#39) -- Vista BV-3316 (Mono)/STER-3316 (Stereo) -- July 1963
- Muscle Beach Party -- Vista BV-3314/STER-3314—April 1964
- Annette On Campus -- Vista BV-3320/STER-3320—1964
- Annette At Bikini Beach -- Vista BV-3324/STER-3324—September 1964
- Pajama Party -- Vista BV-3325/STER-3325—November 1964
- Something Borrowed Something Blue -- Vista BV-3328/STER-3328—1964
- Annette Sings Golden Surfin' Hits -- Vista BV-3327/STER-3327—July 1965
- Annette Funicello -- Vista BV-4037—1972
- Annette Funicello Country Album -- Starview 4001—1984
- Best of Annette—Rhino RNDF-206—1984
-
- Also released as a picture disk on Rhino RNLP-702
- Annette: A Musical Reunion with America's Girl-Next-Door -- Vista 60010—1993
- A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes -- Time/Warner 520564—released April 16, 1995
- The Best of Annette -- Vista—Released August 14, 1991
Singles
- "How Will I Know My Love"/"Don't Jump To Conclusions" -- Disneyland 102 (1958)
- "That Crazy Place In Outer Space"/"Gold Doubloons and Pieces of Eight" -- Disneyland 114 (1958)
- "Tall Paul" (#7)/"Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me" -- Disneyland 118 (1959)
- "Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy
"Jo Jo the Dog Faced Boy" was a novelty song made popular by Disney Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello. The song was written by the Bob and Dick Sherman in collaboration with L.A. based songwriter Bob Roberts. "Jo Jo" followed up on Annette's hit song, "Tall Paul" which itself marked the first time a...
" (#73)/"Lonely Guitar" -- Vista 336 (1959)
-
- Later pressings feature "Love Me Forever" as the B-side
- "Lonely Guitar" (#50)/"Wild Willie" -- Vista 339 (1959)
- "Especially For You"/"My Heart Became Of Age" -- Vista 344 (1959)
- "First Name Initial" (#20)/"My Heart Became of Age" (#74) -- Vista 349 (1959)
- "O Dio Mio" (#10)/"It Took Dreams" -- Vista 354 (1960)
- "Train of Love" (#36)/"Tell Me Who's The Girl" -- Vista 359 (1960)
- "Pineapple Princess
"Pineapple Princess" is an American pop song made popular by Annette Funicello in the summer of 1960. It appeared on the LP album, Hawaiiannette...
" (#11)/"Luau Cha Cha Cha" -- Vista 362 (1960)
- "Talk to Me Baby" (#92)/"I Love You Baby" -- Vista 369 (1960)
- "Dream Boy" (#87)/"Please, Please Signore" -- Vista 374 (1961)
- "Indian Giver"/"Mama, Mama Rosa (Where's The Spumoni)" -- Vista 375 (1961)
- "Hawaiian Love Talk"/"Blue Muu Muu" (#107) -- Vista 384 (1961)
- "Dreamin' About You" (#106)/"Strummin' Song" -- Vista 388 (1961)
- "That Crazy Place From Outer Space"/"Seven Moons (Of Batalyre) (By Danny Saval & Tom Tyron) -- Vista 392 (1962)
- "The Truth About Youth"/"I Can't Do The Sum" -- Vista 394 (1962)
- "My Little Grass Shack"/"Hukilau" -- Vista 400 (1962)
- "He's My Ideal"/"Mr. Piano Man" -- Vista 405 (1962)
- "Bella Bella Florence"/"Canzone d'Amoure" -- Vista 407 (1962)
- "Teenage Wedding"/"Walkin' and Talkin'" -- Vista 414 (1962)
- "Treat Him Nicely"/"Promise Me Anything" (#123) -- Vista 427 (1963)
- "Merlin Jones"/"The Scrambled Egghead" -- Vista 431 (1964)
- Duets with Tommy Kirk
- "Custom City"/"Rebel Rider" -- Vista 432 (1964)
- "Muscle Beach Party"/"I Dream About Frankie" -- Vista 433 (1964)
- "Bikini Beach Party"/"The Clyde" -- Vista 436 (1964)
- "The Wah-Watusi"/"The Clyde" -- Vista 437 (1964)
- "Something Borrowed, Something Blue"/"How Will I Know My Love" -- Vista 438 (1965)
- B-side is a new version of Annette's first recording
- "The Monkey's Uncle"/"How Will I Know My Love" -- Vista 440 (1965)
- A-side features Annette with The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
- "Boy To Love"/"No One Else Could Be Prouder" -- Vista 442 (1965)
- "No Way To Go But Up"/"Crystal Ball" -- Vista 450 (1966)
- "What's A Girl To Do"/"When You Get What You Want" -- Tower 326 (1967)
- Annette's name is misspelled on both sides as "Annettte"
- "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"/"Merlin Jones" -- Vista 475 (1970)
- "(Together We Can Make A) Merry Christmas"/"The Night Before Christmas" -- Pacific Star 569 (1981)
- Duets with Frankie Avalon
- "The Promised Land"/"In Between and Out Of Love" -- Starview 3001 (1983)
Filmography
- The Shaggy Dog
The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney film about Wilby Daniels, a teenage boy who is transformed into an Old English Sheepdog by an enchanted ring of the Borgias. The film was based on the story, The Hound of Florence by Felix Salten...
(1959)
- Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland is a 1961 Christmas musical film in Technicolor, directed by Jack Donohue, produced by Walt Disney, and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution. It stars Ray Bolger as Barnaby, Annette Funicello as Mary Contrary, Tommy Sands as Tom Piper, and Ed Wynn as the Toymaker.The...
(1961)
- Elfego Baca: Six Gun Law (1962) (compilation of episodes from Wonderful World of Color serial)
- The Horsemasters (1962) (compilation of episodes from Wonderful World of Color serial)
- Beach Party
Beach Party was the first of several beach party films from American International Pictures aimed at a teen audience. It was directed by William Asher and written by Lou Rusoff. The main actors included Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, and Annette Funicello...
(1963)
- The Misadventures of Merlin Jones
The Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a 1964 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. Kirk plays a college student who experiments with mind-reading and hypnotism, leading to run-ins with a local judge...
(1964)
- Muscle Beach Party
Muscle Beach Party is the second of seven beach party films produced by American International Pictures. It was made in 1964 and was directed by William Asher, who also directed four other films in this series...
(1964)
- Bikini Beach
Bikini Beach is a 1964 teen film directed by William Asher and starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. The film belongs to the beach party genre of movies, popular in the 1960s. This is the third in a series of seven films produced by American International Pictures .-Plot:School is out and...
(1964)
- Pajama Party
Pajama Party is a 1964 beach party film starring Tommy Kirk and Annette Funicello. This is the fourth in a series of seven beach films produced by American International Pictures...
(1964)
- Beach Blanket Bingo
Beach Blanket Bingo is an American International Pictures beach party film, released in 1965 and was directed by William Asher. It is the fifth film in the beach party film series...
(1965)
- The Monkey's Uncle
The Monkey's Uncle is a 1965 Walt Disney production starring Tommy Kirk as genius college student Merlin Jones and Annette Funicello as his girlfriend, Jennifer. The title refers to a chimpanzee named Stanley, Merlin's legal "nephew" ; Stanley otherwise has little relevance to the plot...
(1965)
- Ski Party
Ski Party is a B-movie, directed by Alan Rafkin, and released in 1965 by American International Pictures. Ski Party is part of the 1960s Beach Party film genre, with a change of setting from the beach to the slopes - although the final scene places everyone back at the beach...
(1965) (Cameo)
- How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini is a 1965 beach party film from American International Pictures. The sixth entry in a seven-film series, the movie features Mickey Rooney, Annette Funicello, Dwayne Hickman, Brian Donlevy, and Beverly Adams...
(1965)
- Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine is a 1965 American International Pictures film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Vincent Price, Frankie Avalon, Dwayne Hickman, Susan Hart and Deborah Walley...
(1965) (Cameo)
- Fireball 500
Fireball 500 is a stock car racing film, blended with the beach party film genre. A vehicle for stars Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Fabian, it was one of a string of similar racing films from the 1960s...
(1966)
- Thunder Alley
Thunder Alley is a 1967 film directed by Richard Rush and starring Annette Funicello and Fabian.-Plot:A race car driver retires after a blackout causes the death of another driver on the motorway. After the accident, he then begins working at a "Thrill Circus" as a stunt driver. There he meets the...
(1967)
- Head
Head is a 1968 psychedelic comedy-adventure major motion picture, starring TV group The Monkees , and distributed by Columbia Pictures...
(1968)
- Back to the Beach
Back to the Beach is a 1987 comedy film starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, directed by Lyndall Hobbs. The original music score is composed by Steve Dorff. The film generated a total domestic gross of $13,110,903...
(1987)
- Troop Beverly Hills
Troop Beverly Hills is a 1989 American comedy film. Produced by Weintraub Entertainment Group and directed by Jeff Kanew, it starred Shelley Long, Craig T...
(1989) (Cameo)
Television work
- Mickey Mouse Club
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
(1955–1959)
- Zorro (as Anita Cabrillo in Season 2)
- The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
(cast member in 1959)
- Walt Disney anthology television series (in 1961 as Constancia in the second hour-long Zorro episode, "The Postponed Wedding," on the Disney anthology series, during the hiatus of Zorro due to a legal dispute with ABC)
- The Horsemasters (1961)
- Escapade in Florence (1962)
- "Rosetta", The Greatest Show on Earth
The Greatest Show on Earth is an American drama series starring Jack Palance about the American circus, which aired on ABC from September 17, 1963, to April 28, 1964...
(1964)
- Easy Does It... Starring Frankie Avalon (1976) (Four-week summer variety series)
- Frankie and Annette: The Second Time Around (1978) (unsold pilot)
- "Ghostbreaker" episode Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
(1978)
- The Mouseketeer Reunion (November 23, 1980)
- Lots of Luck
Lots of Luck is a 1985 Walt Disney television film directed by Peter Baldwin.- Plot :The film focuses on a blue-collar family who wins the lottery. Their lives are changed forever, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad.-Cast:...
(1985; made-for-TV movie)
- Growing Pains
Growing Pains is an American television sitcom about an affluent family, residing in Huntington, New York, with a working mother and a stay-at-home psychiatrist father raising three children together, which aired on ABC from September 24, 1985 to April 25, 1992.-Synopsis:The show's premise is based...
episode "The Seavers and the Cleavers" (guest star, 1985)
- Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (guest star, 1988)
- Full House
Full House is an American sitcom television series. Set in San Francisco, the show chronicles widowed father Danny Tanner, who, after the death of his wife, enlists his best friend Joey Gladstone and his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis to help raise his three daughters, D.J., Stephanie, and...
episode "Joey Goes Hollywood" (guest star with Frankie Avalon, March 29, 1991)
- A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995; made-for-TV movie)
Book
External links