American actress, the most famous of the “Mickey Mouse Club” Mouseketeers of the late ’50s. She appeared in many Disney films and in guest appearances on the studio’s “Zorro” TV series. In the ’60s she was paired with Frankie Avalon in a string of teen “beach movies.”
After about a decade of obscurity, Funicello emerged in the late ’70s in roles of ’50s and ’60s nostalgia. “Back To The Beach” was the first flick in 20 years for her and Avalon together, 1987.
Disney discovered her when she danced in a school pageant in 1955. She had an early affair with moody Paul Anka. In her 20s, she married her manager, Jack Gilardi, 1965, with whom she had three kids. She made a second marriage to horse trainer Glen Hold and they had three kids.
Funicello’s finest role has been that of courage and dignity with which she has handled a disability, multiple sclerosis, that had gradually deteriorated her physically. She has appeared in a TV special in a wheel chair, and has always been gracious and helpful in highlighting benefits for those with MS.
Her autobiography was written with Patricia Romanowski, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.”
On April 8, 2013, Funicello died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, California, at the age of 70, from complications due to her multiple sclerosis.
Link to Wikipedia biography