Annette Funicello

Her autobiography, published in 1995, is A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story. Her body was returned to the United States for interrment in the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. After keeping it a secret for years, Annette announced in 1992 that she had begun suffering from multiple sclerosis. Following an automobile accident, in which she suffered severe injuries, she became addicted to painkillers that ended with her taking her own life through an overdose of sleeping pills in 1999. They re-united in 1987 for Back to the Beach, and toured the country as a singing act. Beyond these activities, her favorite pastime was flying, having obtained her pilot's license and purchasing a 1936 German WWII Bi-plane. Funicello said in interviews that the reason she was never scantily clad in these films is because she made a promise to Walt Disney that she would never show her navel in a film. Multi-talented, she also wrote the book Move Over Tarzan that was a woman's guide on how to compete successfully in a business world dominated by men.

After maturing, she became a teen idol and went on to star in a series of "Beach Party" movies with Frankie Avalon including Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach and Beach Blanket Bingo. Despite her busy career, she became an accomplished sculptress and painter, her works on display at a number of one-woman shows in Los Angeles. Annette had a number of pop record hits in the late 1950's and early 1960's, including: "Tall Paul" (dedicated to Paul Anka), "First Name Initial," "O Dio Mio," "Train of Love," and "Pineapple Princess.". Her widely publicized image led to acting jobs and, under the name Lois Hamilton or Lois Areno, she appeared in several Hollywood films as well as on television shows including many popular series such as the "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "Three's Company.". She was cast as one of the original "Mouseketeers", and went on to television roles in Zorro and Elfego Baca, and Disney-produced movies such as The Shaggy Dog, Babes in Toyland, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Monkey's Uncle. Although she earned degrees in Psychology and Fine Arts, and wanted to pursue her interest in the arts, her looks brought an opportunity with the Ford Modeling Agency where she became one of its top models during the 1970s. Born in Utica, New York, she took dancing and music lessons as a child and was discovered by Disney while performing in Swan Lake. Aurino and studied at Temple University in her native Philadelphia before going on to the University of Florence in Florence, Italy.

Annette Funicello (born October 22, 1942) was one of Walt Disney's most popular Mouseketeers. A descendant of Italian nobility, she was born Lois I. Lois Hamilton, born October 14, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – died December 23, 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was an accomplished model, author, actress, artist, and aviatrix.