Annette Funicello

Her autobiography, published in 1995, is A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story. During the 1960s, Kathleen Harrison starred on television as Mrs Thursday, the charlady who inherited a fortune. After keeping it a secret for years, Annette announced in 1992 that she had begun suffering from multiple sclerosis. The Huggett family made their first appearance in Holiday Camp (1948). They re-united in 1987 for Back to the Beach, and toured the country as a singing act. Harrison studied at RADA, then spent some years living in Argentina before making her UK professional debut during the 1920s. Before and during the Second World War, she played small parts in numerous British films, including, Night Must Fall (1937), The Ghost Train (1941), Oliver Twist (1948) and a small but scene-stealing role as Mrs. Dilber in Scrooge (1951) [aka Christmas Carol, A (1951) (USA)]. 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. Kathleen Harrison (February 23, 1892, Blackburn, Lancashire, England - December 7, 1995, was a prolific British character actress, best remembered for her roles as Mrs Huggett in a series of British post-war comedies (playing opposite Jack Warner).

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. 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.". 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. Born in Utica, New York, she took dancing and music lessons as a child and was discovered by Disney while performing in Swan Lake.

Annette Funicello (born October 22, 1942) was one of Walt Disney's most popular Mouseketeers.