Meet Annette Funicello!

Annette Funicello as a Mouseketeer

When we were born, Annette Funicello had already finished her childhood career as a Mouseketeer and was a young public figure. She was the American Girl. She was born in Utica, NY. Her mother and father; Joseph, an auto repair shop owner and Virginia Funicello a homemaker, were Italian Americans.

As a child, she was very shy. Her parents decided to enroll her in dance and music classes to help her overcome her shyness. She was only four years old when her family moved to Southern California.

Annette Funicello''s Mouseketeer Days

It was there in California, at the age of 12, that she was discovered by Walt Disney himself. He saw her at a dance recital. She was the Swan Queen in “Swan Lake”. He immediately chose her out of 200 other children to be one of the original Mouseketeers. She looked up to him and saw him as a father figure while on the show.

Annette Funicello was the only Mouseketeer chosen by Walt, and she ended up being one of the most popular. Children all around the world were inspired by her. She had dolls made to look like her and books written about her. After her "career" as a Mouseketeer on the Mickey Mouse Club ended in 1959 and she'd turned in her "ears", she was still under contract with Disney.

She appeared in several TV shows and movies as she grew up. One of my favorites (as a kid) was “The Shaggy Dog”. She became a teen idol after moving on from Disney to American International Pictures. As a teen, who didn't like seeing Annette, Frankie, and Moon Doggie, in the Beach Party movies in the 60's? I know I did.

She married her first husband, Jack Giraldi, who was also her agent, in 1965 when she was about 23 years old. They were married for about 17 years and then divorced in 1982. They had three children, Gina, Jack Jr. and Jason. She married her second husband, Glen Holt, a racehorse breeder, in 1986 and was still with him until she passed away on April 8, 2013.

Early signs of MS

Annette Funicello began noticing that something was wrong in 1987, when she was working on the "Back to the Beach" movie with Frankie Avalon. She couldn't seem to keep her balance. In the beginning, however, she kept the symptoms which also included dizziness and headaches, from her family.

Not too long after the balance problems, she noticed her eyesight seemed to be getting worse. After visiting the ophthalmologist several times in only six months and getting her glasses changed twice, he suggested she see a neurologist.

The neurologist ordered an MRI to confirm a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. She didn't really know much about MS and was more worried she might have a brain tumor. When the doctor showed her the pictures of the white spots on her brain, she was actually relieved.

Sharing the news

Only her mother and her husband knew that she had MS in the beginning. Physically she felt good for several years. She didn't tell her father for two years because she knew he would worry. She finally told him in 1989, and it was difficult for him to keep it together whenever he saw his little girl.

When it came to her children, she wanted to learn all she could about multiple sclerosis. She told them it was a disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS). She would share with them little by little about the symptoms she was feeling. Not knowing what would happen and when was difficult for them to deal with.

Annette had symptoms like tingling and numbness in her feet. She also had tingling in her hands. All these would come and go as it would when you have relapsing remitting MS. One time, when she had a viral infection and a high fever, she lost her ability to walk. Because of this, she needed her husband to carry her to the bathroom. After three days, the fever and the symptoms finally went away.


Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello

Cir has had this happen to him on more than one occasion. Any type of infection can cause your MS symptoms to flare up. It is really important to try and keep from getting infections. We know this may be impossible to do. It's more a matter of keeping infections to a minimum.

While on a yearlong tour with her friend, Frankie, Annette Funicello felt she had to tell him that she had MS. He was shocked when he found out why she had been having balance problems.

It's time

In 1991, she had a return of the numbness and tingling in her feet. She also needed to use a cane when she began experiencing vertigo. Her son's friend saw her leaving a restaurant and told her son that his mom must have had a few too many drinks. It was getting closer to the time that she would need to disclose her diagnosis to the public.

Want to read the rest of Annette Funicello's story? Click here to go to Part 2.

And if you'd like a more in-depth story about Annette Funicello, check here. (Link will open in a new window).

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