Annette Funicello, whose girl-next-door beauty never faded for millions of American baby boomers who met her as a Mouseketeer in the 1950s, idolized her through her beach movies of the 1960s and ...

Annette Funicello — who won American hearts as a 12-year-old in Mickey Mouse ears, captivated baby boomers with slightly spicy beach movies and later championed people with multiple sclerosis ...

I did, and I never regretted it.” — Annette Funicello recalling the advice from original mentor Walt Disney, reports AP, when she graduated from the “Mickey Mouse Club” to the beach movies.