During the height of her fame at Walt Disney Pictures, Mickey Mouse Club star Annette Funicello received more mail than the studio's two most popular leading "men": Mickey Mouse and Zorro. To young people she was, quite simply, the quintessential dream girl. Males liked her because, over the course of the series' run, from 1955 to 1959, she blossomed into a buxom beauty before their eyes. Females liked her for her sweetness and sincerity, and for her winning smile. She was so beloved that she became known, and was often billed, by her first name alone.

Annette Funicello

Born in Utica, New York, Annette was twelve years old when Walt Disney saw her dancing the lead in Swan Lake at a school recital. Annette had dreamed of becoming a ballerina. She instead donned mouse ears to become an original member of Disney's pioneering children's show. Emerging...