Annette Funicello, Former Mickey Mouse Club Star, Dies at Age 70
Annette Funicello, 70, Dies; Beloved as a Mouseketeer and a Star of Beach Movies
I don't really have any memories of The Mickey Mouse Club as I was much too young to be watching that show when it aired. Or maybe I did, and have no memories of it. (It ended when I was 4 years old or so. I did watch some of the episodes later on as I grew up, but still...) I was more familiar with the Beach Party movies that she made with Frankie Avalon, though I watched those in the 1970s iirc, but have to say that I haven't watched these in years (decades, actually).
Annette Funicello represented a more innocent, more perky time in the tv and movie industry. A different, some would say better, time. Hollywood has lost a true star of tv and film, even if she wasn't a Marilyn Monroe or Sophia Loren.
Rest in Peace, Annette. The days at the beach will go on forever, now.