Annette Funicello Dies: Mouseketeer, Beach Movie Starlet Passes Away At 70

Annette Funicello, the pop-culture iconwho was many young Americans first crush as she graced 50s TV screens and 60s movie screens (as a Mouseketeer and a beach movie starlet, respectively), has died at the age of 70.

According to Walt Disney Co. spokesperson Howard Green, Funicello passed away at Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, losing a long battle with multiple sclerosis. Funicello was diagnosed with the crippling central nervous system disease in 1987.

Funicello began her career in 1955 as a member of the original Mouseketeers of "The Mickey Mouse Club", a variety show for kids that debuted in 1955. Funicello was a standout, wuickly becoming the star of the young cast.

Funicello became a hot commodity and her likeness was used to sell dolls, coloring books, comic books, lunchboxes and even novels.

Funicello parlayed her "Mickey Mouse Club" fame into a successful acting and singing career. Her first feature film was 1959's "The Shaggy Dog." She then went on to co-star with Frankie Avalon in some of the best-remembered "beach" films, including "Beach Party" and "Beach Blanket Bingo."

Funicello scored a top-ten hit with 1959's "Tall Paul" and released a dozen plus albums over the span of her recording career.

"I never liked singing," she later told the Chicago Tribune . "I was always so frightened. But the echo chambers and double tracking gave me confidence and made my voice stronger. And it was time for a new sound. Soon, people started copying 'the Annette sound.'"

Funicello had served as an MS spokesperson since her 1987 diagnoses, attempting to raise awareness and research funding surrounding the condition.

How many of you remember watching Annette in "The Mickey Mouse Club"? Were you