In The Spotlight Redux

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Dorothy Malone

The lovely Dorothy Malone was born Dorothy Eloise Maloney on January 30, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois. Was one of five children. Two older sisters died very young of complications from polio, and another younger brother was struck and killed by lightning while on a Dallas golf course. She was a former beauty contest winner before coming to Hollywood.
Much of her early career was spent in supporting roles in Grade-B Westerns, although on occasion she had the opportunity to play small but memorable roles, such as that of the young, brainy, lusty, bespectacled bookstore clerk in "The Big Sleep", with Humphrey Bogart, in 1946.

In 1956, Malone co-starred with Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, and Robert Stack in director Douglas Sirk's melodrama, "Written on the Wind". Her portrayal of the dipso-nymphomaniac daughter of a Texas oil baron won her the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress (which she dedicated to her late brother).
As a result, she was offered meatier roles in better films, including "Man of a Thousand Faces" (with James Cagney), "The Tarnished Angels" (again with Hudson and Stack, again directed by Sirk), "The Last Voyage" (with Stack), "Warlock", and "The Last Sunset".

Other films included, "Janie Gets Married", "Night and Day", "Two Guys from Texas", "One Sunday Afternoon", "Flaxy Martin", "Scared Stiff", "Pushover", "Young at Heart" (for which she turned blonde and remained that way for the rest of her career), "Battle Cry", "Sincerely Yours", "Tension at Table Rock", "Too Much, Too Soon" as Diana Barrymore, "The Last Sunset", etc

Malone became a household name when she accepted the lead role of Constance MacKenzie on the ABC primetime serial "Peyton Place", on which she starred from 1964 through 1968 receiving two Emmy nominations. In 1965, while working on "Peyton Place" she suffered a near-fatal illness that included a pulmonary embolism, blood clots on both lungs, an enlarged heart, and pneumonia. Upon fully recuperating, she returned to the show after being temporarily replaced by Lola Albright.
She often complained that her character was not given enough to do in the series, and that Mia Farrow's character was monopolizing the story lines. She was quoted as saying, "I live much more drama and tragedy in my own life than I ever do on Peyton Place!" She was written out of show in 1968 and sued 20th Century-Fox for $1.6 million for breach of contract. It was settled out of court.

Her last notable screen appearance was as a mother convicted of murdering her family in "Basic Instinct" (1992) opposite Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone.

While in the process of moving she didn't receive her invitation from the Academy Awards to attend the special gathering of former Oscar winners which she was miffed about since she would have attended.

Malone was married and divorced three times and has two daughters, Mimi and Diane, from her first marriage to actor Jacques Bergerac. She became embroiled in heavy litigation and a messy divorce action with Bergerac, whom she accused of marrying famous women only to promote his career. Bergerac was previously married to Ginger Rogers.

Still striking at age 82, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Guy Madison

The handsome actor was born Robert Ozell Mosely in Bakersfield, California on January 19, 1922. He attended Bakersfield Junior College for two years and then worked briefly as a telephone lineman before joining the United States Coast Guard in 1942.

In 1944, while on liberty one weekend in Hollywood, he attended a Lux Radio Theatre broadcast where his boyish good looks was spotted in the audience by an assistant to Henry Willson, an executive for David O. Selznick and he was immediately cast in a bit part in Selznick's "Since You Went Away". Following the film's release in 1944, the studio received thousands of letters from fans wanting to know more about him.

Talent agent Henry Willson, serving for a while under David O. Selznick, had a singular knack for discovering and renaming young actors whose visual appeal transcended any lack of ability. Under his tutelage, Robert Mosely became Guy Madison, (the "guy" girls would like to meet, and Madison from a passing Dolly Madison cake wagon). Madison filmed his one scene on a weekend pass and returned to duty.
So successful was the beefcake aspect of this enterprise, and so widely recognized was Willson's sexuality, that it was often, and often inaccurately, assumed that all of his clients were gay.

He was signed by RKO Pictures in 1946 and began appearing in romantic comedies and dramas but his wooden acting style hurt his chances of advancing in films.
His films included, "Till the End of Time", "Honeymoon" with Shirley Temple, "Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven", "Drums in the Deep South", "Red Snow", "The Charge at Feather River" in 3-D, "The Command", "5 Against the House" with Kim Novak, "The Last Frontier", "Hilda Crane", "The Beast of Hollow Mountain", "Jet Over the Atlantic" with Virginia Mayo, etc.

In 1951, television came to the rescue of his fleeting career when he was cast in "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok", which ran for six years. He played Hickok on TV and radio for much of the 1950s, and many of the TV episodes were strung together and released as feature films. He won a Golden Globe for best western star.

Following his television series, he appeared in several more films, mostly westerns. Madison found work scarce in the U.S. and traveled to Europe where he became a popular star of Italian Westerns and German adventure films.

He was married to actresses Gail Russell (1949-1954) and Sheilia Connolly (1961-1963). Both marriages ended in divorce. He has four children - three daughters and one son.

Guy Madison died from emphysema in 1996 at age 74 and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery (Cathedral City) near Palm Springs, California.

The actor has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (TV and radio).

[feaito]

Mongo,

I enjoy reading your profiles; they are concise and very informative.

I did not know that Guy Madison had been discovered by the same Henry Wilson who also launched the careers of Tony Curtis, George Nader, Tab Hunter et al. And it's good that you make it clear that not all of Wilson's clients were gay, because there's been much prejudiced speculation regarding that subject.

[mongoII]

Thank you, feaito. I appreciate your input.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Nina Mae McKinney

In 1913 the town of Lancaster, South Carolina was the birthplace of a black woman who became an international figure as an actress, singer and bandleader. Her given name was Nannie Mayme McKinney.
Her parents moved from Lancaster to New York and left the child with her great-aunt, Carrie Sanders.
She eventually appeared in plays at the black Lancaster Industrial School where she quickly learned the lines of the entire cast. But at about age 13 she headed for New York to stay with her mother.

Choosing Nina Mae as her stage name, she managed to get a job as a member of the chorus in 'Blackbirds', a Broadway play. Her lively performance caught the attention of King Vidor, famed MGM producer, who starred her in "Hallelujah!" as the seductress Chick, released in 1929. It was the first all-black sound musical feature. In the film McKinney dances the "Swanee Shuffle", a seductive dance which became a minor fashion.

Although signed by MGM to a five year contract, Nina Mae was only in two films, "Safe in Hell" (1931) and "Reckless" with Jean Harlow (1935) in which she appeared briefly on the screen. Her voice was dubbed for Harlow's songs. Hollywood could accept black character actresses like Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen appearing with white cast members but didn't know what to do with a beautiful black actress.

Other movie roles included, "Pie, Pie Blackbird", "Gang Smashers", "The Devil's Daughter", "Straight to Heaven", "Dark Waters", "Pinky", etc.

Her most notable roles during this period were in films for other studios, including a leading role in "Sanders of the River" (1935) where she appears with Paul Robeson. After MGM cut almost all her scenes in "Reckless" (1935) she left Hollywood for Europe where she acted and danced, appearing mostly in theatrical shows and cabaret where she became known as the "Black Garbo."

She returned to the USA at the start of World War II where she married Jimmy Monroe, a jazz musician. After the war she moved to Athens, Greece and lived there until she returned to New York in 1960, at which time she was forgotten and didn't make a comeback such as Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, or like Billie Holiday did

In spite of limited exposure to the general public, Nina Mae McKinney was always on stage, it didn't attract big crowds, or sell-outs but she was always a show-stopper. At the Apollo Theater, Harlem's only all-black theater, Nina Mae played Jeanne Eagel's role in "Rain". Nina Mae McKinney could have become one of America's enduring performers.

Her death on May 3, 1967 at age 54, and funeral went unknown, Jet, Ebony, and Variety didn't even print an obituary. One newspaper printed something about "Nina Mae McKinney "ENTERTAINER" died at New York Metropolitan Hospital of a heart attack, funeral services is going to be in the little white church around the corner".

In 1978 she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

[mongoII]

See and hear the talented Nina Mae McKinney perform "Everything I Got Belongs to You" with Eubie Blake and his Orchestra (1932).

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

You are doing a great job of truly spotlighting some deserving players!!

Sandra Dee
Dorothy Malone
Guy Madison

Although they are certainly deserving too, I can't say I've ever seen a Grant Williams movie and I've never even heard of Nina Mae McKinney.
But, I'm glad to learn something new, so keep 'em comin'!!!!!!

Larry

[mongoII]

Thank you, Larry.
As far as Grant Williams is concerned you must see "The Incredible Shrinking Man" next time it is on TCM. Don't let the title fool you as it is a very good sci-fi flick and Williams is great in the title role.

[feaito]

I hope to see Miss McKinney in "Hallelujah!" in the near future. I was lucky enough to watch her in Pinky and she's very good in that one playing a unpleasant character. She was beautiful.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Dennis Morgan

Dennis Morgan was born Earl Stanley Morner on December 30, 1910 in the small town of Prentice, Wisconsin.
His father was a banker who also owned a number of logging camps. As Morgan was growing up, he worked as a lumberjack for his dad.
At 6'2 and because of his hard work at the logging camps, he excelled in school sports, including baseball, football, and track.

After graduation from high school, he atended college, where he continued to participate in sports, as well as working as a radio disc jockey in Milwaukee for $35 a week. In addition he took music lessons and after graduation decided on a singing career, preferbly opera.
Eventually he landed on radio and in vaudville.

He arrived in Hollywood in 1935 with his wife Lillian. She was his high school and college sweetheart, whom he married in 1933.
A handsome gent (always with a twinkle in his eyes and a dimpled smile), a fine tenor and a pleasing disposition, he worked at MGM for a year in mostly bit parts as Stanley Morner. His best effort at the studio was in "The Great Ziegfeld" singing "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody".

Eventually he worked for various studios, notably Warner Bros. His films include, "The Fighting 69th.", "Three Cheers for the Irish", "Flight Angels", "Bad men of Missouri", "Captains of the Clouds", "In This Our Life" putting up with a rotten Bette Davis, "The Hard Way" with Ida Lupino, "Thank Your Lucky Stars", "The Desert Song", "Shine on Harvest Moon" with Ann Sheridan, "God Is My Co-Pilot", "Two Guys from Milwaukee" with buddy and frequent co-star Jack Carson, "One Sunday Afternoon", "This Woman Is Dangerous" with Joan Crawford, etc.
He could switch from singing roles to dramatic roles and back again with ease.

Two of his most popular roles were as Jefferson Jones in the holiday classic "Christmas in Connecticut" opposite Barbara Stanwyck, and as Ginger Rogers' love interest in the film "Kitty Foyle", for which Ms. Rogers won a Best Actress Oscar.

Morgan retired in the late 1950s, but did cameos now and then and also some TV work.

In January 1983, Morgan and his wife were in an auto accident on their way from their ranch near Yosemite to San Francisco. He lost his left eye and she had both legs broken. They would have burned to death if two passers by had not pulled them out of the wreckage.

He and his wife were married for 61 years, when he passed away on September 7, 1994 at age 85.
He also had three children, Stanley Jr., Kristin and James. He remains one of the legendary actors of the 1940s and his movies still popular as shown on TCM.

Quoted: "It's not the easiest thing in the world to be a success in Hollywood and still be the ordinary husband and father." He did both admirably.

Dennis Morgan does NOT have a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Vera Miles

Miles was born Vera May Ralston on August 23, 1929 in Boise City, Oklahoma to Burnice and Thomas Ralston. She grew up in Pratt and in Wichita, Kansas where, as a teenager, she worked nights as a Western Union operator-typist and graduated from Wichita North High School. She was crowned Miss Kansas in 1948.

Her success as a beauty queen prompted her move to Los Angeles where, in 1950, she soon began landing small roles in film and television including a minor part in as a chorus girl in "Two Tickets to Broadway" (1951), a musical starring Janet Leigh, with whom Miles would go on to co-star nine years later in "Psycho" for director Alfred Hitchcock.
Attracting the attention of several producers, she was put under contract at various studios where she posed for cheesecake and publicity photographs, as was standard procedure for most up-and-coming Hollywood starlets of the era. Under contract starlet to Warner Bros., she was cast in films such as "The Charge At Feather River" in 3-D but lost out on doing a big 3-D hit starring Vincent Price, "House of Wax", for which she was considered. She said, "I was dropped by the best studios in town."
In 1954, she co-starred with handsome and virile leading man Gordon Scott in "Tarzan's Hidden Jungle" (1955).

Legendary motion picture director John Ford picked her to star as Jeffrey Hunter's spirited love interest in "The Searchers" (1956), starring John Wayne, Natalie Wood, and Ward Bond . Widely considered one of the screen's definitive and most influential Westerns, voted by Entertainment Weekly the "greatest Western of all time".
Although Miles' other films that year include "Autumn Leaves" with Joan Crawford and Cliff Robertson, and "23 Paces to Baker Street" with Van Johnson, it was "The Searchers" that accounted for a dramatic upswing in her career.

A year later, Miles began a five-year personal contract to Alfred Hitchcock and was widely publicized as the director's potential successor to the sophisticated and supremely elegant cool blonde Grace Kelly.
Hitchcock directed her on the big screen in a strong performance as the beleaguered wife of Henry Fonda, who played a New York musician falsely accused of a crime, in "The Wrong Man" (1957). .
Hitchcock responded not only to Miles' blonde beauty and intelligent sex appeal but also to her very obvious acting talent. He undertook a reinvention of his new star through grooming and wardrobe supervised by Oscar-winning costume designer Edith Head. In a 1956 feature article in Look magazine, Miles said of Hitchcock, "He has never complimented me, or even told me why he signed me." Hitchcock commented in the same article, "She's an attractive, intelligent and sexy woman. That about rolls it up." In a far more effusive mood, he told a reporter, referring to the similarities between Miles and Grace Kelly, "I feel the same way directing Vera that I did with Grace. She has a style, an intelligence, and a quality of understatement."

Production delays and her pregnancy cost Miles the dual leading role in the project Hitchcock designed as a showcase for his new star, "Vertigo" (1958), a film considered by many to be one of the director's masterworks.
Miles recalled that when she told Hitchcock that she could not star in his deeply personal and melancholic thriller for which costumes and makeup tests had already been completed, "He was overwhelmed." The director replaced Miles with Kim Novak, with whom he clashed.
When asked years later about Miles by director François Truffaut in the book Hitchcock/Truffaut, Hitchcock explained their professional falling-out this way: "She became pregnant just before the part that was going to turn her into a star. After that, I lost interest.

In 1959, Vera and Van Johnson worked together again in "Web of Evidence". She also co-starred with Susan Hayward and John Gavin in the glossy melodrama about adultery, "Back Street", based on the much-filmed 1931 novel by Fannie Hurst.
A year later, Hitchcock cast her as Janet Leigh's sister Lila Crane in "Psycho" (1960), in which her character discovers the shocking truth about Norman Bates and his mother. Miles, while making the thriller, called it "the weirdy of all times." Despite her role being a supportive one, Miles' tense, tightly-coiled performance made a strong and lasting impression.
Following another stint in another classic John Ford film with 1962's "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance".
She also co-starred in "Beau James" with Bob Hope, "The FBI Story with James Stewart, "A Touch of Larceny", "5 Branded Women" (Miles had her head shaved for her role in this film, which resulted in having to wear a wig for her role in "Psycho"), "Hellfighters" with John Wayne, etc.

Miles' career took an unexpected turn when she landed her first roles at the Disney studio, in "A Tiger Walks" (1964), "Those Calloways" (1965), and "Follow Me, Boys!" (1966). She continued to play roles for Disney into the 1970s.
She did extensive television series work for years, then in 1983 reprised her famous role in "Psycho II", with her character vociferously protesting the proposed parole of Norman Bates. In later years, she lamented that "Psycho" had become the film with which Hitchcock's name remained most associated in the eyes of the public, considering that he had directed so many other superior films.

The mother of 4 is divorced from late actors Bob Miles, Gordon Scott, and Keith Larsen. She is currently married 34 years to film sound recordist Bob Jones.

Throughout the 80s and 90s she did tv and film work but retired from acting in 1995 and currently resides in California.
She refuses any public relations interviews, public appearances, etc. and has maintained a low profile since her retirement, although looking swell at age 78.

The actress has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[Vecchiolarry]

Hi Joe,

I cannot believe Dennis Morgan doesn't have a star on the Walk of Fame....... Or then again, maybe I can - we both know who are those worthy ones who still don't register with that stupid committe..
And so, Dennis will just need to be added to the list.

Now, if I was elected Mayor of Hollywood, the first thing I'd do is rip up about a dozen of those needless celebrities (Ryan Seacrest, Donald Trump, Roger Ebert & Barbara Walters, etc) and start placing those we've talked about on the TCM board.
Wadda ya think? -- Should I run???


On another note -
I've always liked Vera Miles and think she should have had a better career.
Maybe if she'd done "Vertigo" and been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Back Street", she would have done better.
There was a small campaign for her to be nominated for that but I don't know what happened to it. I was all for it back then but then I got involved with the campaign for George Chakiris and forgot about poor Vera.....

Great job featuring her!!


Larry

[mongoII]

Thanks, Larry. And by all means please run for Mayor of Hollywood and straighten those bozo's out. I noticed that Johnny Grant is now in a wheelchair, so he should be ready to retire.

Vera Miles did miss the brass ring when she had to forfeit the lead role in Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and other than her outstanding b**** in "Back Street" she was very good in "The Wrong Man".

[mongoII]

In the Spolight: Brian Donlevy

Brian Donlevy was known for many film roles from the 1930s to the 1960s. Particularly known for playing "tough guy" roles, he mainly appeared in supporting roles on screen.
Sassy-talking, rugged-looking, square-shouldered the actor, however, always to have gone through his necessary morning ritual before arriving on the movie set: 1) insert dentures; 2) don hairpiece; 3) strap on corset; 4) lace up "elevator" shoes.

Donlevy was born Waldo Bruce Donlevy on February 9, 1901 in Cleveland, Ohio. Early in his career, Hollywood film bosses established a fictional background of Donlevy having been born in Portadown, County Armagh, Ireland. This was not true, although it remains a popular biographical myth.

After lying about his age, Donlevy joined the American army in 1916 and saw service as a pilot during the First World War. After the war, he remained in the army for a short time before he decided to make the move into acting. He began his career in New York in the early 1920s, over the course of the decade appearing in many theatre productions and also winning an increasing number of silent film parts.

Donlevy's break into major film roles came in 1935, when he was cast in the Edward G. Robinson film "Barbary Coast". A large amount of successful film work followed, with several important parts. In 1939, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the ruthless Sergeant Markoff (with a scar on his face) in "Beau Geste", although the Oscar went to Thomas Mitchell for "Stagecoach".

The following year he played the role for which he is perhaps the best remembered, that of McGinty in "The Great McGinty", a role he reprised four years later in "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek".

In 1942, Donlevy starred in the Paramount film "Wake Island". Donlevy played Maj. Geoffrey Caton, part of a small band of United States Marines trying to keep the Japanese Navy from capturing their island base. At the time, the movie was very well received garnering four major Academy Award nominations Best Film, Best Direction, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor William Bendix.

Other film credits include, "Barbary Coast", "Half Angel", "In Old Chicago", "Union Pacific", "Jesse James" with Tyrone Power, "Destry Rides Again", "I Wanted Wings", "Billy the Kid", "The Remarkable Andrew", "The Glass Key", "Nightmare", "Canyon Passage", "Kiss of Death", "Killer McCoy", "Impact", "Hoodlum Empire", "The Big Combo", etc.

In 1955, he starred in the British science-fiction / horror film called "The Creeping Unknown" for the Hammer Films company, playing the lead role of Professor Bernard Quatermass.

Throughout his film career, Donlevy also did several radio shows including a reprisal of his "Great McGinty" film. He went on to feature in a number of further film roles over the following years until his death, although also appearing increasingly in the newly-popular medium of television.
He appeared in a variety of television series from the late 1940s to the mid 1960s, guesting in episodes of such popular programmes as "Perry Mason", "Wagon Train" and "Rawhide", including his own series in the 1950s, "Dangerous Assignment". His last film role was in a picture called "The Winner", released in 1969.

According to a statement in a 1944 movie magazine, Brian Donlevy did not smoke or play cards. The only smoking he did was "for the movies."
On January 11, 1950, he crashed the plane he was flying into a hillside near Solvang, California, but miraculously walked away.
He was Crazy about gold mining and writing poetry.

Donlevy was married three times: firstly to Yvonne Grey, then to actress Marjorie Lane (a daughter Judy), and finally to Lillian Lugosi (the widow of Bela Lugosi) from 1966 until his death in 1972.

He retired to Palm Springs, California, where he began to write short stories and had his income well supplemented from a prosperous tungsten mine he owned in California. Having gone in for throat surgery in 1971 he re-entered the Motion Picture County Hospital in Woodland Hills, California on March 10th, 1972. Less than a month later, on April 6, he passed away from throat cancer, survived by his last wife, Lillian, and a daughter, Judy Donlevy, by his second wife. His ashes were scattered over Santa Monica Bay.

His obituary in The Times newspaper in the United Kingdom stated that "any consideration of the American 'film noir' of the 1940s would be incomplete without him."

The actor has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

[mongoII]

In the Spotlight: Annette Funicello

Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York on Octobe 22, 1942 to an Italian-American family, she took dancing and music lessons as a child to try to overcome shyness. Her family had moved to southern California when she was four years old. Her nickname was Dolly.

In 1955, the 12-year-old was discovered by Walt Disney as she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at a dance recital in Burbank, California.
On the basis of this appearance, Disney cast her as one of the original "Mouseketeers". She was the last of them to be selected, and the only one picked by Walt Disney. She soon proved to be quite popular. By the end of the first season of Mickey Mouse Club, she was receiving 6,000 letters a month, according to her Disney Legends biography.

In addition to appearing in many of the Mouseketeers' sketches and dance routines, Funicello starred or co-starred in a number of serials on "The Mickey Mouse Club" which included "The Further Adventures of Spin and Marty".

After the Mickey Mouse Club she remained under contract with Disney for a time, with television roles in "Zorro" with her crush Guy Williams, and "The Horsemasters". Annette also co-starred in Disney-produced movies such as "The Shaggy Dog", "Babes in Toyland", "The Misadventures of Merlin Jones", and "The Monkey's Uncle".

Although uncomfortable being thought of as a singer, Annette had a number of pop record hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including: "Tall Paul", "First Name Initial", "O Dio Mio", "Train of Love" (written by Paul Anka who also wrote the song "Puppy Love" about his romance with her.) and "Pineapple Princess". Walt Disney was reportedly a fan of 1950s pop star Teresa Brewer and tried to pattern Annette's singing in the same style.

After maturing, she moved on from Disney and became a teen idol, starring in a series of "Beach Party" movies with Frankie Avalon for American International Pictures. These included "Muscle Beach Party", "Bikini Beach" and "Beach Blanket Bingo".

When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney himself asked her to not wear a bikini and instead wear a one-piece swimsuit for the sake of her virginal image.
While she is seen wearing a bikini in several of the Beach films, these outfits reached up to her navel. Reports in the trade press said that Disney had "ordered" her to avoid the most skimpy outfits, but Funicello responded that it was voluntary.

She and Avalon became so iconic as "beach picture" stars that they were re-united in 1987 for "Back to the Beach", parodying their own films of two decades earlier. They then toured the country as a singing act.

A freak accident disfigured Annette Funicello in the mid-1970s. Deep slashes down her face exposed raw muscles and glands. The lacerated mouseketeer required 125 stitches. When her father lifted the cloth over her face, he looked away in "terror and revulsion." And then the plastic surgeon took over...

In 1979, Funicello began starring in a series of television commercials for Skippy peanut butter.

Funicello was married to her first husband, Jack Gilardi, from 1965 until 1981. They had three children together. In 1986 she married Glen Holt, a devoted husband who attends to her needs.

Funicello announced in 1992 that she suffers from multiple sclerosis. She had kept her condition a secret for many years, but felt it necessary to go public to combat false rumors that her impaired carriage was the result of alcoholism. That same year, she was inducted as a Disney Legend. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.

Funicello's best friend is Shelley Fabares. Shelley and Annette have been friends since they were young teenagers, and Shelley was a bridesmaid at Annette's first wedding.

Her autobiography, published in 1994, is "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story". The title is taken from a song from the movie "Cinderella". A made-for-TV movie based on the book, "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story", was made in 1995.
In the final scene, the actress portraying Funicello, riding in a wheelchair, is turned away from the camera -- turning back, it is Funicello herself, who delivers a message to a group of children.
During this period she also produced her own line of teddy bears for the Annette Funicello Collectible Bear Company. The last collection in the series was made in 2004.

Underwent brain surgery to slow down the tremors which result from her MS, and is facing two devastating health crises -- she's losing her vision and her voice.
She still lives in her first house a few miles from where she grew up.

The courageous lady has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.