ANNETTE FUNICELLO

On April 8, 2013, actress and singer Annette Joanne Funicello passed away. Born in Utica (NY) on October 22, 1942, to Italian-Americans parents - Virginia Albano and Joseph Funicello - she moved with her family to California when she was only four years old. They lived in a trailer park until her father, a mechanic, found work. At 12, she performed as the Swan Queen in Swan Lake at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank: Walt Disney was in the audience and he personally cast her as one (more)