Each week we will honor a woman that has truly made a difference by her
contributions, courage, love, and selflessness. Women honored will be chosen from inside AdlandPro, outside AdlandPro, living in the present, and yes, we will not forget those heroines that paved the way for the freedoms we now enjoy. We will honor women who have shown tremendous courage and fortitude against all odds.
Assisting us in coordinating these awards are four outstanding ladies who are Women of Courage in their own right.
Presenting:
Carla Cash
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/245569/default.aspx
Veronica Davidson
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/vdavidson1972/default.aspx
Joyce Hyde
http://community.adlandpro.com/go/031849/default.aspx
Our Sweethearts of Courage
Shirley Caron http://community.adlandpro.com/go/scaronpoet2005/default.aspx
Michael Caron http://community.adlandpro.com/go/192260/default.aspx
And Adlands very own Men of Courage
Georgios Paraskevopoulos http://community.adlandpro.com/go/Genesis/default.aspx
John Partington http://community.adlandpro.com/go/114695/default.aspx
WE PRESENT TO YOU OUR TWELFTH
WOMAN OF COURAGE
Annette Funicello
1950's America's Sweetheart, every teenage boy's heartthrob is now a Woman of Courage.
Who best to tell us about Annette other than our own Shirley Caron:
The "sweetheart" of TV's The Mickey Mouse Club, American Entertainer Annette Funicello began performing at age 10. The Disney People themselves sensed that Anette had Star quality, building several Musical Numbers around her on the Mickey Mouse Club and fashioning her own Club show-within-a-show Miniseries, appropriately titled "Annette." Annette's post-Mickey Mouse Career was far more successful than that of many of her fellow Musketeers--and the reasons cannot be charged up to looks alone. She also was guest-starred on the Disney TV series Zorro and Wonderful World of Color, and was given sizeable roles in such Disney Theatrical features as The Shaggy Dog in 1959 and Babes in Toyland in 1961. While still under contract to Disney, Annette began appearing in American-International's Beach Party Series, usually co-starring with Frankie Avalon. Though these Films were distinguished by bikinied females, Walt Disney decreed that Annette never be involved in any "suggestive" sequences--nor were her two-piece bathing suits permitted to uncover her navel. After playing an extended cameo role as Davy Jones' Sweetheart in the Monkees' Film Vehicle Head in 1968, Annette cut down on her professional apprearances, preferring to spend time with her Family.
During the 1970s, she became Spokeswoman for a popular Brand of Peanut Butter, her commercial appearances constituting the bulk of her on-camera time during this period. In 1987, she and onetime cohort Frankie Avalon co-financed and starred in the nostalgic Musical Film Back to the Beach.
In recent years, Annette Funicello has been struggling against the ravages of Multiple Sclerosis; her Courage and high spirits in the face of intense pain and decreasing mobility have been inspirational. She has also been beneficial in helping to raise funds for further research of degenerative diseases.
In 1994, Annette published her autobiography, the tone of which perfectly reflected the actress herself: Discreet, ldylike and boundlessly cheerful.
Your Friend in Christ,
Shirley Ruth Caron