{"id":1072,"date":"2006-06-05T08:00:53","date_gmt":"2006-06-05T12:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_ms_news\/?p=1072"},"modified":"2022-10-16T18:18:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T22:18:19","slug":"mickey-mouse-club-where-are-they-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/mickey-mouse-club-where-are-they-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Mickey Mouse Club: Where Are They Now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Our Magically Speaking Newsletter Archive \u2013 subscribe today<\/a>!<\/em>
\nBy <\/strong>Susan Kirby<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\n1957, with Walt: Left to right, rear: Tim Considine, David Stollery , Roy, Jimmie, Tommy Kirk, Me; Don Agrati (later, Grady on “My Three Sons” with Tim C.), Linda Hughes, Lynn, Cheryl; Seated: Karen, Cubby, Walt, Moochie (standing), Sharon, Bonnie Lynn Fields (there were two Bonnies on the MMC). Foreground: Tommy, Darlene, Annette
\nPhoto Copyright Disney<\/em><\/p>\n

“Now it’s time to say goodbye to all our company.\u00a0 M-I-C- See ya real soon- K-E-Y, Why, because we like you! M-O-U-S-E!”\u00a0\u00a0 Fifty years ago this is how a popular television show ended every episode.\u00a0 For four seasons a group of kids came singing and dancing into America’s homes, many of them becoming well known to the viewing public. So what happened to the original Mouseketeers after singing this for the last time in 1959?<\/p>\n

To start, let’s take a quick look at where they started. There were thirty-nine total Mouseketeers during the original series. Out of that number, only nine were part of the entire series. Twenty-five of the Mouseketeers were only on for one season. There were 360 episodes filmed, according to Disney, but NONE of the Mouseketeers appeared in all of them. The schedule would not allow, for the coordination of 3 hours of school, 1 hour of lunch and 4 hours of work a day. At that time, six days allowed for kids and no school, thus, 7 hours of work on the 6th day – which meant they would be in different episodes, some schooling, some rehearsing\/wardrobe fittings etc. and some shooting.<\/p>\n

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\nSome Mouseketeers and friends gather for a surprise birthday thrown by Cheryl for Annette in 1995
\nTop: Shelley Fabares, Lonnie, Doreen, Cheryl, Johnny Crawford
\nBottom: Annette’s daughter Gina, Annette, Sharon, Karen.
\nPhoto Copyright Lonnie Burr<\/em><\/p>\n

Probably the most well known Mouseketeer is Annette Funicello.\u00a0 She managed to capture the essence of the things Americans in the 1950’s and 1960’s wanted to believe about themselves.\u00a0 After the Mickey Mouse Club, Annette went on to make a few records, have her own TV show, and of course star in movies.\u00a0 Walt Disney refused most film offers that were made to Annette; however he approved the Beach Party<\/em> movies.\u00a0 It was at his request though that you never actually see her belly button in the movies. This meant viewers only saw Annette in a one piece swimsuit (or a two piece that covers the belly button), which complimented her \u201cgood girl\u201d at the beach image. In 1992 Annette announced she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.\u00a0 A year later she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation. Annette is married and has three children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nLonnie Then and Now – as a Mouseketeer and in 2004<\/em>
\nPhoto Copyright Lonnie Burr<\/em><\/td>\n		Lonnie Burr went on to a successful career on many levels after the Mickey Mouse Club ended its run.\u00a0 He graduated from high school and entered college by the age of fifteen.\u00a0 By the time he was twenty he held a MA in Theater from UCLA.\u00a0 Since then he has continued in show business.\u00a0 Lonnie made over sixty guest appearances on television shows such as Chicago<\/em> Hope, Murder, She Wrote<\/em>, and Saved by the Bell<\/em>, to name a few.\u00a0 You can also find him in Police Academy VII: Mission to Moscow<\/em>, Hook<\/em>, Lionheart<\/em>, Hans Christian Anderson<\/em>, Oscar winning The Greatest Show on Earth<\/em> (directed by Cecil B. de Mille and staring Jimmy Stewart, Betty Hutton and many other stars) and several other movies.\u00a0 He was the only Mouseketeer to appear with Annette in the TV movie Lots of Luck<\/em>.\u00a0 In addition to performing in front of a camera, Lonnie has appeared in forty-nine plays from the Pasadena Playhouse to Broadway and worked as both a director and choreographer.\u00a0 Just as importantly he has worked as an educator in many performance areas and is a published writer as well.\u00a0 Lonnie and his wife will be celebrating their 36th anniversary this September.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Karen Pendleton left show business.\u00a0 In 1983 she was in a car accident resulting in a spinal cord injury that left her a paraplegic. Karen was led to counseling as she recovered and that resulted in her attendance at Fresno State and achieving her AB and MA in counseling in her 50s, only one of two Mouseketeers to earn a graduate degree. Along with counseling, she has worked in women\u2019s shelters and taught classes on single parenting for over 20 years.\u00a0 Karen has one daughter.<\/p>\n

After the Mickey Mouse Club ended, Carl \u201cCubby\u201d O\u2019Brien continued playing the drums as a professional.\u00a0 He has played the drums for Annie Get Your Gun<\/em>, The Producers<\/em>, and Gypsy<\/em> on Broadway.\u00a0 Most recently he is playing in a touring production of Chicago<\/em>.\u00a0 Other appearances were performances with Andy Williams, Bernadette Peters, and The Carpenters, just to name a few.\u00a0 Cubby has one daughter as well.<\/p>\n

In 1961, Bobby Burgess won a Calcutta<\/em> dance contest sponsored by Lawrence Welk.\u00a0 The prize was to appear on The Lawrence Welk Show<\/em> where Bobby and his partner Barbara Boylan continued to make guest appearances and eventually became a part of the cast.\u00a0 Today he has his own dance studio and tours with other stars from The Lawrence Welk Show<\/em>. Bobby is married with four children.<\/p>\n

Tommy Cole is another Mouseketeer who stayed involved with show business.\u00a0 Currently he\u2019s a business representative for make-up artists.\u00a0 Before shifting to behind the scenes as a make-up artist, he worked for sixteen years as a singer, dancer, and actor.\u00a0 As a make-up artist he worked for both ABC and NBC and received six Emmy nominations for his work, winning for the mini series, Backstairs at the White House<\/em>.\u00a0 Tommy is married with two children.<\/p>\n

Sharon Baird has continued to do some work for Disney.\u00a0 She was involved with the Disney Channel shows Dumbo\u2019s Circus<\/em> and Welcome to Pooh Corner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Doreen Tracy toured in Vietnam during the war performing in an act she developed.\u00a0 During one performance during this time she found that the power of the Mickey Mouse Club held magic for at least some of the troops when a pair of mouse ears appeared at the end of a concert.\u00a0 The result was the audience, which had been drunk and rowdy just a few minutes before began singing the Mickey Mouse Club song.\u00a0 Doreen also worked on one of the Power Ranger<\/em> shows.\u00a0 Her work now is in anti-piracy efforts at Warner Brothers.<\/p>\n

Darlene Gillespie left show business shortly after high school and went into nursing.\u00a0 She is divorced and has two children.\u00a0 Unfortunately, in 1997 she was arrested for fraud, obstruction of justice, and perjury with her fianc\u00e9, now husband, resulting in a sentence of three years jail time and probation.<\/p>\n

Although Cheryl Holdridge was not one of the original Mouseketeers, she was quite popular. She was only one of two to last two seasons.\u00a0 After the Mickey Mouse Club, she appeared regularly on Leave it to Beaver<\/em> and The Ozzie and Harriet Show<\/em>.\u00a0 When she married she became a countess.\u00a0 Currently Cheryl is a philanthropist and lives in Santa Monica.<\/p>\n

There were other Mouseketeers as well.\u00a0 At least one of these, Don Grady (Agrati when on the show), still has a working relationship with Disney.\u00a0 He was one of the composers for the Disney Princess Tea Party DVD as well as composing Songs of Wonder<\/em> for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/em>. Previously, Don starred for 12 seasons in “My Three Sons” after his one, the last, season on the Mickey Mouse Club. Johnny Crawford (who is pictured in the party photo above) after appearing in the first season of Mickey Mouse Club, starred in “The Rifleman” with Chuck Conners as his dad.<\/p>\n

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\nPhoto Copyright Disney<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the original Mickey Mouse Club phenomenon is that most of the Mouseketeers remain close today.\u00a0 At Karen’s suggestion, several of the Mouseketeers appeared at a DC function to publicize the needs of those with disabilities called “Barrier Awareness Day” in the mid-1980’s, taking on\u00a0some of the symptoms of people with disabilities. Many of them also assembled for a special event in celebration of both the Mickey Mouse Club and Disneyland\u2019s 50th Anniversary.\u00a0 Lonnie missed the occasion due to a rotator cuff injury, and Annette was absent due to health issues.\u00a0 Darlene was also not in attendance.\u00a0 Most of the event was a question and answer session, but several Mouseketeers also sang and danced together once again.\u00a0 It appears that Walt Disney was correct when he said, \u201cThere\u2019s something magical about these ears.\u00a0 Just put them on and all at once, you belong.\u00a0 You\u2019ve joined the most magical club in all the world-and in this club, your membership lasts forever.\u00a0 Once a Mouseketeer, always a Mouseketeer!\u201d<\/p>\n

Magically Speaking would like to thank Lonnie Burr for his assistance with photos and facts for this article. Additional photos of his career both as a Mouseketeer and after can be found at www.mouseketeerlonnieburr.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Magically Speaking Featured Article
\nLibrary of Congress ISSN:1556-3863<\/p>\n

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  • walt disney original mouseketeers<\/li><\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From Our Magically Speaking Newsletter Archive \u2013 subscribe today! By Susan Kirby 1957, with Walt: Left to right, rear: Tim Considine, David Stollery , Roy, Jimmie, Tommy Kirk, Me; Don Agrati (later, Grady on “My Three Sons” with Tim C.), Linda Hughes, Lynn, Cheryl; Seated: Karen, Cubby, Walt, Moochie (standing), Sharon, Bonnie Lynn Fields (there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4705],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-disney-fun"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1072"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87661,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1072\/revisions\/87661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}