ANNETTE FUNICELLO

Growing up in public is especially hard sometimes.

MS is not really a degenerative illness. It is not fatal, nor is it always progressive.

I always considered myself a dancer before anything else.

Just learning that you have MS is such a devastating shock.

The original Mickey Mouse Club, established in the '30s, was designed to attract children to movie theaters.

When you are young and healthy, it never occurs to you that in a single second your whole life could change.

Mickey Mouse... is always there-he's part of my life. That really is something not everyone can call their claim to fame.

Then, as now, the Disney studio buzzed with activity. You had a strong impression of being at the center of something very exciting.

The mere thought of divorce terrified me. To me, divorce symbolized failure.

Animation did not become the dominant form of children's television until the '60s.

Mr. Disney believed everyone was still a child deep inside.

I'm saddened to see that some have been misled into believing that Mr. Disney was something other than a kind, caring man.

Most original viewers of the Mickey Mouse Club didn't face the crush of family and social problems children have today.

At the beginning of 1955 only about 60 percent of American homes had TVs.

Mr. Disney and his staff were constantly scouting for great stories to bring to life on film.

Dick Clark really didn't make rock 'n roll safe for America, as many people think.

I have always thought of Walt Disney as my second father.

Of the many guests we welcomed to the Mickey Mouse Club, my absolute favorites were the Lennon Sisters.

Of all the roles I've played, none has been as fulfilling as being a mother.

Whatever ambivalence I felt about my own career, Frankie more than made up for it with his ambition and tenacity.

To some, the '50s were a decade marked by the banal, the predictable.

In 1993 my birthday present was a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

Whatever dreams I have wished have come true.

I was not prepared to live as a single parent.

As I grew older, I came to feel more responsible for any hardship or trouble my career caused my family.