oh no no that’s like wearing a

sign now I’m not embarrassed to ask for

a

wheelchair and he said “I’m I’m proud of

you.” And it Annette Funichello Disney’s

Princess America’s sweetheart the muse

in the eyes of millions of teenagers in

the

1960s but behind that smile was a silent

hell controlled since the age of 12

forbidden to love to grow up to

rebel betrayed by a lover who never

acknowledged her replaced by a co-star

with an angelic

face suffocated by the very studio that

created

her and by the end of her life she left

behind five names she would never

forgive five knives driven deep into

what seemed like a perfect

life who was the man she loathed the

most who was the woman who sent flowers

but stabbed her in the back with a

smile and who was the lover who wrote

love songs only to humiliate her on

national

television open the door to the hell of

a Disney princess betrayed by the very

people who built her kingdom and once

you step inside there’s no turning

back annette Funichello the perfect

all-American girl of the

1950s born on October 22nd 1942 in Udica

New York Annette Funichello entered the

world with an angelic face and a destiny

seemingly written in gold

but no one not even she herself could

have imagined that her life would be

shrouded in darkness until its very

end at just 12 years old Annette became

the brightest star of the Mickey Mouse

Club a television show revered across

America like a childhood

gospel that little girl sang danced and

smiled always obedient humble and

innocent just as Disney demanded

but Disney was never just a

company it was a velvet lined gilded

cage where princesses were adored but

never allowed to become

women annette was forced to wear long

sleeves at the beach forbidden to film

kissing scenes even if the male co-star

was her real life

boyfriend walt Disney once declared to

the press “Anet is a symbol of

purity.” And I won’t let anyone ruin

that not even her years later she

revealed that every time she wanted to

change her hairstyle she had to get

permission from three people her manager

the studio and Mr

disney but that was just the first layer

tragedy behind the scenes beyond the

reach of the spotlight Annette faced

even darker realities jealousy from

colleagues predatory stairs from male

co-stars and cruel rumors about sleeping

her way to

success she was once forced to reject

Elvis Presley because Disney deemed him

not

familyfriendly and when she collapsed

backstage from illness no one called for

help a fellow actor simply stood there

and laughed in the late 1980s Annette

was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a

neurological disease that gradually

paralyzed her

body her arms could no longer lift a

glass her voice became

shaky but more painful than the illness

were the pitying eyes of fans and the

cold shoulders from those who once

called her a

legend she was labeled the has been

marked as an outdated Disney pet

someone even said she should just die to

preserve her

image and then before her final breath

Annette did something she had never

dared in over 70 years of life she wrote

down the names of five people who caused

her pain broke her spirit and would

never be

forgiven five

names no explanation no

justification but each name was a storm

that ripped away Hollywood’s pretty

facade

a lover who never truly

loved a female colleague who smiled

while stabbing her in the back a co-star

who turned her into a grinning

doll one walt Disney the most deceitful

man in my life and it never wrote his

name in her final

notebook she simply pinned three words

in black ink and all caps the magic man

the man of magic

the one who discovered

her the man who once told all of America

“Anet is the best girl in

America and she always will

be.” But no one knew he was the one who

turned her into a puppet under the

spotlight walt Disney didn’t

yell he didn’t

insult he just smiled nodded and gave

orders with a stare

she once recalled “He didn’t have to say

anything just a frown and I knew I’d

done something

wrong.” I used to think it was a

father’s love until I realized he didn’t

love me he loved my image the version of

me he created annette wasn’t allowed to

love to grow up to

mature whenever she wanted to break free

from the princess image try a villain

role or wear a backless dress the answer

was always in

O she wasn’t allowed to date

publicly when rumors spread about her

and Paul Anka Disney’s legal team

immediately sent warning letters to the

press threatening lawsuits for

tarnishing the image of a teenage

star he turned me into an illusion a

plastic princess who couldn’t cry

couldn’t get angry couldn’t speak the

truth when Annette wanted to leave the

Beach Party film series feeling her

image was being exploited Disney called

her into his office gave her a gold ring

engraved within a and said “You’re not

going

anywhere you belong to us.” and she

stayed out of

fear because she knew that if she left

she would lose

everything until the day she discovered

()

she had multiple

sclerosis she wrote in her diary “I lost

control of my arms and

legs.” But the truth is I never had

control of my

life mr disney took that from me when I

was

12 it wasn’t gratitude

it was a diamond

prison and she hated him not because he

was

cruel but because he was so masterful at

making everyone believe he was an angel

to Annette Fichello Walt Disney wasn’t

the creator of

magic he was the most ruthless magician

Hollywood ever knew and that was only

the first name on the list up next she

would expose a co-star who stole my

youth and played the victim

two Frankie Avalon the thief of youth

with the face of

nostalgia frankie

Avalon they called him the king of the

beach America’s

sweetheart the eternally youthful face

of the nation

and if you only look at photos only

glance at the dancing scenes and

beachside kisses you’d think he was the

perfect

co-star but to

Annette Frankie wasn’t a friend he was a

life sentence she had to endure in a

bikini throughout her

youth when Annette was cast in the Beach

Party film series she thought it was her

chance to break free from Disney’s

princess image to grow up to discover

her true self but she soon realized I

wasn’t an

actress i was a prop an accessory for

him to

shine frankie controlled everything from

camera angles to Annette’s

wardrobe once she wanted to wear a

two-piece bikini like the other

actresses the director

agreed but the next day Frankie walked

into the dressing room and threw the

bikini into the trash

you’re a net not Jane

Mansfield you wear this he said handing

her a full body wet suit that covered

her from neck to

knees she swallowed her frustration

thinking it was

protection until she became pregnant

with her first child and Frankie

suggested the producers cut all her

close-up scenes because she wasn’t

attractive not attractive

that phrase cut through the belly of a

woman carrying life she wrote “He didn’t

need to yell at

me.” He just had to smile for the

cameras then look at me like I was a

shadow blurring the frame day by day I

faded behind him in a 1983 talk show

Frankie once said “I loved Annette like

a sister.”

And Ned read that and laughed

bitterly because if she was his sister

then he was the kind of brother who

pinned her entire life to the stage just

so he could stay at the center of the

shot no

apology not a single line of

remorse and that’s why she hated Frankie

more than her public enemies because he

pretended to be a friend while

suffocating me with velvet covered

()

silence

frankie Avalon the icon of America’s

youth but to Annette he was the face

tied to silence suppression and loss

something she never reclaimed even at

the end of her life and the list doesn’t

end

here next is a colleague who seemed

perfect but behind every bouquet every

smile was a sneer when she fell do you

dare to keep

listening because the third name is a

woman and betrayal from a woman always

cuts the

deepest three shelley Fabry the beauty

with a backstabbing smile if Frankie

Avalon controlled everything on set

shelley Fabre was the one who made

Annette feel the smallest even when the

cameras weren’t

rolling audiences adored them two Disney

princesses two beachside sweethearts

dancing and laughing

together but behind the lens Shelley was

the chill that crept through every crack

in Annette’s

trust she once wrote she never

yelled she never

scolded she just always happened to be

standing near the director whispering to

the assistant producer at just the right

moment and appearing every time I

stumbled

there was a time and it fell while

filming a running scene on the beach her

knee was bloodied her hand

scraped the crew rushed to

help but Shelley just stood there

clapping and

laughing you felt just like a pro give

her an Emmy a joke a light

laugh but to Annette it was a deep

slicing cut after the shoot Shelley sent

a bouquet to Annette’s

room the card read “You’ve always been

my

inspiration wishing you a speedy

recovery.” Annette kept that card for

three decades not out of sentiment but

as a reminder never to trust words that

smell like

perfume then there was the story that

never made the papers annette was nearly

cast in a major TV drama a role that

would have marked her first real step

away from the Disney

image but at the last minute the

producer called and said “We’re going

with

Shelly she’s

sharper more

mature.” That was the night an shattered

a mirror in her dressing

room she made me feel like a singing

doll forever

and the worst part was Shelley knew it

and she enjoyed it annette never spoke

ill of Shel in

public she still smiled still hugged her

at Disney

reunions but in her notebook she wrote

plainly she didn’t kill me with a sword

she killed with ribbons with glances

with compliments laced in venom

shelley Fabry the epitome of feminine

grace on American

television but to Annette she was the

friend who smiled when she

bled the colleague who clapped when she

was

replaced and now comes the fourth

name no longer a

co-orker no longer a

co-star but a man who made her dream

only to wake her into a nightmare

a love that never became

real a famous song and a cruel comment

and it never

forgave for Paul Nka your love song was

()

my death sentence and that never called

Paul Anchor her lover not in her

diary not in

interviews not

once but she also never denied what

happened between them the backstage

nights the whispered words on small

stages the stolen glances never meant

for the public eye and that made it hurt

even

more made it more

real more

bitter paul once wrote the song Puppy

Love and all of America believed it was

for Annette but she knew the truth i

wasn’t the love in that

song i was just the name that helped it

sell a million records

she once thought Paul understood her he

was different from her co-stars charming

talented with honeyed

words but then one night in Palm Springs

Annette saw him embracing a blonde model

backstage still holding the birthday

card she had just given him that night

she returned to her room and silently

tore up every unscent letter she’d

written him

no one

knew but later she wrote “I loved a song

not a man i loved the idea of Paul but

Paul loved

himself.” Years later during a 1971

interview Paul Anker was asked “Did you

ever truly love Annette

Funachello?” He laughed part genuine

part mocking she’s the kind of girl

everyone wants to marry but no one dates

the quote spread through Hollywood like

wildfire and for Annette it wasn’t just

an insult it was a blade that severed

every shred of worth she thought she

had he turned me into a sweet little

love but not attractive enough to hold

hands within public i was the byproduct

of a melody a memory he used to sell

records

paul never

apologized because in the world of male

stars women are art material not the

main

characters paul Anka the romantic

heartthrob of the

60s but to Annette he was the first to

teach her loving the wrong person

doesn’t hurt just once it hurts for

life and now brace

yourself because the final name didn’t

come from the

stage not from music but from the hidden

shadows of Disney where no one dared to

look a close co-star a public victim and

the mirror of everything Annette feared

most about

herself the fifth man was the nightmare

Hollywood buried in the sand until

Annette dug it up with her own

hands five tommy Kirk the mirror i

didn’t dare look into Tommy Kirk

Annette’s beloved co-star in a string of

iconic Disney films like The Shaggy Dog

and Swiss Family

Robinson he was once the studio’s golden

()

boy a wholesome sweet symbol straight

out of a fairy

tale until the day Disney discovered he

was gay and discarded him like a dirty

rag annette saw it all

unfold and she stayed silent i didn’t

dare defend him because I knew if I

spoke up I’d be next to fall she didn’t

hate Tommy because he did anything wrong

she hated that he reminded her of her

own cowardice

he was the crack in the Disney mirror

she had tried so hard to believe was

flawless a reminder that we are never

free even when smiling in front of

millions five

names five

wounds no

apologies no healing annette Fichello

America’s perfect girl died with a smile

on her lips and five unhealed cuts

buried deep in her heart do you still

believe in

Hollywood or have you just realized the

brightest lights often hide the darkest

shadows