Members SoapDope Posted December 13, 2012 Members Share Posted December 13, 2012 Here is a recent news story on Annette and her battle with MS. They show her on camera for the first time in years. It's heart breaking. http://www.ctvnews.ca/w5/annette-funicello-her-life-with-multiple-sclerosis-1.984202#commentsField-331911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MissLlanviewPA Posted December 14, 2012 Members Share Posted December 14, 2012 God bless her. She's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chris B Posted December 16, 2012 Members Share Posted December 16, 2012 This was such a sad video. I had no idea she had been this harshly affected by MS. I also must say as a big Coach fan, I was shocked seeing Shelley Fabares as well. She's older and seemed very sharp, but the styling made her look odd. The hair was terrible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted December 16, 2012 Members Share Posted December 16, 2012 I had seen a picture about a year ago, I think an Enquirer cover, of Annette in her current state being wheeled onto her van. I was almost sorry that I watched the video, but like Roger Ebert said, it's not necessary for us to shy away from the devastation of disease. We are all humans in this thing together and none of us is going to look the same forever. For some, that will be true in more tragic ways. I wonder what goes through her mind, what she thinks about, what she wishes she could communicate. Not being able to move is frightening to me and I can only imagine how being left on my back would absolutely terrify me. I hope there's a light of happiness and hope in her heart that makes her look forward to waking up each day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 I couldn't have said it better. This is one of the most heartbreaking things i've ever seen. I hate to say it, SFK... but sleep is probably the only thing she looks forward to, because in your dreams, you can still be your normal, happy self. I know I felt that way when I was sick for 6 months back in my twenties... and my situation wasn't 1/100th as dire as hers. I would feel perfectly happy and healthy in my dreams, then wake up and reality would come crashing down. It's scary as hell.. but also we remember that only a small minority get as bad as she has. One of my friends from high school died when she was 29 from MS, and I'm still friends with her mother.. this woman has still not recovered to any great degree. She keeps her daughter's homecoming crown in a little glass case and scrapbooks out all the time, etc. It's so hard to handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Oh wow, that's so sad. You are probably right, sleep and dreams can be a wonderful escape. I know they've been for me when going through my bouts of depression. These debilitating disases like MS, ALS, Myasthenia gravis, are so horrible to witness, let alone, endure. I'm sure the sufferers really feel slowly robbed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Yes, and mine was panic and depression brought on by illness that I didn't know what was (turned out to be cat scratch fever) I can't imagine what one of those serious diseases must be like. I hope at least in her dreams that she can be this girl again: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrQuartermaine Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 It's so sad to see someone just a few years older than I am, someone I "grew up with", in a physical state like that. You see Annette not being able to speak and move, and then you see Frankie Avalon still touring at the age of 73. Being an autograph collector, I have several of Annette's signatures. Over the years, they got shakier, and eventually, she stopped signing her full name and just wrote "Annette". If anyone ever gets the chance to see Back to the Beach, I highly suggest it. Frankie & Annette, Lori Loughlin, & Connie Stevens star. Also, for folks from my generation, Don Adams plays the Maxwell Smart type harbormaster; Bob Denver & Alan Hale Jr. reprise their roles of Gilligan & the Skipper; Edd Byrnes is still Kookie; Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, & Barbara Billingsley bring back the Cleaver family; and Paul Reubens is Pee-wee Herman. This is the finale from that movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zplprwXGdZQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Charles Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Ha! My older sister had Back to the Beach on VHS when we were in elementary school. It was a spoof film of the 1960s beach movies. I haven't seen it in years, but I remember it being pretty funny. I liked the "Jamaica Ska" number. LOL! I got Annette's autograph at a meet & greet with my mom and sisters in the early '90s. I was very young, but I remember her being extremely warm and sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 I remember when Back to the Beach came out. This was shortly after Annette's run of Skippy/Jif (??) peanut butter ads, which was how my generation really came to know her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted December 17, 2012 Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Actually, I guess I should also mention her appearance(s) on Full House. I think that's the definitive last time I saw her acting. Michelle referred to her as, "Annette Funny-Jell-O". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SoapDope Posted December 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 17, 2012 Back To The Beach was hilarious. Annette and Frankie didn't care to poke fun at themselves.I always loved the scene where their son is talking about Annette's quirks and they show her eating out of the super sized Skippy peanut butter jar and he goes off on her about having peanut butter every day of his life for lunch. I have Annette's autobiography and she says even though she tries to live a clean and decent life, some people took it to the extreme. She admitted she liked to smoke cigarettes and have some wine. She said one woman approached her at a party and saw her with a glass of champagne and said " Why Annette, I didn't think you did that. It's so UnDisney like".....Annette said she told her " I have 3 children, so guess what else I do"......she said the woman was shocked. Annette also said she always loved Rock music her entire life and people just figured she only listened to her era of 50's and 60's. She said they were shocked that she would go around listening to what was current and singing songs by the Black Crowes etc....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphanguy74 Posted December 18, 2012 Members Share Posted December 18, 2012 Sounds like I'm more goody two shoes than she was ! LOL And yes, I am shying away from Shelly's hair. I just can't. One thing I got to say... what a kind, decent man her husband is. He only got a few good years with her, and the rest is just pure torture. It's amazing to see that kind of dedication, you rarely see that outside of a mother and child. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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