New York, NY, October 21, 2011 --(PR.com)-- On October 22, 2011, Annette Funicello, an American icon of the Mouseketeer and surf generation, will be celebrating her 69th birthday. In honor of the occasion, a new website, The Annette Connection (www.annetteconnection.com) has been officially launched to commemorate her life and career.

The Annette Connection website features the memories, sights, sounds and highlights of her career with current news and updates being added on a regular basis. Here you can learn about her television, film and music career while enjoying vintage photo slideshows as well as listening to audio of her many hit recordings. A full television, film and music discography is featured.

Discovered in 1955 by Walt Disney, Annette became The Mickey Mouse Club’s most famous Mouseketeer followed by featured roles in a number of Disney TV series and feature films. She then moved on to become a 60’s surfside sensation starring in a series of Beach Party films with teen idol, Frankie Avalon. In fact, the 50th Anniversary of the very first sand and surf movie, “Beach Party,” is coming up in 2013.

Myriad TV, film and concert appearances followed along with a nine-year tenure in one of her most recognized roles, as spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter from 1979 to 1988. She also then established The Annette Funicello Teddy Bear Company, had her autobiography published and her life story was produced as a TV movie, “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story.”

In 1992, Annette announced publicly that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), a debilitating disease of the central nervous system. One year later, she established the non-profit Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles, to provide funding into the cause, cure, and treatment of multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases. Most recently, the fund awarded a grant to Stanford University in support of Dr. Michael Dake's work on chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI), a syndrome in which the flow of blood in the veins draining the central nervous system is compromised. It has been linked to multiple sclerosis, a hypothesis that is gaining strength in the medical community.

The Annette Connection website also features information about the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Disorders as well as links to CCSVI research and information sites and a donation link for those who wish to contribute to her fund.

While Annette has been battling MS for over twenty-five years, she remains an American icon. Happy Birthday, Annette!

#Contact Information Santoli Communications
Lorraine Santoli
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http://www.pr.com/press-release/363002