R.I.P.

Our entertainment desk notes the passing of original TV Mouseketeer and film actress Annette Funicello, who passed away today at the age of 70.  Funicello was the true star among the kids who made up the singing/dancing/acting troupe on the mid-'50s television show "The Mickey Mouse Club," and who later went on to a career in teen films mostly centered around life at the beach.  Suffering from multiple sclerosis for 25 years, she had lost the ability to walk and speak, and was in an MS coma in the latter part of her life.  A sad ending, and it makes the baby boom generation seem just that more mortal.

(photo:  Walt Disney Studios)