Recommended reading - A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story, by Annette Funicello, with Patricia Romanowski

 

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story

by Annette Funicello, with Patricia Romanowski

Published 1994.
Published by Hyperion.
 
ISBN-10: 0786860200
ISBN-13: 978-0786860203
 
Description:
 

When on a spring evening in 1955 Walt Disney saw a pretty, talented twelve-year-old performing in her dance school's annual recital, he knew he'd found just what he'd been looking for: the twenty-fourth and last member of the cast of the new children's TV series he was planning. Only a few months later Annette Funicello set a pair of black felt ears atop her brown curls and marched onto the set of The Mickey Mouse Club, and into the hearts of millions of Americans. From then on, nothing would ever be the same.

 

Whether as a Mouseketeer, as a Top-Forty singing idol, as the reigning sweetheart of the classic Beach Party films, or as the familiar "Skippy Mom" of TV commercials, Annette (who almost instantly became known by her first name alone) has been a beloved star for nearly four decades. In her charming autobiography, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, the wholesomely sexy (and eternally youthful) girl next door looks back with equal parts of wit, wistfulness, and wonder on her remarkable career, and gives us a privileged look behind the scenes at some of the most cherished landmarks of our popular culture.

 

As the shy only daughter of a close-knit Italian family, Annette was unprepared for the phenomenon The Mickey Mouse Club would prove to be, and in these pages we learn not only about the thrill of appearing on the show but also about the pleasures and challenges her own status of favorite Mouseketeer brought. It was through Walt Disney's encouragement that she later undertook her successful recording career, and in her account of her years as a teen idol we learn what it was like being the youngest member of Dick Clark's arduous Caravan of Stars tour, as well as the difficulties her popularity placed in the path of her first romance with Paul Anka (who presented her with the sublime gift of "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," which he wrote in her parents' living room). Next came the movies, and a series of beloved Disney films (including her own and her fans' favorite, Babes in Toyland), until, with Mr. Disney's blessing, she headed for the beach and a role in the epochal Beach Party. Even though, as Annette confesses, she never really liked the beach (it frizzed her hair), she was delighted to be enthroned with her friend Frankie Avalon as one of the great cinema couples.

 

At the peak of her career Annette chose marriage and motherhood, and for over twenty years appeared only occasionally in films and TV shows. By the late 1980s, however, she was eager to perform again, and along with Frankie made a new beach film, Back to the Beach, and launched a triumphal comeback tour. It was during this period, after she experienced a series of puzzling symptoms, that she discovered she had multiple sclerosis. Her subsequent struggles with her condition, and her ultimate decision to make it public, bring A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes to a poignant and inspiring conclusion that will draw her even closer to the millions of fans who, from the start, have dreamed along with her.

Amy Tan on writing:

 

Words to me were magic.

You could say a word and it could conjure up all kinds of images or feelings or a chilly sensation or whatever.

It was amazing to me that words had this power.

– Amy Tan.

Born on this day – Franz Liszt:

Franz Liszt

Composer

Pianist

October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886

Born on this day – Constance Bennett:

Constance Bennett

Actress

Producer

October 22, 1904 – July 24, 1965

Born on this day – Sidney Kingsley:

 

Sidney Kingsley

Writer

October 22, 1906 – March 20, 1995

Credits:
 
Written work / plays:
 

Darkness at Noon (stage & TV adaptation) (1951); Dead End (1935); Detective Story (1949); Lunatics and Lovers (1954); Men in White (1933); Night Life (1962); Ten Million Ghosts (1936); The Patriots (1943); The World We Make (1939).

 

Movies and television:
 

Alta comedia (1974); American Masters (1989); Au théâtre ce soir (1972); Dead End (1937); Detective Story (1951 / 1963); Estudio 1 (1971–1978); Great Performances (1976); Homecoming (1948); ITV Play of the Week (1963); Men in White (1934); Moving Image Salutes Elia Kazan (1987); Polizeirevier 21 (1968); Primera fila (1964); Producers' Showcase (1955); Serpico (1973); Sonnenfinsternis (1963); Teatro estudio (1978); The DuPont Show of the Month (1960); The Ed Sullivan Show (1951); The Patriots (1963); We, the People (1949–1951); World in White (1957).

Born on this day – Lyne Clevers:

Lyne Clevers

Actress

October 22, 1909 – November 28, 1991.

Born on this day – Philip H. Lathrop:

  

Philip H. Lathrop

Cinematographer

Actor

October 22, 1912 – April 12, 1995

Philip H. Lathrop (left), Charlton Heston (center), and Orson Welles (right), on set filming Touch of Evil (1958).

 
Credits:

36 Hours (1964); A Change of Seasons (1980); A Different Story (1978); Airport 1975 (1974); Airport '77 (1977); All Night Long (1981); Against All Flags (1952); All My Sons (1948); All That Heaven Allows (1955); Battle Hymn (1957); Between the Darkness and the Dawn (1985); Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961); Captains Courageous (1977); Celebrity (1984); Christmas Snow (1986); Class Reunion (1982); Combat! (1962); Cry Tough (1959); Days of Wine and Roses (1962); Deadly Friend (1986); Dime with a Halo (1963); Don't Make Waves (1967); Earthquake (1974); Every Little Crook and Nanny (1972); Experiment in Terror (1962); Finian's Rainbow (1968); Flame of Araby (1951); Foolin' Around (1980); Girl Happy (1965); Girls on the Loose (1958); Gunn (1967); Hammett (1982); Hard Times (1975); Hong Kong (1960–1961); I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! (1968); In Harm's Way (1965); It Happens Every Thursday (1953); Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again (1982); Katie Did It (1950); Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948); Little Girl Lost (1988); Little Egypt (1951); Little Miss Marker (1980); Live Fast, Die Young (1958); Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973); Lonely Are the Brave (1962); Love on the Run (1985); Loving Couples (1980); Malice in Wonderland (1985); Mame (1974); Moment by Moment (1978); Money, Women and Guns (1958); Mr. and Mrs. Ryan (1986); Mr. Lucky (1959–1960); Man Afraid (1957); Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948); Naked Alibi (1954); Never Con a Killer (1977); Never Too Late (1965); Peggy (1950); Perry Mason (1961); Peter Gunn (1958–1960); Picking Up the Pieces (1985); Point Blank (1967); Portnoy's Complaint (1972); Profiles in Courage (1965); Rabbit, Run (1970); Rawhide (1959); Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987); Sam Benedict (1962); Scarlet Angel (1952); Seminole (1953); Six Against the Rock (1987); Soldier in the Rain (1963); Steve Canyon (1959); Swashbuckler (1976); The All-American Boy (1973); The Americanization of Emily (1964); The Black Bird (1975); The Cat Creeps (1946); The Cincinnati Kid (1965); The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979); The Desert Hawk (1950); The Driver (1978); The Feather and Father Gang (1977); The Female Animal (1958); The Green Peacock (1958); The Gypsy Moths (1969); The Happening (1967); The Hawaiians (1970); The Illustrated Man (1969); The Killer Elite (1975); The Lady Gambles (1949); The Magical World of Disney (1959); The Man from the Alamo (1953); The Midnight Story (1957); The Monster of Piedras Blancas (1959); The Perfect Furlough (1958); The Pink Panther (1963); The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975); The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960); The Raging Tide (1951); The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958); The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973); The Traveling Executioner (1970); The Treasure of Lost Canyon (1952); The Woody Woodpecker Show (1957); They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969); Three for the Road (1975); Together Brothers (1974); Touch of Evil (1958); Twilight of Honor (1963); Vacation Playhouse (1963); The Veils of Bagdad (1953); What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966); What Now, Catherine Curtis? (1976); Wild Heritage (1958); Wild Rovers (1971); Wyoming Mail (1950); Yankee Buccaneer (1952); You Gotta Stay Happy (1948).

Born on this day – Frances Drake:

Frances Drake

Actress

October 22, 1912 – January 18, 2000

Born on this day – William F. Claxton:

 

William F. Claxton

Producer

Editor

Director

October 22, 1914 – February 11, 1996

Born on this day – Joan Fontaine:

Joan Fontaine

Actress

October 22, 1917 – December 15, 2013

Born on this day – Mitzi Green:

Mitzi Green

Actress

Singer

October 22, 1920 – May 24, 1969

Born on this day – Ann Rule:

 

Ann Rule

Writer

October 22, 1931 – July 26, 2015

Credits:

A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases (1993); You Belong to Me and Other True Crime Cases (1994); A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases (1996); In the Name of Love and Other True Cases (1998); The End of the Dream (1998); A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases (1999); Empty Promises and Other True Cases (2001); Last Dance, Last Chance (2001); Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases (2004); Worth More Dead and Other True Cases (2005); No Regrets and Other True Cases (2006); Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder and Other True Cases (2007); Mortal Danger and Other True Cases (2008); But I Trusted You and Other True Cases (2009); Don't Look Behind You (2011); Fatal Friends, Deadly Neighbors and Other True Cases (2012); Lying in Wait and Other True Cases (2014); Possession (1981); The Stranger Beside Me (1980); Lust Killer (1981); The Want-Ad Killer (1983); The I-5 Killer (1984); Mind Games (1984); Small Sacrifices (1987); If You Really Loved Me (1991); Everything She Ever Wanted (1992); Dead By Sunset (1995); Bitter Harvest (1997); And Never Let Her Go (1999); Jerry Harris Case (1999); Every Breath You Take (2001); Without Pity (2003); Heart Full of Lies (2003); Green River, Running Red (2004); Too Late to Say Goodbye (2007); In the Still of the Night (2010); Practice to Deceive (2013).

Movies and television:

12 Desperate Hours (2023); 48 Hours (2001–2012); A House on Fire (2021); A Rose for Her Grave: The Randy Roth Story (2023); And Never Let Her Go (2001); Ann Rule's A Murder to Remember (2020); Biography (1995); Born to Kill? (2010–2011); Circle of Deception (2021); Conversations with a Serial Killer (2008); Danger in the Dorm (2024); Dead by Sunset (1995); Deranged (2009); Every Breath You Take (2003); Everything She Ever Wanted (2009); Hunt for the I-5 Killer (2011); Motives & Murders: Cracking the Case (2014); Murder by Number (1993); Murderous Minds: Inside Serial Killers (2018); Sleeping with Danger (2020); Small Sacrifices (1989); The Criminal Calendar (1997); The Execution of Ted Bundy (1989); The Investigators (2002); The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science (1997); The Oprah Winfrey Show (1988); The Perfect Murder (2014); They Shoot Divas, Don't They? (2002); THS Investigates (2005); Too Late to Say Goodbye (2009); Twisted (2011).

Born on this day – Tony Roberts:

Tony Roberts

Actor

October 22, 1939 – February 7, 2025

Credits:

12 and Holding (2005); 18 Again! (1988); A Different Affair (1987); A Guide for the Married Man (1969); A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982); A Perry Mason Mystery: The Case of the Jealous Jokester (1995); A Question of Honor (1982); All My Children (1994); American Masters (2001); American Masters (2011); Amityville 3-D (1983); An Anomaly (2013); Annie Hall (1977); Apologies to Bunuel (1996); B. Smith with Style (1999); Bicentennial Minutes (1975); Bitter Jester (2003); Bravo Profiles (1999–2003); Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There (2003); Comic Groove (2002); Dead Broke (1998); Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Brett Gelman's Family (2015); Dirty Dancing (2017); Entertainment Tonight (1990); Finder of Lost Loves (1985); Fist Fighter (1988); Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast (2017); Good Morning America (1978); Great Performances (1999 / 2005 / 2021); Hannah and Her Sisters (1986); Hollywood Squares (1977); Hotel (1985); If Things Were Different (1980); Intimate Portrait (2001); It Takes a Lunatic (2019); Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon (1986); Just Tell Me What You Want (1980); Key Exchange (1985); Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1996); Law & Order (1991–2010); Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2008); Le sauvage (1975); Let's Celebrate (1972); Live with Kelly and Mark (1990); Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003); Love, American Style / Segment: Love and the Hotel Caper (1971); Married to the Kellys (2004); Matlock (1991); McMillan & Wife (1977); Men at Law (1970); Murder, She Wrote (1992); My Best Friend's Wife (2001); Night Gallery / Segment: The Messiah on Mott Street (1971); Night of 100 Stars II (1985); Nightlife (1986); Not in My Family (1993); Our Sons (1991); Our World (1986); Packin' It In (1983); Painting the Town: The Illusionistic Murals of Richard Haas (1990); Phyllis (1975); Play It Again, Sam (1972); Popcorn (1991); Radio Days (1987); Rosetti and Ryan (1977); Seize the Day (1986); Serpico (1973); Short Talks on the Universe Benefit Performance (2002); Snafu (1976); Sounds from a Town I Love (2001); Spotlight on Broadway (2013); Star Spangled Girl (1971); Star Wars: A New Hope (1994); Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1994); Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi (1994); Stardust Memories (1980); Switch (1991); The $10,000 Pyramid (1974–1977); The $25,000 Pyramid (1975–1978); The 22nd Annual Tony Awards (1968); The 23rd Annual Tony Awards (1969); The 34th Annual Tony Awards (1980); The 35th Annual Tony Awards (1981); The 38th Annual Tony Awards (1984); The 39th Annual Tony Awards (1985); The 48th Annual Tony Awards (1994); The 55th Annual Tony Awards (2001); The 62nd Annual Tony Awards (2008); The American Clock (1993); The Carol Burnett Show (1991); The Dick Cavett Show (1972); The Edge of Night (1965–1966); The Four Seasons (1984); The Girls in the Office (1979); The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (1998); The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005); The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case (1976); The Longest Week (2014); The Love Boat (1978–1979); The Lucie Arnaz Show (1985); The Magical World of Disney (1974); The Merv Griffin Show (1971–1977); The Mike Douglas Show (1977); The Million Dollar Duck (1971); The Paul Ryan Show (1977–1992); The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974); The Thorns (1988); The Trial of Adolf Eichmann (1997); The Trials of O'Brien (1965); The Way They Were (1981); Today (1982–1985); Trapper John, M.D. (1983–1985); Victor/Victoria (1995); Well Fed and Comfortable (2006); What's My Line? (1972–1973); When Pop Culture Saved America: A 9-11 Story (2011); Working in the Theatre (1980–1992).

Born on this day – Annette Funicello:

Annette Funicello

Actress

Singer

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1987

October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013

Credits:

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995); Full House (1991); Troop Beverly Hills (1989); Back to the Beach (1987); Growing Pains (1986); Lots of Luck (1985); The Love Boat (1978–1982); Fantasy Island (1979–1981); Frankie & Annette: The Second Time Around (1978); Love, American Style (1971); Head (1968); Hondo (1967); Thunder Alley (1967); Fireball 500 (1966); Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965); How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965); Ski Party (1965); The Monkey's Uncle (1965); Beach Blanket Bingo (1965); Burke's Law (1963–1965); Pajama Party (1964); Bikini Beach (1964); Muscle Beach Party (1964); The Greatest Show on Earth (1964); The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964); Wagon Train (1963); Beach Party (1963); Escapade in Florence (1962); The Magical World of Disney (1959–1962); Toyland (1961); The Horsemasters (1961); Zorro (1959–1961); The Danny Thomas Show (1959); The Shaggy Dog (1959); Annette (1958); The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957); Further Adventures of Spin and Marty (1956).

Born on this day – David W. Allen:

David W. Allen

Stop motion animator

October 22, 1944 – August 16, 1999

 

Born on this day – William Girdler:

William Girdler

Director

Writer

Composer

Producer

October 22, 1947 – January 21, 1978

On this day in movie history - Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)

Ride in the Whirlwind

directed by Monte Hellman,

written by Jack Nicholson,

was released at the San Francisco Film Festival in the United States on October 22, 1966.

Music by Robert Drasnin.

Cast:

Cameron Mitchell, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Katherine Squire, George Mitchell, Rupert Crosse, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hackett, Tom Filer, B.J. Merholz, Brandon Carroll, Peter Cannon, William A. Keller, Neil Summers, James Campbell, Walter Phelps, Charles Eastman, Gary Kent, Bill Keller.

On this day in movie history - First Blood (1982)

First Blood

directed by Ted Kotcheff,

written by Michael Kozoll, William Sackheim and Sylvester Stallone,

based on the novel by David Morrell,

was released in the United States on October 22, 1982.

Music by Jerry Goldsmith.

Cast:

Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy, Bill McKinney, Jack Starrett, Michael Talbott, Chris Mulkey, John McLiam, Alf Humphreys, David Caruso, David L. Crowley, Don MacKay, Charles A. Tamburro, David Petersen, Craig Huston, Patrick Stack, Stephen E. Miller, Raimund Stamm, Robert Metcalfe, Stephen Dimopoulos, Bruce Greenwood, Earl Klein, Danny Wozna, Peter Lonstrup, Mike Winlaw, Donald Adams, David Menzies, Frank Richter, Grahman L. Galativk, Ian Hutchinson, Amy Alexander, Gary Hetherington, Alex Kliner, R.G. Miller, Stephen Chang, Suzee Pai, Robert Prowse, Jack Rigg.

On this day in movie history - A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995)

 

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story,

directed by Bill Corcoran,

written by John McGreevey and PJ Torokvei,

based on the book by Annette Funicello and Patricia Romanowski,

was released in the United States on October 22, 1995.

Music by George Blondheim.

Cast:

Eva LaRue, Len Cariou, Frank Crudele, Jack Gilardi, David Lipper, Don S. Davis, Louis Ferreira, Andrea Nemeth, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Linda Lavin, Austin Basile, Ahnee Boyce, Jay Brazeau, Victoria Brooks, Stefania Ciccone, Demetri Goritsas, Elysa Hogg, Gary Jones, Lorraine Landry, Hrothgar Mathews, Alexandra Purvis, Claire Riley, Suzanne Ristic, Greg Rogers, Nina Roman, Domenico Sansalone, Michelle Skalnic, Blair Slater, Kavan Smith, George Touliatos, Scott Augustine, Kim Bailey, Talia Derksen, Laura Jenkins, Ben Newcombe, Kelli Stewart, Rene Tardie, Kimberly Wallace, Virginia Funicello, Joe Funicello, Glen Holt, Gina Portman, John Portman, Jason Gilardi, Jack Gilardi Jr., Rob Stewart, Dick Clark, Shelley Fabares.