Mickey Mouse Club

The Mickey Mouse Club was a long-running American variety television series in the 1950s, produced and televised by Walt Disney Productions, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers.

The 1950s series

Each show would have a dramatic portion in which teens faced challenges in everyday situations, often overcome by their common sense or through recourse to the advice of respected elders. It was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a talented music writer and the "Head Mouseketeer". Roy Williams, an artist, also appeared in the show as the "Big Mooseketeer". Dodd died in 1964, Roy Williams in 1977.

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The main cast members were called "Mouseketeers," and they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, as well as some informational segments. The most popular of the Mouseketeers constituted the so-called "Red Team," which consisted of:

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• Annette Funicello
• Tommy Cole
• Darlene Gillespie
• Cheryl Holdridge (joined in second year)
• Bobby Burgess
• Doreen Tracy
• Cubby O'Brien
• Karen Pendleton
• Lonnie Burr
• Sharon Baird

(Cubby and Karen were initially "Meeseketeers".)

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The remaining Mouseketeers were Nancy Abbate, Don Agrati (later known as Don Grady), Sherry Alberoni, Billie Jean Beanblossom, Johnny Crawford, Dennis Day, Eileen Diamond, Dickie Dodd, Mary Espinosa, Bonnie Lynn Fields, Judy Harriet, Linda Hughes, Dallas Johann, John Lee Johann, Bonni Lou Kern, Charlie Laney, Larry Larsen, Paul Petersen, Lynn Ready, Mickey Rooney Jr., Tim Rooney, Mary Lynn Sartori, Bronson Scott, Michael Smith, Jay-Jay Solari, Margene Storey, Ronnie Steiner, Mark Sutherland and Don Underhill. Dennis Day was a Mouseketeer for two seasons; the others served for shorter periods. Larry Larsen, on only for the 1956-57 season, was the oldest Mouseketeer, being born in 1939.

Related Topics:
Sherry Alberoni - Johnny Crawford - Paul Petersen

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Other notable non-Mouseketeer performers appeared in various dramatic segments, including:

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• Tim Considine
• Tommy Kirk
• David Stollery
• Julius Sumner Miller as Professor Wonderful

Original serials were filmed for the series, which ran an hour each weekday from 1955 to 1957, and only a half-hour weekdays until 1959. It went into syndicated reruns from 1962 to 1965, and again from January 20, 1975 until January 14, 1977. It has since been rerun on cable specialty channels Disney in the US and Family in Canada.

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Walt Disney called an end to the series in the spring of 1959. Almost all of the original Mouseketeers were reunited for a TV special in 1980, which aired on Disney's Wonderful World in November of that year.

Related Topics:
1980 - Disney's Wonderful World - November

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