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Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello.

Former Mouseketeer, Annette Funicello. At the age of 12, she was discovered by Walt Disney at a dance recital; he was looking for kids for his new show, "The Mickey Mouse Club." Funicello became the "most popular" Mouseketeer, and went on to star in a number of Disney films: "The Shaggy Dog," "Babes in Toyland," and "The Monkey's Uncle." Before she went to star in the beach party movies for which she is also known, Disney requested that she wear a one-piece bathing suit instead of a bikini. Funicello agreed. In 1987 Funicello was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and she founded the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases. Funicello's new autobiography is "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, (Hyperion - written with Patricia Romanowski).

22:48
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Other segments from the episode on May 5, 1994

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, May 5, 1994: Interview with Annette Funicello; Interview with Allie Light; Review of the film "Being Human."
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16:47

Women and Mental Illness.

Documentary film maker Allie Light. Her new film, "Dialogues With Madwomen," won the 1994 "Freedom of Expression Award" at the Sundance Film Festival. In the film, seven women describe their bouts with mental illness, including Light who checked herself into a day psychiatric facility for three months in 1963 because of problems with depression. Light co-produced the film with Irving Saraf. Their previous work, "In The Shadow of the Stars," won the 1991 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

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Linney Mines 'The Big C' For Serious Laughs.

On Showtime's dark comedy series, Laura Linney plays a terminally ill cancer patient. The actress's own father died from lung cancer while the series was being made; her mother was a cancer nurse when Linney was young. These experiences, she says, inform her performance.

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How the duo behind 'The Invite' wrote a sex comedy (that's not really about sex)

Screenwriters RASHIDA JONES and WILL MCCORMACK. They're the writing team behind the new film The Invite, directed by Olivia Wilde and starring Seth Rogen, Penélope Cruz, and Edward Norton. They've been creative partners for more than two decades, first as co-writers of Celeste and Jesse Forever. JONES is an actor, writer, producer, and director. She won a Grammy for co-directing the documentary Quincy, about her father, Quincy Jones, and recently earned an Emmy nomination for her performance in Black Mirror. MCCORMACK is an Academy Award-winning writer, director, and actor.

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Remembering music theater historian Robert Kimball

(1.) ROBERT KIMBALL, the musical historian who rediscovered and rescued music and manuscripts by George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and others – and who co-wrote important books about George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Eubie Blake – died last week, at the age of 86. He was the artistic advisor to the Cole Porter and Ira Gershwin estates.

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