Darlene Gillespie

Darlene Faye Gillespie is a Canadian-American former child actress, singer, and dancer, who was one of the Mouseketeers from the Mickey Mouse Club. Her Irish father and French-Canadian mother were a former vaudeville dance team. When Darlene was two years old, her family moved to Los Angeles, California, where she became a naturalized American citizen in September 1956 at the age of fifteen.
==Biography==
===Early life and career===
Gillespie was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At age ten, she started singing lessons with Glen Raikes, and eleven took dance lessons with Burch Mann, founder of the American Folk Ballet Company. She auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club in March 1955, was hired, and appeared on the program for all three seasons of its original run. She was the leading female singer and starred in the serial Corky and White Shadow during the first season. In the third season, she appeared in the serial The New Adventures of Spin and Marty with Tim Considine and David Stollery.
Gillespie was cast as Dorothy Gale in a musical number from the proposed live-action Disney film Rainbow Road to Oz, in an episode of the Disneyland television series in September 1957. It was never made, and after The Mickey Mouse Club stopped filming in 1958, her short acting career neared its end. Her last television appearance was as Beth Brian in the 1962 episode "The Star" of the NBC family drama series National Velvet, starring Lori Martin as a budding thoroughbred rider.
Gillespie made many recordings under the various Disney labels, including an album of 1950s rock and roll standards called Darlene Of The Teens (1957). She recorded albums from Disney animated films in which she not only sang but narrated the stories as well, such as Alice in Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty. In 1975, she released a 45 rpm record of country songs under the name Darlene Valentine.
==Gallery==
TV Life Magazine Cover.jpg
Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers 1957.jpg|1956 cast photo. Front row; L–R: Annette Funicello, Karen Pendleton, Cubby O'Brien, Sherry Alberoni, Dennis DayRow two: Charley Laney, Sharon Baird, Darlene Gillespie, Jay-Jay Solari.Row three: Tommy Cole, Cheryl Holdridge, Larry Larsen, Eileen Diamond.Row four: Lonnie Burr, Margene Storey, Doreen TraceyBack row: Jimmie Dodd, Bobby Burgess.
Dinah shore with mouseketters 1956.jpg|Dinah Shore with Sharon, Doreen, Annette, Cubby, Darlene, and Karen at a benefit in Spring of 1956.
Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespe.JPG|Darlene in The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show.
1980 roll call Darlene gillespie.JPG|Darlene in The Mouseketeer Reunion.
==External links==
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*MMC Cast: Darlene Gillespie
Category:Females
Category:1940s births
Category:People from California
Category:Canadian people
Category:American people
Category:Actresses
Category:Dancers
Category:Singers
Category:Mouseketeers
Category:Walt Disney Records artists
Category:Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
Category:Mickey Mouse Club
Category:Alice in Wonderland
Category:Sleeping Beauty