Annette Funicello Dies: She Was Known As The Mouseketeer On 'The Mickey Mouse Club' In The 1950s [VIDEO]

Former movie star and Mouseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club" Annette Funicello died Monday.

Funicello, 70, died at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, Calif., of complications from multiple sclerosis, the Walt Disney Co. told the Associated Press (AP).

"She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney's brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent," said Bob Iger, Disney chairman and CEO.

Funicello was 13-years-old when she debut as a Mouseketeer in the 1950s. She sported the mouse ears and soon became the most popular Mouseketeer, receiving 8,000 fan letters a month, 10 times more than any of the 23 other young performers.

Avalon said she was very pleasant about her stardom and never really thought she that big of a star.

"She would say, 'Really?'" he told The Associated Press. "She was so bashful about it. She was an amazing girl." He added: "She really had a tough existence. It's like losing a family member. I'm devastated, but I'm not surprised."

Funicello appeared in such Disney movies as "Johnny Tremain," ''The Shaggy Dog," ''The Horsemasters," ''Babes in Toyland," ''The Misadventures of Merlin Jones" and "The Monkey's Uncle." She also became a recording star, singing on 15 albums and hit singles such as "Tall Paul" and "Pineapple Princess."

"My equilibrium is no more; it's just progressively getting worse," she said. "But I thank God I just didn't wake up one morning and not be able to walk. You learn to live with it. You learn to live with anything, you really do," she wrote in her 1995 documentary "A Dream is a Wish Your Hearts Make," which was three years after she revealed her disease.