Walt, Mickey and Me: Confessions of the First ex-Mouseketeer

I read this book so long ago, and I loved every word. It revealed that all was not as golden as I had dreamed it was back then. The writing is wonderful, and the author's experiences certainly indicate what has motivated him to work so hard for the rights of kid-actors today. Paul, are you listening? We need an update! Walt, Mickey and Me has been out of print for way too long. Darlene's life, alone, could add on another fifty pages of drama.

Ex-Mouseketeer William Paul Peterson spent a grand total of three weeks on the Mickey Mouse Club, in 1955, before being fired for: Conduct Unbecoming. He quickly wiped the tears away, bounced back and became Donna Reed's teevee son. Today, I understand, among his many interests, he is a fierce advocate of child actors who get chewed-up and spit out by "the star-making machinery"; becoming emotional wrecks in the process. Paul spent some time writing about the great Walt Disney, who appeared to his television audience as the embodiment of a kindly uncle; very concerned about "the leaders of the 21st Century". In reality he was a tight-fisted movie mogul who locked his mouseketeers into iron-clad contracts without a second thought. And he absolutely hated rock 'n roll-consequently that uniquely American musical form, which was exploding all over the world, was not heard within the confines of the hermetically sealed Mickey Mouse Club.Inside stories are reveled about Paul's brother and sister mouseketeers including: Darlene, Cubby, Karen, Lonnie and especially Annette-the last mouseketeer to join Walt's club. The last will become first. Her path to super-star mousedom is meticulously revealed. As Lonnie Burr put it, "Who wouldn't be a star with all that attention? An eyebrow pluck, big (expletive deleted), and wham, a star is manufactured." Walt's advice to her when she joined AIP's Beach Party froth: Don't expose your bellybutton. The author writes in a very smooth, intelligent; witty style. A very pleasant read. It's a shame this book has been out-of-print for over twenty-five years.