Karen Anita Pendleton was an original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeer on ABC television from 1955-1958`She was one of only nine Mouseketeers who were on the show during its entire original run. Karen toured Australia in 1959 and 1960 with a number of other Mouseketeers and Jimmie Dodd. She was often coupled with Carl "Cubby" O'Brien in the television series and in live performances as they were the youngest members of the cast.
After the show's run, she left show business and finished school. She got married in 1970, had a daughter in 1973, but divorced in 1981. Following an automobile accident in 1983, in which she was paralyzed from the waist down, she returned to college and earned a Bachelor's degree in psychology. She worked at a shelter for battered women and served on the Board for the California Association of the Physically Handicapped.
Role[]
Myra Thompson
(Westward Ho, the Wagons!)
(Westward Ho, the Wagons!)
Gallery[]
1956 cast photo. Front row; L–R: Annette Funicello, Karen Pendleton, Cubby O'Brien, Sherry Alberoni, Dennis Day
Row 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 Tracey
Back row: Jimmie Dodd, Bobby Burgess.
Row 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 Tracey
Back row: Jimmie Dodd, Bobby Burgess.
Pendleton with Jimmie Dodd and Johnny Crawford.
Dinah Shore with Sharon, Doreen, Annette, Cubby, Darlene, and Karen at a benefit in Spring of 1956.
Karen and another Mouseketeer with Bob-O the clown and some of the Disney characters at the Mickey Mouse Club Circus at Disneyland.
Karen in The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show.
Karen in The Mouseketeer Reunion.
Karen in The Mickey Mouse Club Story.
On display in Walt Disney: One Man's Dream at Disney's Hollywood Studios is Karen Pendleton's "Talent Roundup" cowgirl outfit from the Mickey Mouse Club. Included is her original dress, boot, and cowgirl hat. Also included is her Mickey Mouse Ears hat.
