Interview with Roberta Shore: From Disney to The Virginian

Fifty years after she put her acting career on hiatus, Roberta Shore still draws crowds at fan conventions. That will happen when your most famous role was playing Lee J. Cobb's daughter on an iconic television series. It helps, too, if you starred with Annette Funicello in classic Disney fare such as The Shaggy Dog (1959) and The Mickey Mouse Club serial "Annette." I recently had the opportunity to talk with Ms. Shore at the 2016 Williamsburg Film Festival.

Café:  How did you get the part of Betsy Garth in The Virginian?

Roberta Shore at the 2016
Williamsburg Film Festival.

Roberta Shore:  I was under contract to Universal Studios. They used to hire a bunch of young actors and actresses in case they needed a small part. I was originally hired for a new TV series that Bob Cummings was making. It was horrible and only lasted about two weeks. From there, they put me in The Virginian.

Café:  Did you know it was going to be a regular part?

RS:  I did. But I wasn't very good with horses. I had one lesson on a horse before we started the series. They had to get me a double because I was not a good horsewoman.

Café:  Were there unique challenges to filming a 90-minute weekly series consisting of 30 episodes a year?

RS:  Sometimes, we would be doing two or three shows at a time because we were only allowed five or six days to shoot them and that didn't include the weekends. There were times when I would run onto one set and say "Hello, Daddy" and then go to the next stage, change shirts, and do another scene. It was very challenging. We put in a lot of long, long hours.

Roberta with Lee J. Cobb.

Café:  What was it like working with Lee J. Cobb?

RS:  I loved him. He was my favorite. He was professional, kind, and witty. He could just look at me and make me laugh. I really loved him as a father image.

Café:  How well did the cast get along off screen?

RS:  Everybody got along just fine. I was the youngest. I was 18 or 19. So, they teased me a lot because they thought I was very naive. I wasn't as naive as they thought I was (laughs). But I played along that I was.

Café:  Do you have a favorite episode?

RS:  Probably the Robert Redford episode that I did ("The Evil That Men Do"). He was right out of Broadway and I think it was one of the first TV shows he had done. He was just really nice. Betsy had a crush on his character, but he was an ex-con. He was a bad boy, so it didn't work out.

Roberta and Annette.

Café:  What was it like playing the "mean girl" opposite Annette Funicello in  The Mickey Mouse Club serial "Annette"?

RS:  It was kind of fun, but I really got a lot of nasty fan mail for a couple of years following the series. I was really known as a snob.

Café:  You also appeared with Annette in The Shaggy Dog. How well did the two of you get along?

RS:  We got along fine. Everybody did.

Café:  In addition to The Virginian, you also appeared in TV series such as Wagon Train, Maverick, and The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet. Which of those was the most rewarding experience for a young actress?

Ricky Nelson and Roberta Shore.

RS:  Probably Ozzie & Harriet, because Ricky Nelson was the most gorgeous human being on Earth (laughs). And nice, really nice. The Nelsons were a nice family and it was a fun show.

Café:  Why did you decide to retire from acting after you left The Virginian?

RS:  I decided to get married. I moved from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City and never wanted to come back. I had a couple of children and I have five grandchildren. Having grandchildren and children is the best part of my life.

Café:  Do you have any upcoming projects you'd like to share with our readers?

RS:  On the 22nd of April, we're doing Cowboy Up for Vets in Swanton, Ohio. The whole Virginian cast is going to be there. There's Jim (Drury), Gary (Clarke), Randy (Boone), Clu Gulager, Sara (Lane), Diane (Roter), Don Quine, and L.Q. Jones. It will be a really fun festival. From what I understand, I believe it will be Jim Drury's last festival. We're all getting old (laughs).

Café:  Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me.

RS:  You're welcome.

Annette Funicello Lights Up the Small Screen in The Mickey Mouse Club's "Annette"

Annette Funicello, one of our favorite stars at the Cafe, died today at age 70. In her honor, we're posting this 2009 review of her self-titled Mickey Mouse Club serial.

I first saw the The Mickey Mouse Club serial Annette when I was a youngster and then again in college (go figure). But I didn't become a true Annette Funicello fan until years later and, by that time, Annette was nowhere to be found. To my surprise and delight, it was released in 2008 as part of the Disney Treasures collectible DVD line.

The 19-part serial was originally shown in 1957-58 during the third season of The Mickey Mouse Club. Each installment ran for about 10 minutes, which means it took up over one-third of each Mickey Mouse Club episode. The serial’s premise was a familiar one: Annette is a country girl who goes to live with her aunt and uncle in the city; everyone likes her but a rich, snobby girl whose boyfriend seems interested in Annette! It's a flawed premise, of course...how could anyone not like Annette? Though she was only 14, her sweet disposition and sky-high likability quotient were already evident.

The cast is peppered with now-familiar faces: Richard Deacon (Leave It to Beaver, The Dick Van Dyke Show) as Annette’s uncle; Tim Considine (My Three Sons, Spin and Marty, The Hardy Boys) as love interest Steve; Roberta Shore (Betsy on The Virginian) as the mean girl; David Stollery (Spin and Marty) as nice guy Mike; Mary Pickes in her typical role as a meddler; and Shelley Fabares as one of Annette’s friends. Mousketeers Sharon Baird and Doreen Tracy also appeared in supporting roles.

While there are no musical production numbers in Annette, there are several songs integrated into natural settings: Roberta Shore sings at a teen party, Annette and David Stollery duet at the malt shop, Sharon Baird and Rudy Lee dance up a storm at a barbeque, etc. The surprise of the series, though, came when Annette sang a sweet Sherman Brothers tune called “How Will I Know My Love” standing in front of a mirror (and reprised on a hayride). An avalanche of fan mail followed and Disneyland Records eventually released “How Will I Know My Love” as a single.

Annette with David Stollery.

The Annette serial confirmed that Annette Funicello was quickly becoming a Disney star. One of her lastThe Shaggy Dog, which featured her Annette co-stars Tim Considine and Roberta Shore (as a friendly French girl this time). The rest of her career is, as we say, history.
supporting performances was in 1959’s

By the way, if you rent or buy the Annette serial on DVD, be sure to skip Chapter 1 “An Introduction.” It’s such a thorough “introduction” that it pretty much condenses the serial’s whole plot into a ten-minute summary!

1960s Icon Donna Loren Talks with the Cafe about Mickey Mouse, the Beach Party movies, Shindig, and More!

Beloved by fans of the Beach Party movies, actress-singer Donna Loren has lent her lovely voice and natural appeal to a variety of films, TV series, magazine columns, and commercials. She took time out of her busy schedule to sit down for a chat at the Cafe.


Café: You were pretty much a veteran performer by the age of 8, having appeared professionally on stage and on television's acclaimed Playhouse 90. You also appeared as a guest on The Mickey Mouse Club. How did that come about?

Donna Loren: I auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. They wanted me to become a Mouseketeer but my Dad, who called the shots, said: “She’s a solo.” I was chosen to be a guest artist on their “Friday Talent Roundup” when they gave me my ears!

Café: Being selected as the first (and only) Dr Pepper Girl had to be a career-changer. What were your official duties other than appearing in TV commercials and print ads?

Donna: My position with Dr Pepper was their spokesperson. I traveled extensively for them promoting their product.

Café: How did you come to be cast in Muscle Beach Party and end up doing a duet on "Muscle Bustle" with Dick Dale and the Del-Tones?

Donna: Dr Pepper had a product placement in the film. Currently, I am writing my autobiography with more details about this subject.

Café: You had solos in Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, and Beach Blanket Bingo. In fact, "It Only Hurts When I Cry" (my personal fave) and "Among the Young" rank with the best songs in the whole Beach Party series. Who determined which songs you performed and what was your favorite among your numbers?

Donna: Music director Al Simms and the song writers Guy Hemric and J. Styner picked my songs. “Among the Young” from Pajama Party was the most fun because of the arrangement and tempo changes.

Café: How did you get along with the cast of the Beach Party movies?

Donna: I love singing, so singing in a movie was really great. Everyone on set treated me like royalty.

Café: What do you remember best about your four Beach Party movies?

Donna: Actually, there were five in all. Sergeant Deadhead was never as popular, but had a great cast. The cast of each movie was so diverse. Everyone from silent film star Buster Keaton to Little Stevie Wonder made for an exciting time. My favorite part was always being on the beaches in Malibu.

Café: What led to your gig as a regular on the TV variety series Shindig? Thanks to YouTube, some of your performances can still be enjoyed, such as your cover of "Goldfinger" and your duet with Bobby Sherman on "Casting My Spell on You." Who else did you duet with?

Donna: Another audition lead to my role on Shindig. Mostly, Bobby Sherman and I were paired up, but once I did a duet with Bobby Hatfield.

Café: What were some of the songs you enjoyed singing on Shindig?

Donna: #1 would be “Wishin’ and Hopin’” because that was my first show for Shindig. I also really enjoy singing "Shakin’ All Over," even to this day.

Café: You appeared opposite Davy Jones on The Monkees. You were The Joker's moll, Susie, on Batman. You appeared with Jim Nabors on Gomer Pyle, USMC. You were a popular guest star on TV in the mid-1960s! Who did you enjoy working with during that period?

Donna: I think Dick Clark was my favorite. We worked closely for Dr Pepper.

Café: In addition to your acting and singing, you also found time to write two monthly columns for Movie Life Magazine. What kind of advice did you dispense in your advice column "Let's Talk It Over"?

Donna: Gossip is gossip, even teenage talk in the 60's. Sometimes, a word of truth would slip in from my interviews with my ghostwriters.

Café: Although you retired from show business to raise a family in 1968, it seems as though you've never stopped working. You designed your own line of clothes, recorded and produced songs such as "Somewhere Down in the Road" in 1984, and just released a new CD called "Love It Away." Plus, you sell memorabilia on your web site http://donnaloren.net/ and have a blog that's quite logically titled Let's Talk It Over (http://donnaloren.net/latestnews/). That's quite a career! What keeps you going?

Donna: Thank you, Rick, for asking. I love connecting with people and enjoying life which is why I SING.