Johnny Crawford quickly found himself on posters on the walls of every teenage girl in America, during his years of fame. During his years as a freelance TV star, he appeared in more than 60 shows and movies. He, like many other children in Hollywood, grew up in a family of entertainers. When his roles on set started to dwindle down, he started to perform more on stage at nightclubs, mainly around New York and Los Angeles.
In 1970, Crawford starred in a live-action short film called The Resurrection of Broncho Billy, that was directed by film student James Rokos at the University of Southern California. In 1990, he launched his own orchestra in LA that he dubbed Johnny Crawford’s Orchestra. The orchestra has been wildly successful, earning a bid for 15 Art Directors and Guild Awards shows in a row. But Crawford would soon leave behind his golden boy image and pursue some more…mature ventures.
What Lonnie Burr is Up to Now
After Burr pursued his degree in Theatre Arts, he returned to his career in the entertainment industry. He continued to act throughout his adult life, appearing on an array of television shows and in some films. Burr appeared in Newsies in 1992 and Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, in 1994. He also played a guest role in an episode of Murder She Wrote. Over his years in acting, Burr appeared in more the 25 movies alone.
Aside from his roles in film and television, he also maintained a pretty stable career on Broadway. When Lonnie wasn’t on the stage or on set, he was spending his time writing. He published a few fairly successful books, along with writing multiple articles for different publications, like The LA Times.
The Launch of Johnny Crawford’s Career
Johnny Crawford’s time on The Mickey Mouse Club was fairly short lived, as he remained on the show only throughout its first season. But even after he broke away from The Mouseketeers, he continued his acting career. In fact, Crawford found himself nominated for an Emmy at 13 years old for his role as Mark McCain in The Rifleman. Over his two and a half years as a freelancer in TV, he made more than 60 appearances on various shows.
Some of the credits Crawford racked up include the starring role in Little Boy Lost, and a guest role in the hit series, The Lone Ranger. Crawford also made an appearance on The Donna Reed Show, like his fellow Mouseketeer, Bobby Burgess. Crawford enlisted in the Army for a couple of years, and later ended up playing a soldier on Hawaii-Five-O, in 1968.
Johnny Crawford: Playboy Model
Johnny shocked his fan base in the 70’s when he took it all off and did a nude photoshoot for Playboy Magazine. Keep in mind, doing that sort of thing wasn’t nearly as common in that era as it is today, so it was a pretty risqué move on his part. Unfortunately, the feedback he got for the shoot wasn’t exactly the kind-hearted support he was hoping for. Quotes about the small size of his…member…began to fly around.
But Johnny didn’t take the criticism to heart. In fact, he bared it all once again for his work in the 1973 film, The Naked Ape. The film, despite masquerading as an educational film about human evolution, was pretty shocking for its time. It was after all, produced by Hugh Hefner. All of this nudity and sexuality must have been a lot for his Disney fans and costars to take in!
Darlene Gillepsie’s Teen Stardom
Darlene Gillepsie quickly rose to fame during her young years as an actress. She appeared on numerous shows, aside from all four years of the original Mickey Mouse Club, including the spinoff, which Disney dubbed Corky and the White Shadow. She even played the title character in their live action production of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. Darlene was a fan favorite Mouseketeer, second only to Annette Funicello.
Unfortunately, Gillepsie never quite found herself rising through the ranks to that which costar Annette Funicello reached, and instead decided to move away from acting into a career in music. She gave herself the stage name “Darlene Valentine,” and recorded a few albums, including 1950’s rock album, Darlene of the Teens. But as she started to fizzle away in the world of entertainment, she found herself treading some very troubled waters.