Even after obtaining her mathematics degree from Los Angeles Valley College, Baird’s heart was still in acting and entertaining. In the 70’s, she voiced several puppet characters in different children’s shows, and in 1984, she played a role in the live comedy show, Gallagher: Over Your Head. Alongside of her love for acting, she found love elsewhere – in vocalist Dalton Lee.
Baird played several roles, both on stage and television, throughout her adult years. But in the 90’s, the gaps between her appearances grew larger and larger until eventually, she basically retired entirely from television. Today she enjoys semi-retirement from her home in Reno, Nevada.
Darlene’s Criminal Record
Jerry Fraschilla took Darlene Gillepsie’s hand in marriage – and walked her down a path of criminal activity and eventually jail time. He talked her into participating in all types of criminal schemes, like check fraud. You would think that her celebrity status may have helped her out, but it only made things were for her. In 1998, she and Jerry were arrested on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and securities and mail fraud. Gillepsie faced a judge in a federal courtroom and wound up being sentenced to a couple of years behind bars.
Luckily for her, she was released just three months into her 2-year sentence. Years later, she found herself tangled up in another mess including Fraschilla and claims of fraud, but the charges against her were dropped. After her short time in prison, she devoted her energy to spending more time with her family, especially her twin grandchildren.
Sharon Baird: Mouseketeer Sweetheart
Sharon Baird began performing when she was just 3 years old, when she began taking her first dance lessons. She won the title of “Little Miss Washington,” in her hometown at age five, before her parents decided it was time to move out to Los Angeles. When she got to Tinsel Town, she quickly got an agent and started doing some television work, making appearances on shows like The Colgate Comedy Hour. She snagged her first role in film in 1950, when she hit the screen on Bloodhounds of Broadway. In 1955, Baird was slotted to fill one of roles as an original Mouseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club.
Sharon went on to work on the show for the first three consecutive seasons and was beloved for her unique talents in tap dancing, among many other things. Since it’s pretty hard for the young actors to go to school and act on the show simultaneously, she held off until her contract was up. When filming wrapped, she earned her high school diploma and went on to earn a university degree in math and secretarial science.
Sharon Baird Stars as Ratboy
In what is arguably the strangest role that Sharon Baird has ever really played, she portrayed the title character, a young rat-like boy, in the 1986 film “Ratboy.” But not just anyone would know that is was Sharon behind this odd little fellow on screen. When the credits rolled, hers simply appeared with the name: S.L Baird. Unfortunately, no one in America really understood the film, especially critics, who essentially gave it a big thumbs down. Critics over in Europe spun a different tale, however, and actually seemed to like it.
Ratboy tells the sad story of a young rat-like kid who lives behind a dumpster, hiding out of shame for being different. The underlying moral behind the narrative is that society has a tendency to be very shallow, when it comes to appearances, and ostracizes those that don’t fit the script of what is deemed to be “normal.” Baird lives happily in semi-retirement, in Nevada, and occasionally makes appearances with her fellow Mouseketeers.
Enter Doreen Tracey
Doreen Tracey spent the first few years of her life living in her hometown of London, with her Vaudeville star mom and dad. But at age 4, her family moved to Hollywood, where her parents opened their own dance studio. Doreen loved to sing and dance at mom and dad’s studio, and eventually, she followed in their footsteps and started booking professional gigs of her own. When she was twelve, she was hired into The Mickey Mouse Club.
After her three consecutive seasons on the show, she continued her career in acting. Like many of her fellow Musketeers, she appeared on The Donna Reed Show. Tracey put a smile on the faces of many men and women overseas when she went on an international tour to perform for the troops. But this kind-hearted patriotic sweetheart would soon find herself making some pretty shocking career moves…