One of the original “Mouseketeers” of the classic Mickey Mouse Club TV series has passed away with TMZ reporting that Bonni Lou Kern died earlier this week. The former actress reportedly passed from natural causes on Monday, September 28 in Wooster, Ohio. She is survived by three daughters, Kimberly Ellington, Allyson Struzan and Janet Bucklew; six grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren, and is preceded in death by her husband Harold “Bud” Carr. Kern appeared on The Mickey Mouse Club, a youth oriented variety show created by Walt Disney, for a few episodes and appeared in the first episode of The Wonder Mouseketeers as well as the feature film Save the Wonder Mouseketeers. Bonni was 79 at the time of her passing, may she rest in peace.
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Original Mouseketeer Bonni Lou Kern Dead at 79 https://t.co/JhBbeGJQw5
— TMZ (@TMZ) October 1, 2020
The obituary listing for the deceased notes that no services will be held but that online tributes may be made at www.RobertsFuneralHome.com; and that memorial contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to COPD Foundation in Miami, FL.
According to her family, Bonni was the recipient of a “Mousecar Award,” an in-house trophy given to Disney employees that was a bronze Mickey in the same vein of the Oscars. She was also reportedly given “the key to Fantasy Land.”
The original version of The Mickey Mouse Club aired from 1955 to 1958 and ran for over 180 episodes. As the title implies, Mickey made appearances throughout the series, popping up for the introductory interstitials and in various classic cartoons that would air in the episodes.
(Cover Photo by Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)
