Most mixed-up non-delinquent on the block? Nah. Frankie Avalon was a good guy—no matter how many situations he got himself into that pissed off Annette. And if you don’t know any of those references, it’s time for a Mr. Man tutorial. Frankie came out of Philly in the ‘50s, a 12-year-old trumpet player in a band with Bobby Rydell (for the love of all things musical, look him up). One thing led to another, and before he hit the age of 15, he was a million-copies record seller. In 1959, at the age of 19, he recorded one of his biggest hits, “Venus.” With the voice of an angel and movie-star good looks, it was only natural he become, well, a movie star. He appeared in this and that, but hit the big time when the studio lit upon brilliance and paired him with former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello for the fun and campy Beach Party (1963). Playing a guy named Frankie, who has a gal named Annette, the two sang and danced their way across the sand. So popular, and so very cheap to make, multiple other beach flicks followed with the dynamic duo: Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). And yes, as one would imagine, Frankie can be seen in all of them in the short board shorts of the era, shirtless, and fake surfing. If you missed all these movies (truly, Mr. Man is sorry for your loss), then maybe you remember Frankie as the Teen Angel in the John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John blessed Grease (1978) (which is where the delinquent thing comes in, courtesy of the song “Beauty School Dropout”), or playing himself in Casino(1995) with Robert De Niro. Now Mr. Man has called the shot, so get off the pot—'cause he’s really gotta fly.
