Economic Research: Berle Clothing Design

Berle Clothing Design

Born in Boston, Donna was a child performer: she won an amateur talent show, sang a jingle for Meadowgold Ice Cream, performed on radio shows, appeared as a guest on the"The Mickey Mouse Club" (1955) and recorded several singles all before she was 10 years old. In 1963, she was chosen, after a nationwide talent search to become the spokesperson for Dr Pepper and subsequently became the one and only "Dr Pepper Girl". For five years, she was on billboards, in magazines and on television and movies as the teenage spokesperson for the soft drink. For her personal appearances, she designed and sewed most of her own costumes, a talent which would come in very handy later in her career. The Dr Pepper gig led to a role in the secondFrankie Avalon / Annette Funicello beach movie Muscle Beach Party (1964). Originally assigned a non-speaking role holding a soft drink bottle (guess which soft drink), the producers decided to let her perform a song instead. She performed the Brian Wilson penned "Muscle Bustle" withDick Dale and the success of the song led to her appearing in a featured musical number in later beach movies.