Darlene Gillespie (born April 8, 1941)[1] is a Canadian-American former child actress, most remembered as a singer and dancer on the original The Mickey Mouse Club television series from 1955 to 1959.

[7] The 17-episode serial introduced Gillespie as the female teenage heroine Corky Brady, accompanied by a white German Shepherd.

A number of songs were incorporated into the plot to showcase young Gillespie's singing talents, most notably "My Pa" and "Uncle Dan".

The third season opened with The Pet Shop showpiece, featuring Gillespie with Lonnie Burr, Bobby Burgess, and Tommy Cole.

[11] During the third season, Gillespie appeared in the serial The New Adventures of Spin and Marty (1957) with Tim Considine and David Stollery, and was cast in a secondary role as Annette's friend.

[12] Gillespie was cast as Dorothy Gale in a musical number from the proposed live-action Disney film The Rainbow Road to Oz on an episode of the Disneyland television series in September 1957; however, the movie was never made.

For reasons unknown, the serial was retitled, and Gillespie was replaced by Judy Nugent as Annette's friend Jet.

Gillespie made many recordings under various Disney labels, including an album of 1950s rock and roll standards, Darlene of the Teens (1957).

[5] In 1956, Gillespie and Tommy Cole, the two leading singers of The Mickey Mouse Club, released a single "I Am Not Now and Never Have Been in Love" and "Do Mi So".

[13] Gillespie recorded albums for Disney animated films, in which she sang and narrated stories such as Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.

[9] In the late 1980s, Gillespie began a legal battle against Disney and the Screen Actors Guild for royalties and residual payments for record sales and reruns of The Mickey Mouse Club.