Sherry Alberoni
| Sherry Alberoni | |
|---|---|
 Sherry Alberoni as a Mousketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club, circa 1956 | |
| Born |
December 4, 1946 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress/Voice artist |
| Years active | 1956–1984 |
| Spouse(s) | Dr. Richard Van Meter (1971–present) |
Sherry (or Sherri) Alberoni (born December 4, 1946) is an American actress and voice artist. Alberoni got her start as a Mouseketeer on the weekday ABC television program The Mickey Mouse Club. As an adult, she became a voice artist for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Besides providing voices for numerous incidental characters in series such as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and Jeannie, Alberoni is best known as the voice of nasty rich-girl Alexandra Cabot from Josie and the Pussycats , "superhero-in-training" Wendy from the first season of Super Friends and the heroic robot, Bo in Mighty Orbots. In 1971, she starred alongside Patty Andrews in the Sherman Brothers stage musical, Victory Canteen.
Background
Sharyn Eileen Alberoni was born December 4, 1946, in Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of three children. After her family moved to California, Alberoni started modeling at age two, and shortly after, took up dancing lessons, joining her older brother Roy. Both children also learned to play musical instruments; trumpet for Sherry, and drums for Roy. Alberoni's biggest hobby was collecting dolls, and by her teenage years she would have several hundred.
Early on Alberoni displayed a generosity of spirit that would stay with her throughout her life. She volunteered for charity work, and became so successful at it that she was proclaimed a "Red Feather" girl by the Community Chest. This enabled her to attend opening day at Disneyland in 1955, where she first met Walt Disney.
Both Sherry Alberoni and her brother tried out for the Mouseketeers in the spring of 1956. Roy was up first, and after realizing his chance was slipping away, gallantly volunteered that his little sister could play the trumpet while tap-dancing. The casting judges then called for Alberoni and she performed as advertised, in the process nearly knocking her teeth out. What really got her a spot on the show though was her lisp; director Sidney Miller thought it was hilarious.
The little girl with a lisp
Sherry Alberoni joined the Mickey Mouse Club as a second season replacement and was assigned to the Blue Team. She had few solo performances in her one season with the club, but was part of many audience scenes for guest stars and circus acts. She had a long show business career as an adult, including voice work for cartoons.
Performance
At age nine, Sherry Alberoni was the youngest Mouseketeer for the show's second season (there were two younger mice during the first season). She used the stage name "Allen" upon the advice of her first agent, who thought some casting directors might not hire an ethnic talent. Like all second season mice, Alberoni's performances are unavailable for viewing today, as the studio hasn't released production numbers from that year on video or DVD.
Though normally assigned to the Blue Team for Circus Day and Guest Star Day audiences, Alberoni was also given roles in several Anything Can Happen Day numbers. She recalled in later years that director Sidney Miller would often change her lines to include many sibilants, so fond was he of hearing her lisp.
Aftermath
After leaving The Mickey Mouse Club Sherry Alberoni appeared in the film Dance With Me, Henry, the last Abbott and Costello picture. It was Lou Costello who advised Alberoni to stick with her original last name, Alberoni. She followed that up with guest appearances on Bronco and The Ed Wynn Show, before going to Europe in 1960 to make The Three Worlds of Gulliver (in which she played the character Glumdalclitch). Upon return to the United States, Sherry Alberoni had a feature role on The Tom Ewell Show as the star's daughter. Alberoni graduated from Westchester High School in Los Angeles, where she was a straight "A" student. In 1962 her brother Roy founded a professional combo called The Rhythmaires, for which Alberoni was the lead vocalist.
Throughout the sixties Sherry Alberoni would appear on episodes of many television series, such as The Donna Reed Show, The Farmer's Daughter, Ripcord, My Three Sons, The Man from UNCLE, and The Monkees, while also doing bit parts in minor films. Her biggest recurring television role was as "Sharon James" on Family Affair (1966–71). Sherry Alberoni also took a regular part in entertaining Marines at Camp Pendleton during these same years for a monthly production called "The Julie London Show". It was also in the late sixties that she began doing voice work for animated series, like Josie and the Pussycats, Super Friends, and in 1984, The Mighty Orbots. During the seventies she also featured in two horror films, Nightmare Circus (1974) and Sisters of Death (1977).
In 1980 Sherry Alberoni took part in the televised Mouseketeer Reunion, and for once got a chance to tap dance with the Red Team. Sherry took part in the Mouseketeer live performances at Disneyland in the 1980s, and also became a fixture on Mouseketeer personal appearance tours during the late eighties and nineties, often teaming with Bobby Burgess.
Alberoni has been married to Dr. Richard Van Meter for forty years. The couple has two adult daughters and four grandchildren, and resides in Southern California. Throughout her life Sherry has kept up her volunteer work for charities, donating her time and talents for a variety of worthy causes.