Donna Loren

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 second Frankie 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" with Dick Dale and the success of the song led to her appearing in a featured musical number in later beach movies. Her brunette good looks and strong voice were welcome additions to the movies. She could not do more than sing and say a few lines in those pictures because her contract with Dr Pepper did not allow her to wear any outfit that showed her navel! She became a regular on the ABC shows Shindig! (1964) and The Milton Berle Show (1966). In 1968, she was even offered the lead in a series called "Two for Penny" to be produced by Aaron Spelling and Danny Thomas. Instead she chose marriage and retired from performing. Her second husband, Jered Cargman was a member of the 60s studio surf band, Fantastic Baggys. From 1998-2008, Donna and her husband created fashion retailer ADASA Hawaii, which sold many of Donna's own 60's-inspired designs. Donna still sings and writes songs. Show less «