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Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, producer and radio personality. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was one of the last surviving stars of the silent film era.[1]
At the height of a career that was marked by precipitous declines and raging comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney "the best there has ever been".[2] Clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles, National Velvet and The Human Comedy, said he was "the closest thing to a genius I ever worked with".[3]
Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his film debut at the age of six. At 14 he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Critic David Thomson hailed his performance as "one of the cinema's most arresting pieces of magic". In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town. At 19 he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939.[4] At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made 43 films, which made him one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most consistently successful actors and a favorite of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.
Rooney was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941[5] and one of the best-paid actors of that era,[2] but his career would never again rise to such heights. Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served nearly two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, he was too old for juvenile roles but too short to be an adult movie star, and was unable to get as many starring roles. Nevertheless, Rooney's popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979). In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies and again became a celebrated star. Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1982 plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill (1981).
In June 1944, Rooney was inducted into the United States Army, where [38] he served more than 21 months (until shortly after the end of World War II) entertaining the troops in America and Europe in Special Services. He spent part of the time as a radio personality on the American Forces Network and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for entertaining troops in combat zones. In addition to the Bronze Star Medal, Rooney also received the Army Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal, for his military service.[39][self-published source][40][41]
Rooney's career slumped after his return to civilian life. He was now an adult with a height of only 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m)[42] and he could no longer play the role of a teenager, but he also lacked the stature of most leading men. He appeared in a number of films, including Words and Music in 1948, which paired him for the last time with Garland on film (he appeared with her on one episode as a guest on The Judy Garland Show). He briefly starred in a CBS radio series, Shorty Bell, in the summer of 1948, and reprised his role as "Andy Hardy", with most of the original cast, in a syndicated radio version of The Hardy Family in 1949 and 1950 (repeated on Mutual during 1952).[43]
In 1949 Variety reported that Rooney had renegotiated his deal with MGM. He agreed to make one film a year for them for five years at $25,000 a movie (his fee until then had been $100,000 but Rooney wanted to enter independent production.) Rooney claimed he was unhappy with the billing MGM gave him for Words and Music.[44]
At the height of a career that was marked by precipitous declines and raging comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he became a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney "the best there has ever been".[2] Clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles, National Velvet and The Human Comedy, said he was "the closest thing to a genius I ever worked with".[3]
Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his film debut at the age of six. At 14 he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Critic David Thomson hailed his performance as "one of the cinema's most arresting pieces of magic". In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town. At 19 he was the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for his leading role in Babes in Arms, and he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939.[4] At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made 43 films, which made him one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most consistently successful actors and a favorite of MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer.
Rooney was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941[5] and one of the best-paid actors of that era,[2] but his career would never again rise to such heights. Drafted into the Army during World War II, he served nearly two years entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio and was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning from the war in 1945, he was too old for juvenile roles but too short to be an adult movie star, and was unable to get as many starring roles. Nevertheless, Rooney's popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979). In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies and again became a celebrated star. Rooney made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows, and won an Emmy in 1982 plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill (1981).
In June 1944, Rooney was inducted into the United States Army, where [38] he served more than 21 months (until shortly after the end of World War II) entertaining the troops in America and Europe in Special Services. He spent part of the time as a radio personality on the American Forces Network and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for entertaining troops in combat zones. In addition to the Bronze Star Medal, Rooney also received the Army Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal, for his military service.[39][self-published source][40][41]
Rooney's career slumped after his return to civilian life. He was now an adult with a height of only 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m)[42] and he could no longer play the role of a teenager, but he also lacked the stature of most leading men. He appeared in a number of films, including Words and Music in 1948, which paired him for the last time with Garland on film (he appeared with her on one episode as a guest on The Judy Garland Show). He briefly starred in a CBS radio series, Shorty Bell, in the summer of 1948, and reprised his role as "Andy Hardy", with most of the original cast, in a syndicated radio version of The Hardy Family in 1949 and 1950 (repeated on Mutual during 1952).[43]
In 1949 Variety reported that Rooney had renegotiated his deal with MGM. He agreed to make one film a year for them for five years at $25,000 a movie (his fee until then had been $100,000 but Rooney wanted to enter independent production.) Rooney claimed he was unhappy with the billing MGM gave him for Words and Music.[44]
Mickey Rooney - Wikipedia
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Mickey Rooney Biography Biographies Documentaries Channel
We always have to keep in mind that a Documentary, after all, can tell lies and it can tell lies because it lays claim to a form of veracity which fiction do...
Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that September 23 is the anniversary of the birth of American actor, vaudevillian, WWII American Armed Forces Network entertainer, comedian, producer and radio personality Mickey Rooney who was (born Joseph Yule Jr.
His smile was captivating for many viewers.
"Rooney’s co-star in many of the Andy Hardy films, and also a series of musicals directed by Busby Berkeley, was his classmate at Mary MacDonald’s schoolhouse, the former Frances Gumm, who was now going by the name Judy Garland.'
I watched many f his movies while I was a teenager.
Rest in peace Mickey Rooney.
Images:
1. Mickey Rooney.
2. 1935 Mickey Rooney as Puck in the 1935 all-star version of Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'
3. 1938 Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in a promotional portrait for 1938’s Love Finds Andy Hardy.
4. Young Mickey Rooney.
Mickey Rooney Biography ✪ Biographies Documentaries Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2elnYKRFEU
1. Background from
"In 1932, a schoolteacher named Mary MacDonald was hired by MGM to teach French to a young actress named Jean Parker, who was about to be loaned out to RKO to star alongside Katharine Hepburn in Little Women. Louis B. Mayer was so impressed with her work that in 1935, he created a position for her as the teacher in residence, presiding over a two-room schoolhouse on the lot. Eventually, MGM was signing so many new child performers that MacDonald had to demand more space in which to teach them. When MacDonald told the Mayer administration that she couldn’t take another pupil until she got more fresh air, they gave her an entire bungalow.
Child stars appealed to Mayer for a number of reasons. Mayer liked to think of himself as the patriarch of a massive, happy family, a picture completed by the idea, if not the reality, of a handful of lovable youngsters running around. He also believed that you could make the most money by reaching the most people. He wanted entire families to be able to share the experience of going to the movies, and so he sought to depict multigenerational family experiences, and you needed kids for that. Child actors needed more management, and more resources to develop, but that just meant they were dependent, rather than independent—at least, in theory. Two of the biggest stars who passed through Mary MacDonald’s school would test that theory.
Mickey Rooney would remember Mayer as a visionary who wanted to use his studio to produce movies that would change if not the world then at least America by presenting an idealized image of how things could be. And there was no better example of this than A Family Affair, the 1937 film in which Rooney first played Andy Hardy, the teenage son of a judge in bucolic small town America. A Family Affair was a modest success nationwide, but theater owners in real small towns reported their patrons were clamoring for more stories about the Hardy clan. So MGM obliged, making 14 more Andy Hardy movies over the next decade.
Rooney’s co-star in many of the Andy Hardy films, and also a series of musicals directed by Busby Berkeley, was his classmate at Mary MacDonald’s schoolhouse, the former Frances Gumm, who was now going by the name Judy Garland. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney had more than discarded birth names in common. Both were short and cherubic-looking teens who had been performing with their vaudeville families since they could talk. Both came from homes that their troubled fathers had broken, forcing the kids to go to work to help a single mom stay afloat. For other stars, MGM was a home away from home; for Mickey and Judy, it was home instead of home, and their relationships with Louis B. Mayer were perhaps the most like genuine father-teenager relationships, in all their complexity.
When Mickey and Judy first met, in 1935, Rooney had already broken out, but Garland’s position at the studio was much more precarious. Judy was signed at the same time as a singer named Deanna Durbin, a blond beauty with a voice for opera. For Judy’s first year at MGM, she was openly in competition with Durbin—no one believed the studio would keep two teenage girl singers on contract for long, and everyone seemed to think they would eventually decide to keep one and ditch the other. MGM even played up the differences between Deanna and Judy by casting them together in a short called “Every Sunday,” in which Deanna did her opera thing, and Judy showed off her very different brand of virtuosity."
2. Background from imdb.com/name/nm0001682/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
"Mickey Rooney Biography
Overview | Mini Bio | Spouse (8) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (81) | Personal Quotes (35) | Salary (60)
Overview
Born September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died April 6, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth Name Joseph Yule Jr.
Nicknames The Mick; The Mickster
Height 5' 2" (1.57 m)
Mini Bio
Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He first took the stage as a toddler in his parents vaudeville act at 17 months old. He made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney. Rooney reached new heights in 1937 with A Family Affair, the film that introduced the country to Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager. This beloved character appeared in nearly 20 films and helped make Rooney the top star at the box office in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Rooney also proved himself an excellent dramatic actor as a delinquent in Boys Town (1938) starring Spencer Tracy. In 1938, he was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award.
Teaming up with Judy Garland, Rooney also appeared in a string of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy(1943). He and Garland immediately became best of friends. "We weren't just a team, we were magic," Rooney once said. During that time he also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the now classic National Velvet (1944). Rooney joined the service that same year, where he helped to entertain the troops and worked on the American Armed Forces Network. He returned to Hollywood after 21 months in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy(1946), did a remake of a Robert Taylor film, The Crowd Roars (1932) called Killer McCoy(1947) and portrayed composer Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948). He also appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Rooney played Hepburn's Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. A sign of the times, Rooney played the part for comic relief which he later regretted feeling the role was offensive. He once again showed his incredible range in the dramatic role of a boxing trainer with Anthony Quinnand Jackie Gleason in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s Rooney showed audiences and critics alike why he was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. He gave an impressive performance in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film The Black Stallion (1979), which brought him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also turned to the stage in 1979 in Sugar Babies with Ann Miller, and was nominated for a Tony Award. During that time he also portrayed the Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt at New York's Madison Square Garden, which also had a successful run nationally.
Rooney appeared in four television series': The Mickey Rooney Show (1954) (1954-1955), a comedy sit-com in 1964 with Sammee Tong called Mickey, One of the Boys in 1982 with Dana Carvey and Nathan Lane, and The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) from 1990-1993. In 1981, Rooney won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man in Bill (1981). The critical acclaim continued to flow for the veteran performer, with Rooney receiving an honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances". More recently he has appeared in such films as Night at the Museum (2006) with Ben Stiller and The Muppets(2011) with Amy Adams and Jason Segel.
Rooney's personal life, including his frequent trips to the altar, has proved to be just as epic as his on-screen performances. His first wife was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, actress Ava Gardner. Mickey permanently separated from his eighth wife Jan in June of 2012. In 2011 Rooney filed elder abuse and fraud charges against stepson Christopher Aber and Aber's wife. At Rooney's request, the Superior Court issued a restraining order against the Aber's demanding they stay 100 yards from Rooney, as well as Mickey's other son Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene. Just prior, Rooney mustered the strength to break his silence and appeared before the Senate in Washington D.C. telling of his own heartbreaking story of abuse in an effort to live a peaceful, full life and help others who may be similarly suffering in silence.
Rooney requested through the Superior Court to permanently reside with his son Mark Rooney, who is a musician and Marks wife Charlene, an artist, in the Hollywood Hills. He legally separated from his eighth wife in June of 2012. Ironically, after eight failed marriages he never looked or felt better and finally found happiness and peace in the single life. Mickey, Mark and Charlene focused on health, happiness and creative endeavors and it showed. Mickey Rooney had once again landed on his feet reminding us that he was a survivor. Rooney died on April 6th 2014. He was taking his afternoon nap and never woke. One week before his death Mark and Charlene surprised him by reunited him with a long lost love, the racetrack. He was ecstatic to be back after decades and ran into his old friends Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouse (8)
8th wife:Jan Rooney (28 July 1978 - 6 April 2014) ( his death)
7th wife:Carolyn Hockett (27 May 1969 - 24 January 1975) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
6th wife:Margaret Lane (10 September 1966 - 14 December 1967) ( divorced)
5thwife:Carolyn Mitchell (1 December 1958 - 31 January 1966) ( her death) ( 4 children)
4th wife:Elaine DeVry (18 November 1952 - 18 May 1958) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
3rd wife:Martha Vickers (3 June 1949 - 25 September 1952) ( divorced) ( 1 child)
2nd wife:B.J. Baker (30 September 1944 - 3 June 1949) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
1st wife: Ava Gardner (10 January 1942 - 21 May 1943) ( divorced)
Trade Mark (3)
Best known in his youth for playing Andy Hardy with Judy Garland as the female lead or supporting character in three Hardy Family films, as well as pairing up with Garland in a series of cheerfully naive musicals that usually ended with the characters putting on an impromptu musical show. In his senior years, he often played a cheerful old mentor with a youthful spirit.
Short stature
Raspy voice
Trivia (81)
1. His son Teddy Rooney appeared with him in Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), portraying Andy Hardy Jr.
2. Son of Scottish-born vaudevillian/actor Joe Yule and Missouri-born Nell Carter. They divorced in 1923, when Mickey was three years old.
3. Was considered for the role of Archie Bunker on All in the Family (1971).
4. Father of Tim Rooney and Mickey Rooney Jr., from his marriage to Betty Jane Rase (B.J. Baker).
5. Father of Jonelle Rooney (born January 11, 1970) from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett. He also adopted Carolyn's son from a previous marriage, Jimmy Rooney (born 1966).
6. Liza Minnelli wanted Rooney to do the eulogy at the funeral for her mother, Judy Garlandin June of 1969, but decided against it because she felt that Rooney might not be able to get through it, given his and Garland's long and close friendship.
7. Was co-owner for many years of the Mickey Rooney Tabas Hotel in Downingtown, PA.
8. Originally came to Hollywood to audition for "Our Gang" (aka The Little Rascals (1955)), unfortunately Mickey's mother declined over a dispute over salary.
9. Stepfather of Christopher Aber and Mark Rooney.
10. According to one story, Mickey Mouse was named for Rooney. Walt Disney saw a young Rooney while he was working on the first drawings of what was to become Mickey Mouse. He asked the child actor what he thought of the drawings and also asked what his name was. This later proved to be false.
11. Was nominated for Broadway's 1980 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Sugar Babies."
12. His third child, Teddy Rooney, was born weighing 7 lb. 3 oz. in April 1950, to Martha Vickers.
13. With a film career that lasted from 1926 to 2015, he has the longest career in cinema history, surpassing Lillian Gish, whose career lasted from 1912-87, or 75 years. Carla Laemmle's career lasted from 1925-2015. Rooney's 339 film credits span ten consecutive decades: 1920s-2010s. Laemmle's 17 film credits include a break from 1939 to 2010 (except for a video short in 2001).
14. Underwent double heart bypass surgery in 2000.
15. Was #7 on the World Poker Tour Invitational, even though he had never played Texas Hold 'Em poker before.
16. Is portrayed by Moosie Drier in Rainbow (1978) and by Dwayne Adams in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001)
17. Father of Kelly Ann Rooney (born September 13, 1959), Kerry Yule Rooney (born December 30, 1960), Michael Rooney (VI) (born April 2, 1962) and Kimmy Sue Rooney (born September 13, 1963), from his marriage to Carolyn Mitchell.
18. At age 19 became the first teenager to be Oscar-nominated in a leading role for Babes in Arms (1939).
19. Former roommate of Blake Edwards.
20. His first of eight marriages was to Ava Gardner but his marriage to Jan Rooney was longer than those of all his other seven wives combined.
21. Had 19 grandchildren, including Shannon Rooney and Dominique Rooney by his son Timothy Rooney, and several great-grandchildren among whom Kaitlyn Rooney and Hunter Rooney.
22. He was most proud of his film The Black Stallion (1979).
23. Attended the 2006 Twilight Zone Convention at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, August 12-13, 2006.
24. As of 2007 he was the only surviving actor to appear in silent films and still continue to act in movies into the 21st century. His film debut was in the movie Not to Be Trusted(1926), in 1926 when he was four years old.
25. Attended the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan on (11 June 2004).
26. His father was a Scottish immigrant. His mother, who was from Missouri, had English ancestry.
27. In 1938 he was severely reprimanded by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer for having a torrid affair with Norma Shearer. The affair was causing quite a commotion on the set of her film Marie Antoinette (1938), where the two would hole up in her trailer. Mickey was 18 at the time. Shearer was 38 and her husband, MGM studio exec Irving Thalberg, had recently died. Mayer managed to keep the story from going public and it was not revealed until many years later, when Rooney gave the explicit details in his autobiography.
28. Has four Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame including a star for Motion Pictures at 1718 Vine St., a star for Television at 6541 Hollywood Blvd., a star for Radio at 6372 Hollywood Blvd. and shared with wife Jan Rooney a star for Live Theater at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.
29. During World War II he served 22 months in the U.S. Army, five of them with the Third Army of Gen. George S. Patton. He attained the rank of sergeant and won a Bronze Star, among other decorations.
30. With the death of James Stewart on July 2, 1997, Rooney was the last surviving entertainer of the 46 caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941).
31. His hobbies included listening to music, football, golfing, dancing, horse racing, painting, getting together with old friends and watching classic movies.
32. Moved with his mother to Hollywood in 1925, when he was five. This was one year after his parents' separation.
33. Graduated from Hollywood High School in 1938. Other alumni were Jason Robards, Ann Miller, Nanette Fabray, Lana Turner, Alan Hale Jr., Marge Champion, Alexis Smith and Joseph Wapner.
34. Went to the same high school as Jason Robards, Ann Miller, Nanette Fabray, Lana Turner, Alan Hale Jr., Marge Champion, Alexis Smith and Joseph Wapner.
35. His future The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) co-star, Richard Ian Cox, was a childhood movie hero of his.
36. Began his career as a contract player for MGM in 1934.
37. May have been the only actor in history to appear in at least one film in ten consecutive decades.
38. Ranked first in front of Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Jane Wyman, Eddie Albert and Ernest Borgnine, in the number of movies; he appeared in over 100 films.
39. In "The Guinness Book of World Records he holds the record for longest movie career--86 years (1925-2011).
40. Began performing at the age of 17 months, as part of his parents' routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo.
41. Was an animal rights activist.
42. Overcame his drug addiction in the 1970s.
43. On his 85th birthday he and wife Jan Rooney both appeared in the variety show "Let's Put On A Show".
44. Attended the funeral of Liza Minnelli's former stepfather, Sidney Luft, just days before he had his 85th birthday.
45. Tony Bennett and Regis Philbin were among the people to attend his 90th birthday party.
46. Broke his leg while filming A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and was doubled in many scenes by George P. Breakston.
47. Alongside Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, Ernest Borgnine, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Edward Asner, Marla Gibbs, Adam West, William Shatner, Larry Hagman, June Lockhart, Florence Henderson, Shirley Jones, Hal Lindenand Alan Alda, Rooney was one of the few actors in Hollywood who lived into their 80s and/or 90s without ever either retiring from acting or having stopped getting work.
48. He reunited with friend and former co star Judy Garland, as her singing and dancing partner, on an episode of The Judy Garland Show (1963). On that show, he displayed his music versatility by performing a drum solo.
49. Was a pallbearer at Errol Flynn's funeral along with Raoul Walsh, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Jack Oakie, Mike Romanoff, and Otto Reichow on October 19, 1959, at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA.
50. He chose to permanently reside with stepson Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene Rooney. They moved to the Hollywood Hills in June of 2012 when he permanently and legally separated from his eighth wife.
51. Mickey's stunt double was Jesse Wayne for 27 years beginning in 1959.
52. Release of his book, "The Search for Sonny Skies: A Novel". [1995]
53. Together with his wife he toured the UK, appearing in selected theatres performing songs and telling stories about his career. [September 2007]
54. Appearing in the UK at the Bristol Hippodrome on stage as Baron Hardup in Cinderella - the pantomime since December 2008 up to January 11 2009. [January 2009]
55. On Nov. 26, 1999, he underwent surgery in Sydney, Australia, for a perforated colon.
56. On July 7, 2009, he attended Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles with son, Mark Rooney, daughter-in-law, Charlene Rooney, and wife Jan Rooney.
57. Release of his autobiography, "Life is too Short". [1991]
58. Made personal appearances November 5 and 6 with wife Jan at American Visions Art Galleries -- in Folsom and Granite Bay, California. [November 2010]
59. Mickey Rooney continues to work and recently returned from the Turner Classics Cruise featuring Mickey and Debbie Reynolds. Mickey left his home in Westlake Village in June 2012 and has chosen to reside with his stepson/caregiver son Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene. The Westlake Village home was on the market since December 2012 and is currently in escrow. [January 2013]
60. Sold his modest Westlake home in May 2013.
61. Was a staunch conservative Republican for many years. In later life, however, he supported the man and not the party. He has been quoted as saying he was proud of President Barack Obama and his policies.
62. In November of 2013 he attended the memorial service for his longtime friend A.C. Lyles(aka "Mr. Paramount"). Also in attendance were Mickey's son Mark Rooney, Mark's wife Charlene and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
63. Like Julie London, his parents were vaudeville performers.
64. On news of his passing, numerous television newscasters nationwide mixed up his name on-air with that of Andrew Rooney (aka Andy Rooney), humorist and writer for CBS, who died 2-1/2 years previously.
65. His acting career lasted for 89 years, with his first film being released in 1926 and his final one being set for distribution in 2015.
66. He played George M. Cohan three times, twice in TV specials and touring in the stage musical. "George M!".
67. Was a compulsive gambler on horse racing.
68. Surrogate grandson of Richard Ian Cox.
69. Mickey Rooney had passed away on April 6, 2014, just four months before Robin Williamscommitted suicide. They both starred in the movie: Night at the Museum (2006) and its sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).
70. Was the spokesperson for Garden State Life Insurance Company.
71. His third son, Teddy Rooney, died on July 2, 2016, at age 66, just two years after the death of his father.
72. He was known to be a very "social butterfly".
73. Did not have a successful series until he turned 70.
74. Interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.
75. When he passed away in 2014, at the age of 93, he had at least three future projects that he was going to perform in.
76. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he did a nightclub comedy act with comic Joey Forman.
77. When he died his eight surviving children said in a statement that they were barred from seeing Rooney during his final years.
78. Son of Nell Ruth (née Carter) Pankey (July 12, 1897-March 3, 1966). She was born in Kansas City, Missouri and died in Los Angeles, California.
79. Maternal grandson of Palestine (1852-1906), born in the state of Missouri, and Sarah (née Waite) Carter (1858-1899), born in the state of Alabama.
80. Appears in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Boys Town (1938) and The Human Comedy (1943).
81. At the time of his death, Mickey Rooney was set to play one of the three leads in Old Soldiers along with Hugh O'Brian and James Best.
Personal Quotes (35)
1. [at 58 years old] I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in.
2. [asked if he would marry all of his eight wives again] Absolutely. I loved every one of them.
3. My partners weren't what we call in horse racing parlance "routers". They were sprinters; they went out of the gate, but then they stopped. They couldn't go the distance.
4. People say, "How can you be married eight times?" But I played the hand dealt me the way I was supposed to. I was friendly with most of my ex-wives. My God, there's a Mickey Rooney's Former Wives Marching Band!
5. [on his marriages] When I say "I do", the Justice of the Peace replies, "I know, I know". I'm the only man in the world whose marriage license reads, "To Whom it May Concern". But to have been married eight times is not normal. That's only halfway intelligent.
6. You've got to recognize, there will never be another you. It has nothing to do with ego; it happens to be the truth. There will never be another person the same. There'll never be another you. There'll never be another me . . . And there'll never be another show like this!
7. The audience and I are friends. They allowed me to grow up with them. I've let them down several times. They've let me down several times. But we're all family.
8. Love wears off too quickly.
9. I don't regret anything I've ever done. I only wish I could have done more.
10. I was a 14-year-old boy for 30 years.
11. [upon winning his lifetime achievement Oscar, 1983] Tonight, I could even kiss Louis B. Mayer!.
12. [on his lifelong friend and frequent co-star, Judy Garland] Judy turned to drugs because she was in pain and because drugs made her feel good. As one of the MGM kids, she'd been treated for most of her life to magical, instant solutions to everything . . . She could never accept herself, so she was always on the run.
13. I didn't ask to be short. I didn't want to be short. I've tried to pretend that being a short guy didn't matter.
14. The guys with the power in Hollywood today, the guys with their names above the title, are thieves. They don't make movies, they make deals. Their major function is to cut themselves in for 10% of the gross--off the top, of course--which is why they make movies that cost $50 million.
15. [Bill Clinton] was a Rhodes Scholar. Do you know who the scholars were? Marxists!
16. I just want to be a professional. I couldn't live without acting.
17. There may be a little snow on the mountain, but there's a lot of fire in the furnace.
18. All the muddy waters of my life cleared up when I gave myself to Christ.
19. I've been through four publics. I've been coming back like a rubber ball for years.
20. [on his feud with Ernest Borgnine] All the Oscars in the world can't buy him dignity, class and talent. I don't know why he is famous and why he is a star. Talk about a lucky jerk.
21. If it's immorally wrong, it's not normal. Jesus Christ said, "The effeminate are an abomination to me". Are you aware of that? I don't watch the [Ellen DeGeneres] show. I wish her all kinds of luck. Except that I'm not a fan. But there are a lot of people who aren't fans of Mickey Rooney and you can't please everyone.
22. [in 2007] I think the family pictures are what people really want to see--and musicals, of course.
23. I don't get caught between lesbians and gays. If you can't say something nice about someone, just shut your mouth.
24. I never knew anything about anyone being gay in Hollywood when I was working in the studios. Did you know that? They weren't in closets, they were in safes.
25. I lost $2 at Santa Anita and I've spent $3 million trying to get it back.
26. Sure, I love the chicks. I love 'em all. But when you're nuts about too many, how can a guy settle down to one?
27. Hollywood has unfortunately become a memory. It's nothing but a sign on the side of a hill.
28. When I was 19 years old I was the #1 star for two years. When I was 40, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.
29. There was, in fact, a standard studio recipe. Take one young actress, pluck her eyebrows, cap her teeth, shape her hairline, pad as required and throw her into the ring with Andy Hardy. Then wait and see. If the public responded, the starlet became a star.
30. I was aware, even at age three, that my father had a penchant for going out by himself after a show, then returning at dawn with a nervous grin on his face. I could only guess, from my mother's angry reactions that he was doing something that hurt her very much. She kept talking about my dad's "floozies"--which I took to be another name for "bartender." You see, I thought my dad had a problem with Punch, not with Judy.
31. When "Sugar Babies" opened, I was the most famous has-been in show business.
32. [In his autobiography] Had I been brighter, had the ladies been gentler, had the scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, this could have been a one-sentence story: Once upon a time, Mickey Rooney lived happily ever after.
33. [In a 1970 David Frost interview] I have nine kids, seven wives, and the American Bar Association to support. I'm a very quiet person, a fellow who believes in the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and bacon, lettuce and tomato with a lot of mayonnaise.
34. [observation as a young man on his most famous role] It's funny how a character can grow on a feller. I depend on [Andy Hardy] all the time. When I'm not sure whether I should do a certain thing, I ask myself, "Would Andy do it?" And if Andy won't do it, I won't.
35. [2008, on the controversy surrounding his Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) role] Blake Edwards wanted me to do it because he was a comedy director. They hired me to do this overboard, and we had fun doing it . . . Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it--not one complaint. Every place I've gone in the world people say, "God, you were so funny". Asians and Chinese come up to me and say, "Mickey, you were out of this world", [Had I known people would get offended] I wouldn't have done it. Those that didn't like it, I forgive them and God bless America, God bless the universe, God bless Japanese, Chinese, Indians, all of them and let's have peace.
Salary (60)
Not to Be Trusted (1926) $200
Mickey's Circus (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Pals (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Eleven (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Battle (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Parade (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Nine (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Wild West (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Triumph (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Movies (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Rivals (1928) $250 /week
Mickey the Detective (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Wildcats (1931) $250 /week
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) $500 /week
Ah Wilderness! (1935) $500 /week
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) $500 /week
The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) $500 /week
Captains Courageous (1937) $500 /week
Slave Ship (1937) $500 /week
Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) $500 /week
Live, Love and Learn (1937) $500 /week
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) $500 /week
You're Only Young Once (1937) $5,000
Love Is a Headache (1938) $5,000
Judge Hardy's Children (1938) $5,000
Hold That Kiss (1938) $5,000
Lord Jeff (1938) $5,000
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) $5,000
Boys Town (1938) $5,000
Stablemates (1938) $5,000
Out West with the Hardys (1938) $5,000
Babes in Arms (1939) $23,000
Babes on Broadway (1941) $53,333 a week plus $25,000 bonus
The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942) $2,500 /week
A Yank at Eton (1942) $2,500
Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) $2,500 /week
The Human Comedy (1943) $2,500 /week
Thousands Cheer (1943) $2,500 /week
Girl Crazy (1943) $68,000
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944) $2,500 /week
National Velvet (1944) $2,500 /week
The Big Wheel (1949) $25,000
Quicksand (1950) $25,000
Sound Off (1952) $75,000
All Ashore (1953) $75,000
A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) $75,000
Drive a Crooked Road (1954) $75,000
The Mickey Rooney Show (1954) $3,500 /week
The Comedian (1957) $10,000
Baby Face Nelson (1957) $35,000
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958) $35,000
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) $25,000
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) $100,000
Funny Man with a Monkey (1964) $10,000
Mickey (1964) $5,000 /episode
The Secret Invasion (1964) $50,000
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) $5,000
The Black Stallion (1979) $75,000
Babe: Pig in the City (1998) $175,000
Night at the Museum (2006) $250,000"
FYI MSgt David HoffmanSgt (Join to see)SFC (Join to see)cmsgt-rickey-denickeCW3 Matt HutchasonLTC (Join to see)Sgt John H.PVT Mark Zehner1sg-dan-capriSGT Robert R.CPT Tommy CurtisSGT (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarlandCol Carl WhickerSGT Mark AndersonSSG Michael NollSFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian Williams
His smile was captivating for many viewers.
"Rooney’s co-star in many of the Andy Hardy films, and also a series of musicals directed by Busby Berkeley, was his classmate at Mary MacDonald’s schoolhouse, the former Frances Gumm, who was now going by the name Judy Garland.'
I watched many f his movies while I was a teenager.
Rest in peace Mickey Rooney.
Images:
1. Mickey Rooney.
2. 1935 Mickey Rooney as Puck in the 1935 all-star version of Shakespeare’s 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.'
3. 1938 Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in a promotional portrait for 1938’s Love Finds Andy Hardy.
4. Young Mickey Rooney.
Mickey Rooney Biography ✪ Biographies Documentaries Channel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2elnYKRFEU
1. Background from
"In 1932, a schoolteacher named Mary MacDonald was hired by MGM to teach French to a young actress named Jean Parker, who was about to be loaned out to RKO to star alongside Katharine Hepburn in Little Women. Louis B. Mayer was so impressed with her work that in 1935, he created a position for her as the teacher in residence, presiding over a two-room schoolhouse on the lot. Eventually, MGM was signing so many new child performers that MacDonald had to demand more space in which to teach them. When MacDonald told the Mayer administration that she couldn’t take another pupil until she got more fresh air, they gave her an entire bungalow.
Child stars appealed to Mayer for a number of reasons. Mayer liked to think of himself as the patriarch of a massive, happy family, a picture completed by the idea, if not the reality, of a handful of lovable youngsters running around. He also believed that you could make the most money by reaching the most people. He wanted entire families to be able to share the experience of going to the movies, and so he sought to depict multigenerational family experiences, and you needed kids for that. Child actors needed more management, and more resources to develop, but that just meant they were dependent, rather than independent—at least, in theory. Two of the biggest stars who passed through Mary MacDonald’s school would test that theory.
Mickey Rooney would remember Mayer as a visionary who wanted to use his studio to produce movies that would change if not the world then at least America by presenting an idealized image of how things could be. And there was no better example of this than A Family Affair, the 1937 film in which Rooney first played Andy Hardy, the teenage son of a judge in bucolic small town America. A Family Affair was a modest success nationwide, but theater owners in real small towns reported their patrons were clamoring for more stories about the Hardy clan. So MGM obliged, making 14 more Andy Hardy movies over the next decade.
Rooney’s co-star in many of the Andy Hardy films, and also a series of musicals directed by Busby Berkeley, was his classmate at Mary MacDonald’s schoolhouse, the former Frances Gumm, who was now going by the name Judy Garland. Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney had more than discarded birth names in common. Both were short and cherubic-looking teens who had been performing with their vaudeville families since they could talk. Both came from homes that their troubled fathers had broken, forcing the kids to go to work to help a single mom stay afloat. For other stars, MGM was a home away from home; for Mickey and Judy, it was home instead of home, and their relationships with Louis B. Mayer were perhaps the most like genuine father-teenager relationships, in all their complexity.
When Mickey and Judy first met, in 1935, Rooney had already broken out, but Garland’s position at the studio was much more precarious. Judy was signed at the same time as a singer named Deanna Durbin, a blond beauty with a voice for opera. For Judy’s first year at MGM, she was openly in competition with Durbin—no one believed the studio would keep two teenage girl singers on contract for long, and everyone seemed to think they would eventually decide to keep one and ditch the other. MGM even played up the differences between Deanna and Judy by casting them together in a short called “Every Sunday,” in which Deanna did her opera thing, and Judy showed off her very different brand of virtuosity."
2. Background from imdb.com/name/nm0001682/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm
"Mickey Rooney Biography
Overview | Mini Bio | Spouse (8) | Trade Mark (3) | Trivia (81) | Personal Quotes (35) | Salary (60)
Overview
Born September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Died April 6, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth Name Joseph Yule Jr.
Nicknames The Mick; The Mickster
Height 5' 2" (1.57 m)
Mini Bio
Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He first took the stage as a toddler in his parents vaudeville act at 17 months old. He made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney. Rooney reached new heights in 1937 with A Family Affair, the film that introduced the country to Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager. This beloved character appeared in nearly 20 films and helped make Rooney the top star at the box office in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Rooney also proved himself an excellent dramatic actor as a delinquent in Boys Town (1938) starring Spencer Tracy. In 1938, he was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award.
Teaming up with Judy Garland, Rooney also appeared in a string of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy(1943). He and Garland immediately became best of friends. "We weren't just a team, we were magic," Rooney once said. During that time he also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the now classic National Velvet (1944). Rooney joined the service that same year, where he helped to entertain the troops and worked on the American Armed Forces Network. He returned to Hollywood after 21 months in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy(1946), did a remake of a Robert Taylor film, The Crowd Roars (1932) called Killer McCoy(1947) and portrayed composer Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948). He also appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Rooney played Hepburn's Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. A sign of the times, Rooney played the part for comic relief which he later regretted feeling the role was offensive. He once again showed his incredible range in the dramatic role of a boxing trainer with Anthony Quinnand Jackie Gleason in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s Rooney showed audiences and critics alike why he was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. He gave an impressive performance in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film The Black Stallion (1979), which brought him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also turned to the stage in 1979 in Sugar Babies with Ann Miller, and was nominated for a Tony Award. During that time he also portrayed the Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt at New York's Madison Square Garden, which also had a successful run nationally.
Rooney appeared in four television series': The Mickey Rooney Show (1954) (1954-1955), a comedy sit-com in 1964 with Sammee Tong called Mickey, One of the Boys in 1982 with Dana Carvey and Nathan Lane, and The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) from 1990-1993. In 1981, Rooney won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man in Bill (1981). The critical acclaim continued to flow for the veteran performer, with Rooney receiving an honorary Academy Award "in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances". More recently he has appeared in such films as Night at the Museum (2006) with Ben Stiller and The Muppets(2011) with Amy Adams and Jason Segel.
Rooney's personal life, including his frequent trips to the altar, has proved to be just as epic as his on-screen performances. His first wife was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, actress Ava Gardner. Mickey permanently separated from his eighth wife Jan in June of 2012. In 2011 Rooney filed elder abuse and fraud charges against stepson Christopher Aber and Aber's wife. At Rooney's request, the Superior Court issued a restraining order against the Aber's demanding they stay 100 yards from Rooney, as well as Mickey's other son Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene. Just prior, Rooney mustered the strength to break his silence and appeared before the Senate in Washington D.C. telling of his own heartbreaking story of abuse in an effort to live a peaceful, full life and help others who may be similarly suffering in silence.
Rooney requested through the Superior Court to permanently reside with his son Mark Rooney, who is a musician and Marks wife Charlene, an artist, in the Hollywood Hills. He legally separated from his eighth wife in June of 2012. Ironically, after eight failed marriages he never looked or felt better and finally found happiness and peace in the single life. Mickey, Mark and Charlene focused on health, happiness and creative endeavors and it showed. Mickey Rooney had once again landed on his feet reminding us that he was a survivor. Rooney died on April 6th 2014. He was taking his afternoon nap and never woke. One week before his death Mark and Charlene surprised him by reunited him with a long lost love, the racetrack. He was ecstatic to be back after decades and ran into his old friends Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Spouse (8)
8th wife:Jan Rooney (28 July 1978 - 6 April 2014) ( his death)
7th wife:Carolyn Hockett (27 May 1969 - 24 January 1975) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
6th wife:Margaret Lane (10 September 1966 - 14 December 1967) ( divorced)
5thwife:Carolyn Mitchell (1 December 1958 - 31 January 1966) ( her death) ( 4 children)
4th wife:Elaine DeVry (18 November 1952 - 18 May 1958) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
3rd wife:Martha Vickers (3 June 1949 - 25 September 1952) ( divorced) ( 1 child)
2nd wife:B.J. Baker (30 September 1944 - 3 June 1949) ( divorced) ( 2 children)
1st wife: Ava Gardner (10 January 1942 - 21 May 1943) ( divorced)
Trade Mark (3)
Best known in his youth for playing Andy Hardy with Judy Garland as the female lead or supporting character in three Hardy Family films, as well as pairing up with Garland in a series of cheerfully naive musicals that usually ended with the characters putting on an impromptu musical show. In his senior years, he often played a cheerful old mentor with a youthful spirit.
Short stature
Raspy voice
Trivia (81)
1. His son Teddy Rooney appeared with him in Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), portraying Andy Hardy Jr.
2. Son of Scottish-born vaudevillian/actor Joe Yule and Missouri-born Nell Carter. They divorced in 1923, when Mickey was three years old.
3. Was considered for the role of Archie Bunker on All in the Family (1971).
4. Father of Tim Rooney and Mickey Rooney Jr., from his marriage to Betty Jane Rase (B.J. Baker).
5. Father of Jonelle Rooney (born January 11, 1970) from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett. He also adopted Carolyn's son from a previous marriage, Jimmy Rooney (born 1966).
6. Liza Minnelli wanted Rooney to do the eulogy at the funeral for her mother, Judy Garlandin June of 1969, but decided against it because she felt that Rooney might not be able to get through it, given his and Garland's long and close friendship.
7. Was co-owner for many years of the Mickey Rooney Tabas Hotel in Downingtown, PA.
8. Originally came to Hollywood to audition for "Our Gang" (aka The Little Rascals (1955)), unfortunately Mickey's mother declined over a dispute over salary.
9. Stepfather of Christopher Aber and Mark Rooney.
10. According to one story, Mickey Mouse was named for Rooney. Walt Disney saw a young Rooney while he was working on the first drawings of what was to become Mickey Mouse. He asked the child actor what he thought of the drawings and also asked what his name was. This later proved to be false.
11. Was nominated for Broadway's 1980 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Sugar Babies."
12. His third child, Teddy Rooney, was born weighing 7 lb. 3 oz. in April 1950, to Martha Vickers.
13. With a film career that lasted from 1926 to 2015, he has the longest career in cinema history, surpassing Lillian Gish, whose career lasted from 1912-87, or 75 years. Carla Laemmle's career lasted from 1925-2015. Rooney's 339 film credits span ten consecutive decades: 1920s-2010s. Laemmle's 17 film credits include a break from 1939 to 2010 (except for a video short in 2001).
14. Underwent double heart bypass surgery in 2000.
15. Was #7 on the World Poker Tour Invitational, even though he had never played Texas Hold 'Em poker before.
16. Is portrayed by Moosie Drier in Rainbow (1978) and by Dwayne Adams in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001)
17. Father of Kelly Ann Rooney (born September 13, 1959), Kerry Yule Rooney (born December 30, 1960), Michael Rooney (VI) (born April 2, 1962) and Kimmy Sue Rooney (born September 13, 1963), from his marriage to Carolyn Mitchell.
18. At age 19 became the first teenager to be Oscar-nominated in a leading role for Babes in Arms (1939).
19. Former roommate of Blake Edwards.
20. His first of eight marriages was to Ava Gardner but his marriage to Jan Rooney was longer than those of all his other seven wives combined.
21. Had 19 grandchildren, including Shannon Rooney and Dominique Rooney by his son Timothy Rooney, and several great-grandchildren among whom Kaitlyn Rooney and Hunter Rooney.
22. He was most proud of his film The Black Stallion (1979).
23. Attended the 2006 Twilight Zone Convention at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, August 12-13, 2006.
24. As of 2007 he was the only surviving actor to appear in silent films and still continue to act in movies into the 21st century. His film debut was in the movie Not to Be Trusted(1926), in 1926 when he was four years old.
25. Attended the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan on (11 June 2004).
26. His father was a Scottish immigrant. His mother, who was from Missouri, had English ancestry.
27. In 1938 he was severely reprimanded by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer for having a torrid affair with Norma Shearer. The affair was causing quite a commotion on the set of her film Marie Antoinette (1938), where the two would hole up in her trailer. Mickey was 18 at the time. Shearer was 38 and her husband, MGM studio exec Irving Thalberg, had recently died. Mayer managed to keep the story from going public and it was not revealed until many years later, when Rooney gave the explicit details in his autobiography.
28. Has four Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame including a star for Motion Pictures at 1718 Vine St., a star for Television at 6541 Hollywood Blvd., a star for Radio at 6372 Hollywood Blvd. and shared with wife Jan Rooney a star for Live Theater at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.
29. During World War II he served 22 months in the U.S. Army, five of them with the Third Army of Gen. George S. Patton. He attained the rank of sergeant and won a Bronze Star, among other decorations.
30. With the death of James Stewart on July 2, 1997, Rooney was the last surviving entertainer of the 46 caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941).
31. His hobbies included listening to music, football, golfing, dancing, horse racing, painting, getting together with old friends and watching classic movies.
32. Moved with his mother to Hollywood in 1925, when he was five. This was one year after his parents' separation.
33. Graduated from Hollywood High School in 1938. Other alumni were Jason Robards, Ann Miller, Nanette Fabray, Lana Turner, Alan Hale Jr., Marge Champion, Alexis Smith and Joseph Wapner.
34. Went to the same high school as Jason Robards, Ann Miller, Nanette Fabray, Lana Turner, Alan Hale Jr., Marge Champion, Alexis Smith and Joseph Wapner.
35. His future The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) co-star, Richard Ian Cox, was a childhood movie hero of his.
36. Began his career as a contract player for MGM in 1934.
37. May have been the only actor in history to appear in at least one film in ten consecutive decades.
38. Ranked first in front of Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Jane Wyman, Eddie Albert and Ernest Borgnine, in the number of movies; he appeared in over 100 films.
39. In "The Guinness Book of World Records he holds the record for longest movie career--86 years (1925-2011).
40. Began performing at the age of 17 months, as part of his parents' routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo.
41. Was an animal rights activist.
42. Overcame his drug addiction in the 1970s.
43. On his 85th birthday he and wife Jan Rooney both appeared in the variety show "Let's Put On A Show".
44. Attended the funeral of Liza Minnelli's former stepfather, Sidney Luft, just days before he had his 85th birthday.
45. Tony Bennett and Regis Philbin were among the people to attend his 90th birthday party.
46. Broke his leg while filming A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) and was doubled in many scenes by George P. Breakston.
47. Alongside Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, Ernest Borgnine, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Edward Asner, Marla Gibbs, Adam West, William Shatner, Larry Hagman, June Lockhart, Florence Henderson, Shirley Jones, Hal Lindenand Alan Alda, Rooney was one of the few actors in Hollywood who lived into their 80s and/or 90s without ever either retiring from acting or having stopped getting work.
48. He reunited with friend and former co star Judy Garland, as her singing and dancing partner, on an episode of The Judy Garland Show (1963). On that show, he displayed his music versatility by performing a drum solo.
49. Was a pallbearer at Errol Flynn's funeral along with Raoul Walsh, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Jack Oakie, Mike Romanoff, and Otto Reichow on October 19, 1959, at the Church of the Recessional at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA.
50. He chose to permanently reside with stepson Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene Rooney. They moved to the Hollywood Hills in June of 2012 when he permanently and legally separated from his eighth wife.
51. Mickey's stunt double was Jesse Wayne for 27 years beginning in 1959.
52. Release of his book, "The Search for Sonny Skies: A Novel". [1995]
53. Together with his wife he toured the UK, appearing in selected theatres performing songs and telling stories about his career. [September 2007]
54. Appearing in the UK at the Bristol Hippodrome on stage as Baron Hardup in Cinderella - the pantomime since December 2008 up to January 11 2009. [January 2009]
55. On Nov. 26, 1999, he underwent surgery in Sydney, Australia, for a perforated colon.
56. On July 7, 2009, he attended Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles with son, Mark Rooney, daughter-in-law, Charlene Rooney, and wife Jan Rooney.
57. Release of his autobiography, "Life is too Short". [1991]
58. Made personal appearances November 5 and 6 with wife Jan at American Visions Art Galleries -- in Folsom and Granite Bay, California. [November 2010]
59. Mickey Rooney continues to work and recently returned from the Turner Classics Cruise featuring Mickey and Debbie Reynolds. Mickey left his home in Westlake Village in June 2012 and has chosen to reside with his stepson/caregiver son Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene. The Westlake Village home was on the market since December 2012 and is currently in escrow. [January 2013]
60. Sold his modest Westlake home in May 2013.
61. Was a staunch conservative Republican for many years. In later life, however, he supported the man and not the party. He has been quoted as saying he was proud of President Barack Obama and his policies.
62. In November of 2013 he attended the memorial service for his longtime friend A.C. Lyles(aka "Mr. Paramount"). Also in attendance were Mickey's son Mark Rooney, Mark's wife Charlene and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
63. Like Julie London, his parents were vaudeville performers.
64. On news of his passing, numerous television newscasters nationwide mixed up his name on-air with that of Andrew Rooney (aka Andy Rooney), humorist and writer for CBS, who died 2-1/2 years previously.
65. His acting career lasted for 89 years, with his first film being released in 1926 and his final one being set for distribution in 2015.
66. He played George M. Cohan three times, twice in TV specials and touring in the stage musical. "George M!".
67. Was a compulsive gambler on horse racing.
68. Surrogate grandson of Richard Ian Cox.
69. Mickey Rooney had passed away on April 6, 2014, just four months before Robin Williamscommitted suicide. They both starred in the movie: Night at the Museum (2006) and its sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).
70. Was the spokesperson for Garden State Life Insurance Company.
71. His third son, Teddy Rooney, died on July 2, 2016, at age 66, just two years after the death of his father.
72. He was known to be a very "social butterfly".
73. Did not have a successful series until he turned 70.
74. Interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.
75. When he passed away in 2014, at the age of 93, he had at least three future projects that he was going to perform in.
76. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he did a nightclub comedy act with comic Joey Forman.
77. When he died his eight surviving children said in a statement that they were barred from seeing Rooney during his final years.
78. Son of Nell Ruth (née Carter) Pankey (July 12, 1897-March 3, 1966). She was born in Kansas City, Missouri and died in Los Angeles, California.
79. Maternal grandson of Palestine (1852-1906), born in the state of Missouri, and Sarah (née Waite) Carter (1858-1899), born in the state of Alabama.
80. Appears in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Boys Town (1938) and The Human Comedy (1943).
81. At the time of his death, Mickey Rooney was set to play one of the three leads in Old Soldiers along with Hugh O'Brian and James Best.
Personal Quotes (35)
1. [at 58 years old] I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in.
2. [asked if he would marry all of his eight wives again] Absolutely. I loved every one of them.
3. My partners weren't what we call in horse racing parlance "routers". They were sprinters; they went out of the gate, but then they stopped. They couldn't go the distance.
4. People say, "How can you be married eight times?" But I played the hand dealt me the way I was supposed to. I was friendly with most of my ex-wives. My God, there's a Mickey Rooney's Former Wives Marching Band!
5. [on his marriages] When I say "I do", the Justice of the Peace replies, "I know, I know". I'm the only man in the world whose marriage license reads, "To Whom it May Concern". But to have been married eight times is not normal. That's only halfway intelligent.
6. You've got to recognize, there will never be another you. It has nothing to do with ego; it happens to be the truth. There will never be another person the same. There'll never be another you. There'll never be another me . . . And there'll never be another show like this!
7. The audience and I are friends. They allowed me to grow up with them. I've let them down several times. They've let me down several times. But we're all family.
8. Love wears off too quickly.
9. I don't regret anything I've ever done. I only wish I could have done more.
10. I was a 14-year-old boy for 30 years.
11. [upon winning his lifetime achievement Oscar, 1983] Tonight, I could even kiss Louis B. Mayer!.
12. [on his lifelong friend and frequent co-star, Judy Garland] Judy turned to drugs because she was in pain and because drugs made her feel good. As one of the MGM kids, she'd been treated for most of her life to magical, instant solutions to everything . . . She could never accept herself, so she was always on the run.
13. I didn't ask to be short. I didn't want to be short. I've tried to pretend that being a short guy didn't matter.
14. The guys with the power in Hollywood today, the guys with their names above the title, are thieves. They don't make movies, they make deals. Their major function is to cut themselves in for 10% of the gross--off the top, of course--which is why they make movies that cost $50 million.
15. [Bill Clinton] was a Rhodes Scholar. Do you know who the scholars were? Marxists!
16. I just want to be a professional. I couldn't live without acting.
17. There may be a little snow on the mountain, but there's a lot of fire in the furnace.
18. All the muddy waters of my life cleared up when I gave myself to Christ.
19. I've been through four publics. I've been coming back like a rubber ball for years.
20. [on his feud with Ernest Borgnine] All the Oscars in the world can't buy him dignity, class and talent. I don't know why he is famous and why he is a star. Talk about a lucky jerk.
21. If it's immorally wrong, it's not normal. Jesus Christ said, "The effeminate are an abomination to me". Are you aware of that? I don't watch the [Ellen DeGeneres] show. I wish her all kinds of luck. Except that I'm not a fan. But there are a lot of people who aren't fans of Mickey Rooney and you can't please everyone.
22. [in 2007] I think the family pictures are what people really want to see--and musicals, of course.
23. I don't get caught between lesbians and gays. If you can't say something nice about someone, just shut your mouth.
24. I never knew anything about anyone being gay in Hollywood when I was working in the studios. Did you know that? They weren't in closets, they were in safes.
25. I lost $2 at Santa Anita and I've spent $3 million trying to get it back.
26. Sure, I love the chicks. I love 'em all. But when you're nuts about too many, how can a guy settle down to one?
27. Hollywood has unfortunately become a memory. It's nothing but a sign on the side of a hill.
28. When I was 19 years old I was the #1 star for two years. When I was 40, nobody wanted me. I couldn't get a job.
29. There was, in fact, a standard studio recipe. Take one young actress, pluck her eyebrows, cap her teeth, shape her hairline, pad as required and throw her into the ring with Andy Hardy. Then wait and see. If the public responded, the starlet became a star.
30. I was aware, even at age three, that my father had a penchant for going out by himself after a show, then returning at dawn with a nervous grin on his face. I could only guess, from my mother's angry reactions that he was doing something that hurt her very much. She kept talking about my dad's "floozies"--which I took to be another name for "bartender." You see, I thought my dad had a problem with Punch, not with Judy.
31. When "Sugar Babies" opened, I was the most famous has-been in show business.
32. [In his autobiography] Had I been brighter, had the ladies been gentler, had the scotch been weaker, had the gods been kinder, this could have been a one-sentence story: Once upon a time, Mickey Rooney lived happily ever after.
33. [In a 1970 David Frost interview] I have nine kids, seven wives, and the American Bar Association to support. I'm a very quiet person, a fellow who believes in the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, and bacon, lettuce and tomato with a lot of mayonnaise.
34. [observation as a young man on his most famous role] It's funny how a character can grow on a feller. I depend on [Andy Hardy] all the time. When I'm not sure whether I should do a certain thing, I ask myself, "Would Andy do it?" And if Andy won't do it, I won't.
35. [2008, on the controversy surrounding his Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) role] Blake Edwards wanted me to do it because he was a comedy director. They hired me to do this overboard, and we had fun doing it . . . Never in all the more than 40 years after we made it--not one complaint. Every place I've gone in the world people say, "God, you were so funny". Asians and Chinese come up to me and say, "Mickey, you were out of this world", [Had I known people would get offended] I wouldn't have done it. Those that didn't like it, I forgive them and God bless America, God bless the universe, God bless Japanese, Chinese, Indians, all of them and let's have peace.
Salary (60)
Not to Be Trusted (1926) $200
Mickey's Circus (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Pals (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Eleven (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Battle (1927) $250 /week
Mickey's Parade (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Nine (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Wild West (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Triumph (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Movies (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Rivals (1928) $250 /week
Mickey the Detective (1928) $250 /week
Mickey's Wildcats (1931) $250 /week
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) $500 /week
Ah Wilderness! (1935) $500 /week
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936) $500 /week
The Devil Is a Sissy (1936) $500 /week
Captains Courageous (1937) $500 /week
Slave Ship (1937) $500 /week
Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) $500 /week
Live, Love and Learn (1937) $500 /week
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) $500 /week
You're Only Young Once (1937) $5,000
Love Is a Headache (1938) $5,000
Judge Hardy's Children (1938) $5,000
Hold That Kiss (1938) $5,000
Lord Jeff (1938) $5,000
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) $5,000
Boys Town (1938) $5,000
Stablemates (1938) $5,000
Out West with the Hardys (1938) $5,000
Babes in Arms (1939) $23,000
Babes on Broadway (1941) $53,333 a week plus $25,000 bonus
The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942) $2,500 /week
A Yank at Eton (1942) $2,500
Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) $2,500 /week
The Human Comedy (1943) $2,500 /week
Thousands Cheer (1943) $2,500 /week
Girl Crazy (1943) $68,000
Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944) $2,500 /week
National Velvet (1944) $2,500 /week
The Big Wheel (1949) $25,000
Quicksand (1950) $25,000
Sound Off (1952) $75,000
All Ashore (1953) $75,000
A Slight Case of Larceny (1953) $75,000
Drive a Crooked Road (1954) $75,000
The Mickey Rooney Show (1954) $3,500 /week
The Comedian (1957) $10,000
Baby Face Nelson (1957) $35,000
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958) $35,000
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) $25,000
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) $100,000
Funny Man with a Monkey (1964) $10,000
Mickey (1964) $5,000 /episode
The Secret Invasion (1964) $50,000
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965) $5,000
The Black Stallion (1979) $75,000
Babe: Pig in the City (1998) $175,000
Night at the Museum (2006) $250,000"
FYI MSgt David HoffmanSgt (Join to see)SFC (Join to see)cmsgt-rickey-denickeCW3 Matt HutchasonLTC (Join to see)Sgt John H.PVT Mark Zehner1sg-dan-capriSGT Robert R.CPT Tommy CurtisSGT (Join to see) SGT Steve McFarlandCol Carl WhickerSGT Mark AndersonSSG Michael NollSFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTMSFC Jack ChampionA1C Ian Williams
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LTC Stephen F.
Cpl James R. " Jim" Gossett Jr SPC Jon O.SP5 Jeannie CarleSPC Chris Bayner-CwikPO1 Jerome NewlandTSgt David L.PO1 Robert GeorgeSGT John MelvinISG John FairclothSN Donald HoffmanCOL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL
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LTC Stephen F.
FYI SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord Cynthia Croft Maj Kim Patterson SPC Woody Bullard SPC Tom DeSmet LTC Wayne Brandon LTC (Join to see) Maj Robert Thornton CPT Scott Sharon SSG Donald H "Don" Bates PO3 William Hetrick PO3 Lynn Spalding SPC Mark Huddleston SGT Rick Colburn
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PFC Mickey Rooney, US Army in WWII in Europe. He was turned down for Military service due to high blood pressure and kept pushing until He was able to enlist which He did. Until His death He was and advocate for and supporter of veterans. He was a very strong supporter for the Vietnam Veterans during that war. in 2008 was the Grand Marshall of the Memorial Day parade in Washington DC.
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