Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born
Joseph Yule, Jr.,
September 23,
1920, in
Brooklyn,
New York), is an
American film actor.
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Actor Mickey Rooney speaks at the Pentagon in 2000 during a ceremony honoring the USO. |
Born into a
vaudeville family, Rooney began performing at the age of 17 months in
1922. His father was
Scottish, and his mother came from the southern United States. He is often mistakenly referred to as an Irish-American because of his adopted name. He is five feet tall.
Entering the movie business in 1927, he literally made his name as the title character in the
Mickey McGuire shorts. These were a series of more than 40 silent, two-reel comedies adapted from the
Toonerville Trolley comic strip, in which he starred through 1936. For a time he billed himself as Mickey McGuire, but legally changed his name to
Mickey Rooney in 1932. Also during this period he met
Walt Disney, and later he would claim Disney had named
Mickey Mouse after him. It is difficult to verify, and others have made similar claims, but Rooney takes credit for giving rising starlet Norma Jean Baker the stage name
Marilyn Monroe.
In 1934 he signed to
MGM and was educated at the studio's
School for Professional Children.Rooney's successful role as
Andy Hardy in
A Family Affair (1937) led to fourteen further films featuring that character from 1938 to 1958. His first role as the top-billed star in a feature film was as Shockey Carter in
Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) with
Edward Pawley playing his father. His breakthrough serious role came in 1938's
Boys Town opposite
Spencer Tracy as Whitey Marsh, which opened shortly before his 18th birthday. His fame peaked in
World War II with a string of successful musicals with
Judy Garland, including the Oscar nominated
Babes in Arms (1939) as well as more serious roles in films such as
The Human Comedy (1943) and
National Velvet (1944).
In 1944, Rooney entered military service for 21 months during
World War II, during which time he was a radio personality on the
American Forces Network; after his return his career slumped. 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 her
CBS variety series in the early 60s), and one final Andy Hardy film in the late 1950s.
The Mickey Rooney Show, also known as
Hey Mulligan, appeared on
NBC for 39 episodes during 1954 and 1955. In 1960, he directed and starred in
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve, an ambitious comedy known for its multiple flashbacks and many cameos. In the 1960s Rooney returned to theatrical entertainment. He still accepted film roles in undistinguished movies, but occasionally he would appear in better works such as
Requiem for a Heavyweight (
1962) and
The Black Stallion (1979). On
December 31,
1961, he appeared on television's "What's My Line" and mentioned that he had already started enrolling students in the
MRSE (Mickey Rooney School of Entertainment).
He was awarded an
Academy Juvenile Award in 1938, and in 1983 the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted him their
Academy Honorary Award for his lifetime of achievement.
Laurence Olivier called Rooney "the single best film actor America ever produced", a sentiment equalled by actor
James Mason.
Judy Garland stated that Rooney was "the world's greatest talent."
Rooney did the voices for three
Christmas TV animated/stop action specials:
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970),
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), and
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July—always playing
Santa Claus.
He continued to be busy in stage and television work through the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the acclaimed stage play
Sugar Babies with
Ann Miller beginning in 1979; starring in a long-running TV series based on
The Black Stallion; touring
Canada in a
dinner theatre production of
The Mind with the Naughty Man in the mid-1990s; and playing The Wizard in a stage production of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with
Eartha Kitt at
Madison Square Garden. Kitt was later replaced by JoAnne Worley. He also appeared in the documentary
That's Entertainment III.
He also voiced Mr. Cherrywood in
1985's
The Care Bears Movie, and starred as the Movie Mason in yet another family film, 2000's
Phantom of the Megaplex (a
Disney Channel Original Movie). He plays himself in the Simpson episode "Radioactive Man" of 1995.
In January 2005, Rooney made headlines again, starring in a commercial that was barred as "indecent" from its scheduled slot during
Super Bowl XXXIX. The ad included a comic turn (literally) that saw Rooney's backside briefly exposed. The pulling of the ad is considered more fallout from
Janet Jackson's "
wardrobe malfunction" a year earlier.
As of
, Rooney continues to work in film, and tours with his wife,
Jan Chamberlin, in a multi-media live stage production called "Let's Put On a Show!" Few actors have enjoyed their careers more. Rooney has said in many interviews that from his earliest stage work to his current projects, "I've loved it. I've loved every
minute of it!"
Currently, he and his wife live in the
Conejo Valley in Southern California.
*
Bamboo Shark (2006)
*
Night at the Museum (2006)
*
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure (2001)
*
Phantom of the Megaplex (2000)
*
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
*
The Care Bears Movie (1985)
*
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
*
Bill (1981) tv movie
*
The Black Stallion (1979)
*
The Magic of Lassie (1978)
*
Pete's Dragon (1977)
*
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)
*
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
*
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
*
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
*
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960) -directed and acted
*
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958) - the final Andy Hardy film
*
Baby Face Nelson (1957)
*
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
*
Words and Music (1948) - his last film appearance with Judy Garland
*
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
*
National Velvet (1944)
*
Girl Crazy (1943)
*
The Human Comedy (1943)
*
A Yank at Eton (1942)
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Babes on Broadway (1941)
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Strike Up the Band (1940)
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Babes in Arms (1939)
*
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
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Boys Town (1938)
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Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
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Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) - his first appearance with
Judy Garland*
Captains Courageous (1937)
*
A Family Affair (1937) - the first
Andy Hardy film
*
The Devil is a Sissy (1936)
*
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
*
Riffraff (1936) - starring
Jean Harlow and
Spencer Tracy*
Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
*
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - as
PuckThe Happy Elf (2005) -
Santa Claus (voice)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) -
Santa Claus (voice)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) -
Santa Claus (voice)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970) -
Santa Claus (voice)
He has been married eight times:#
Ava Gardner (
1942-
1943)#
Betty Jane Rase (
1944-
1949), two children#
Martha Vickers(
1949-
1951), one child#
Elaine Devry (
1952-
1958)#
Carolyn Mitchell (born Barbara Ann Thomasen) (
1958-
1966), four children#
Marge Lane (
1966-
1967)#
Carolyn Hockert (
1969-
1974), two children#
Jan Chamberlin (
1978-present)
Five sons:#
Tim Rooney, actor#
Teddy Rooney, actor#
Mickey Rooney Jr., actor and musician# Kyle Rooney# Jimmy Rooney
Four daughters:# Kimmy Rooney# Kelly Rooney# Kerry Rooney# Jonelle Rooney
Two Stepsons:#
Chris Aber #
Mark Aber Rooney, musician, music production
Two Grandchildren:# Shannon Rooney# Dominique Rooney
Two Great-Grandchildren:# Kaitlyn Rooney# Hunter Rooney
On the website [
1]Mickey Rooney is made out to be a super hero named The Incredible Rooney.
In the
Animaniacs song "Yakko's Universe", Yakko makes a coment that Mickey is small.
"Mickey Rooney" is also used as an adjective meaning inferior or of low quality. eg. The Mickey Rooney chair broke the first time I sat in it.
*[
2]Harry the ugly scary chicken dudes mickey rooney comics
*[
3] The Official Web Site of Mickey Rooney
*[
4] Mickey Rooney on the Phil Silvers Show
