Information about Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney
from the trailer for The Human Comedy (1943)
Birth name	Joseph Yule, Jr.
Born	September 23 1920 (1920--) (age 87) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.
Years active	1922-Present
Spouse(s)	Ava Gardner (1941-1943) Betty Jane Rase (1944-1949) Martha Vickers(1949-1951) Elaine Devry(1952-1958) Carolyn Mitchell (1958-1966) Marge Lane (1966-1967) Carolyn Hockert (1969-1974) Jan Chamberlin (1978-present)
Official site	[1]
Awards Academy Awards Academy Juvenile Award (1939) Nominated: Best Actor 1939: Babes in Arms 1943: The Human Comedy Nominated: Best Supporting Actor 1956: The Bold and the Brave 1979: The Black Stallion Academy Honorary Award (1983) Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries/Movie 1982: Bill Golden Globe Awards 1982: Bill

Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule, Jr. on September 23, 1920), is an American film actor and musician whose eighty-five year career in entertainment began in 1922 and continues through 2007.

Biography

Early life

Rooney was born in Brooklyn, New York to a vaudeville family. His father, Joseph Yule, was from Scotland, and his mother, Nellie W. Carter, was from Kansas City, Missouri. Both parents were in vaudeville, and appearing in a Brooklyn production of A Gaiety Girl when Joseph, Jr. was born. He began performing at the age of fifteen months as part of his parents' routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo. ^[1]

Mickey McGuire

The Yules separated in 1924 during a slump in vaudeville, and in 1925, Nell Yule moved with her son to Hollywood, where she managed a tourist home. Fontaine Fox had placed a newspaper ad for a dark haired child to play the role of "Mickey McGuire" in a series of short films, and, lacking the money to have get her son's hair dyed, Mrs. Yule brought her son to the audition after applying burnt cork. ^[2] Joe got the role and became "Mickey" for 78 of the comedies, running from 1927 to 1936, starting with Mickey's Circus, released September 4, 1927. ^[3] These had been adapted from the Toonerville Trolley comic strip.

Rooney later claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he had met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him ^[4], although Disney always said that he had changed the name from "Mortimer Mouse" on the suggestion of his wife. Rooney also took credit for giving rising starlet Norma Jean Mortenson the stage name Marilyn Monroe (his co-star in the 1950 film The Fireball), although she had been so billed as early as 1947.

During an interruption in the series in 1932, Mrs. Yule made plans to take her son on a ten week vaudeville tour as McGuire, and Fox sued successfully to keep him from using the name. Mrs. Yule suggested the stage name of "Mickey Looney" for her comedian son, which he altered slightly to a less frivolous version. ^[5] Rooney did other films, including a few more of the McGuire films, in his adolescence, and signed with MGM in 1934. MGM cast Rooney as the teenage son of a judge in 1937's A Family Affair, setting Rooney on the way to another successful film series.

Andy Hardy and Judy Garland

In 1937, Rooney was selected to portray Andy Hardy in A Family Affair (1937), which MGM had planned as a B-movie ^[6]. Rooney provided comic relief as the son of Judge James K. Hardy, portrayed by Lionel Barrymore (although Lewis Stone would play the role of Judge Hardy in later films). The film was an unexpected success, and led to twelve more "Andy Hardy" films between 1937 and 1942, along a sequel in 1944 and one in 1958. Rooney received top-billing in a feature film as Shockey Carter in Hoosier Schoolboy (1937). The same year, he made his first film alongside Judy Garland with Thoroughbreds Don't Cry. His breakthrough role as a dramatic actor came in 1938's Boys Town opposite Spencer Tracy as Whitey Marsh, which opened shortly before his 18th birthday.

Garland and Rooney became a successful song and dance team. Besides the Andy Hardy films (where she portrayed his girlfriend, Betsy Booth), Garland appeared with Rooney in a string of successful musicals, including the Oscar nominated Babes in Arms (1939).

Later Career

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 to civilian life, 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 1963), and one final Andy Hardy film in the late 1950s. The Mickey Rooney Show, also known as Hey Mulligan, appeared on NBC television for 39 episodes during 1954 and 1955. In 1951, he directed a feature film for Columbia Pictures, My True Story starring Helen Walker. Rooney also starred as a ragingly egomaniacal television comedian in the live 90-minute television drama The Comedian, written by Rod Serling and directed by John Frankenheimer, on Playhouse 90 the evening of Valentine's Day in 1957.

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 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). His school venture never came to fruition, but for several years he was a spokesman/partner in Pennsylvania's Downingtown Inn, a country club and golf resort.

In 1966, while Mickey was working on a film in the Philippines, his wife Barbara (aka Carolyn Mitchell), who had been a pin-up model and aspiring actress, was found dead in their bed. Beside her was her lover, an actor friend of Rooney's. Detectives ruled it murder-suicide, which was accomplished with Mickey's own gun. The lover, Milos Milos, was also a bodyguard and was connected to Stevan Markovic, bodyguard of French star Alain Delon. Markovic was also found dead in mysterious circumstances in Paris two years later.

Grief-stricken and not in his right frame of mind, Rooney quickly married Barbara's friend, Marge Lane. The union lasted about one hundred days.

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 echoed by actor James Mason. Judy Garland stated that Rooney was "the world's greatest talent." As a result of the Andy Hardy series, Rooney was the highest paid actor in Hollywood in the late 1930s.

Rooney did the voices for three Christmas TV animated/stop action specials: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July—always playing Santa Claus. In 1970, he was approached by television producer Norman Lear to consider taking on the role of Archie Bunker in the upcoming CBS series, All in the Family. Like Jackie Gleason before him, Mickey rejected the project as too controversial. The role ultimately went to Carroll O'Connor.

Rooney 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 the long-running TV series The Adventures of the Black Stallion, reprising his role as Henry Daily from The Black Stallion film; 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 Jo Anne Worley. He also appeared in the documentary That's Entertainment! III.

Rooney voiced Mr. Cherrywood in The Care Bears Movie (1985), and starred as the Movie Mason in a Disney Channel Original Movie family film, 2000's Phantom of the Megaplex. He played himself in the Simpsons episode "Radioactive Man" of 1995. In 1996-97, Mickey played Talbut on the TV series, Kleo The Misfit Unicorn produced by Gordon Stanfield Animation (GSA). He co-starred in Night at the Museum in 2006 with Dick Van Dyke and Ben Stiller.

Rooney has also been appearing in television commercials for Garden State Life Insurance Company in 1999, alongside his wife Jan. In current commercials (2007), Rooney can be seen in the background washing imaginary dishes.

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! Chamberlin met Mickey through his son, Mickey Jr., whom she had been dating at the time. On May 26, 2007 he was Grand Marshal at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival. It has recently been announced that Rooney will be making his British pantomime debut, playing Baron Hardup in Cinderella, at the Sunderland Empire Theatre over the 2007 Christmas period. He appeared in Points West dressed in a fetching pair of shorts and socks.

Currently, he and his wife live in Westlake Village, California.

Accomplishments

Feature films Year Title 1927 Orchids and Ermine 1932 The Beast of the City Sin's Pay Day High Speed Fast Companions My Pal, the King Officer Thirteen 1933 The Big Cage The Life of Jimmy Dolan The Big Chance Broadway to Hollywood The Chief The World Changes 1934 Beloved The Lost Jungle I Like It That Way Upperworld (scenes deleted) Manhattan Melodrama Love Birds Half a Sinner Hide-Out Chained Blind Date Death on the Diamond 1935 The County Chairman West Point of the Air (scenes deleted) Reckless The Healer A Midsummer Night's Dream Rendezvous Ah, Wilderness! 1936 Riffraff Little Lord Fauntleroy Down the Stretch The Devil Is a Sissy 1937 A Family Affair Captains Courageous Slave Ship Hoosier Schoolboy Live, Love and Learn Thoroughbreds Don't Cry You're Only Young Once 1938 Love Is a Headache Judge Hardy's Children Hold That Kiss Lord Jeff Love Finds Andy Hardy Boys Town Stablemates Out West with the Hardys 1939 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Hardys Ride High Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever Babes in Arms Judge Hardy and Son 1940 Young Tom Edison Andy Hardy Meets Debutante Strike Up the Band 1941 Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Men of Boys Town Life Begins for Andy Hardy Babes on Broadway 1942 The Courtship of Andy Hardy A Yank at Eton Andy Hardy's Double Life 1943 The Human Comedy Thousands Cheer Girl Crazy 1944 Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble National Velvet 1946 Love Laughs at Andy Hardy 1947 Killer McCoy 1948 Summer Holiday Words and Music 1949 The Big Wheel 1950 Quicksand The Fireball He's a Cockeyed Wonder 1951 My Outlaw Brother The Strip 1952 Sound Off 1953 Off Limits All Ashore A Slight Case of Larceny 1954 Drive a Crooked Road The Atomic Kid 1955 The Bridges at Toko-Ri The Twinkle in God's Eye 1956 The Bold and the Brave Francis in the Haunted House Magnificent Roughnecks 1957 Operation Mad Ball Baby Face Nelson 1958 A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed Andy Hardy Comes Home 1959 The Big Operator The Last Mile 1960 Platinum High School The Private Lives of Adam and Eve 1961 King of the Roaring 20's - The Story of Arnold Rothstein Breakfast at Tiffany's Everything's Ducky 1962 Requiem for a Heavyweight 1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 1964 The Secret Invasion 1965 Twenty-Four Hours to Kill How to Stuff a Wild Bikini 1966 The Devil In Love Ambush Bay 1968 Skidoo 1969 The Extraordinary Seaman The Comic 80 Steps to Jonah 1970 Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County Hollywood Blue (documentary) 1971 Mooch Goes to Hollywood The Manipulator 1972 Richard Pulp 1973 The Godmothers 1974 Thunder County Rachel's Man That's Entertainment! Journey Back to Oz (voice) 1975 Ace of Hearts From Hong Kong with Love 1976 Find the Lady 1977 The Domino Principle Pete's Dragon 1978 The Magic of Lassie 1979 The Black Stallion Arabian Adventure 1981 The Fox and the Hound (voice) 1982 The Emperor of Peru 1985 The Care Bears Movie (voice) 1986 Lightning, the White Stallion 1989 (voice) Erik the Viking 1991 My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys 1992 The Milky Life Sweet Justice The Magic Voyage (voice) Maximum Force 1993 The Legend of Wolf Mountain 1994 Revenge of the Red Baron The Outlaws: The Legend of O.B. Taggart Making Waves A Century of Cinema (documentary) That's Entertainment! III 1997 Killing Midnight 1998 The Face on the Barroom Floor Animals and the Tollkeeper Michael Kael vs. the World News Company Sinbad: The Battle of the Dark Knights 1999 Holy Hollywood The First of May 2000 Internet Love Phantom of the Megaplex 2001 (voice) 2002 Topa Topa Bluffs 2003 Paradise 2005 Strike the Tent A Christmas Too Many 2006 The Thirsting Hedy Lamarr: Secrets of a Hollywood Star (documentary) To Kill a Mockumentary Night at the Museum Bamboo Shark

Short subjects Year Title 1926 Not to Be Trusted 1927 Mickey's Circus Mickey's Pals Mickey's Eleven Mickey's Battles 1928 Mickey's Minstrels Mickey's Parade Mickey in School Mickey's Nine Mickey's Little Eva Mickey's Wild West Mickey in Love Mickey's Triumph Mickey's Babies Mickey's Movies Mickey's Rivals Mickey the Detective Mickey's Athletes Mickey's Big Game Hunt 1929 Mickey's Great Idea Mickey's Explorers Mickey's Menagerie Mickey's Last Chance Mickey's Brown Derby Mickey's Northwest Mounted Mickey's Initiation Mickey's Midnite Follies Mickey's Surprise Mickey's Mix-Up Mickey's Big Moment Mickey's Strategy 1930 Mickey's Champs Mickey's Master Mind Mickey's Luck Mickey's Whirlwinds Mickey's Warriors Mickey the Romeo Mickey's Merry Men Mickey's Winners Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 24 Mickey's Musketeers Mickey's Bargain 1931 Mickey's Stampede Mickey's Crusaders Mickey's Rebellion Mickey's Diplomacy Mickey's Wildcats Mickey's Thrill Hunters Mickey's Helping Hand Mickey's Sideline 1932 Mickey's Busy Day Mickey's Travels Mickey's Holiday Mickey's Big Business Mickey's Golden Rule Mickey's Charity 1933 Mickey's Ape Man Mickey's Race Mickey's Big Broadcast Mickey's Touchdown Mickey's Tent Show Mickey's Covered Wagon 1934 Mickey's Medicine Man 1935 Pirate Party on Catalina Isle 1936 Mickey's Derby Day 1937 Cinema Circus 1938 Andy Hardy's Dilemma 1940 Rodeo Dough 1941 Meet the Stars #4: Variety Reel #2 1943 Show Business at War 1947 Screen Snapshots: Out of This World Series 1953 Screen Snapshots: Mickey Rooney - Then and Now 1958 Screen Snapshots: Glamorous Hollywood 1968 Vienna 1974 Just One More Time 1975 The Lion Roars Again

Honors Mickey Rooney has been known as the 5th greatest actor of all time by The Academy of Film Arts and Science, Just above Henry Fonda and John Wayne. Television Year(s) Title 1954-1955 The Mickey Rooney Show 1957 The Comedian Pinocchio 1963 Twilight Zone - "The Last Night of a Jockey" 1964-1965 Mickey 1967 Ready and Willing (unsold pilot) 1970 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (voice) 1972 Evil Roy Slade 1974 The Year Without a Santa Claus (voice) 1979 Donovan's Kid Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (voice) 1980 O'Malley (unsold pilot) My Kidnapper, My Love 1981 Leave 'em Laughing Bill Senior Trip 1982 One of the Boys (canceled after 13 episodes) 1983 Bill: On His Own 1984 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear 1986 The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer The Golden Girls (playing Rocko, Sophia's boyfriend) There Must Be a Pony Little Spies 1988 Bluegrass 1990 Home for Christmas 1990-1993 The Adventures of the Black Stallion 1991 The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw 1995 Brothers' Destiny The Simpsons (as himself in the episode "Radioactive Man") 1997 Kleo The Misfit Unicorn (As Talbut The Elder Unicron) Boys Will Be Boys 1998 ER 2000 Phantom of the Megaplex 2005 The Happy Elf (voice)

Marriages

Name	Years	Children
Ava Gardner	1941-1943
Betty Jane Rase	1944-1949	Tim Rooney
		Mickey Rooney Jr.
Martha Vickers	1949-1951	Teddy Rooney
Elaine Davis	1952-1958
Carolyn Mitchell	1958-1966	Kyle Rooney
		Kimmy Rooney
		Kelly Rooney
		Kerry Rooney
Marge Lane	1966-1967
Carolyn Hockett	1969-1974	Jimmy Rooney
		Jonelle Rooney
Jan Chamberlin	1978-present

References

External links

• The official website of Mickey Rooney
• The Official Home of Mickey Rooney
• Mickey Rooney at the Internet Movie Database
• Mickey Rooney on the Phil Silvers Show