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- Actor
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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 Quinn and 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.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Mickey Rooney Jr. was born on July 3, 1945, as Joseph Yule III to movie legend Mickey Rooney and his second wife (among his own wives was Merci Montello, the Playmate of the Month for December 1972 as "Mercy Rooney"). A beauty pageant winner ("Miss Alabama 1944"), the former Betty Jane Rase met Mickey Sr. when he was stationed in the Army in Birmingham, Alabama, during World War II. Mickey Jr. was the first of his father's nine children.
Growing up in Hollywood as the son of a famous movie star, Junior rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest stars on the planet, including Mae West, Elvis Presley and The Beatles. When he was 13 years old he met Judy Garland at a party at her Brentwood home. "So you're Mickey's first-born son," his father's most famous leading lady said. "You're a fine-looking young man." Unlike his extremely short father, the son would grow to be over six feet tall, taking after his tall mother.
His father, in his 1991 autobiography "Life Is Too Short", admitted that he cheated on Betty Jane. According to Mickey Sr., she was "totally oblivious to anything going on outside our home." Mickey Sr. summed up their relationship as, "We just weren't compatible." The marriage ended in divorce in 1948.
Mickey Jr. saw his father frequently after the divorce. Sharing the name of the #1 box office star of 1939, 1940 and 1941 opened doors for Mickey Jr., although making the most of the opportunities wasn't always easy. He found out he had to work twice as hard to prove himself because of his famous name.
He had his first taste of show business as one of the original Mousketeers on Walt Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club (1955) (his father claims that Walt Disney named the famous Mouse after him). He and brother Tim Rooney were hired in 1955 due to their ability to sing, dance and act. After appearing on the show for a year, their contracts were terminated after the mischievous boys got into a hassle with the studio's paint department (they sneaked in and poured different colors of paint in different cans). Six years later, at age 17, he hosted "The Andy Hardy Theater" on local TV. Musically inclined, he played bass in Willie Nelson's band and has recorded an album called "The Song Album." Like his height, his musical talent was inherited from his mother, who was a gifted vocalist. His maternal grandmother taught him how to play the ukulele by showing him how to play chords, which he then played on an acoustic guitar. In addition to playing bass and guitar, Mickey Jr. plays drums, harmonica and keyboards and writes music. He, his wife Laura and their friend John Whittinghill perform rock 'n' roll and gospel music as "Mickey Rooney Jr. and Friends."
A born-again Christian, Mickey Jr. met Laura, a Messianic Jew, in 1986. Through The Lord's Link Ministry, the couple minister and spread the Good News. Laura sings and plays a harp, while both she and Mickey Jr. testify to the "folly" of living "life in the fast lane." They reside in Hemet, CA.
Mickey Jr. and his brother Tim operate the Rooney Entertainment Group, a movie and TV production company. He has written his autobiography, "Which One's Your Mother?"- Art Department
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Mickey Rooney is known for Open Asylum (1982).