Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. He was the top box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era. At the height of a career marked by declines and comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 16 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized the mainstream United States self-image.
At the peak of his career between ages 15 and 25, he made 43 films, and was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most consistently successful actors. 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". Clarence Brown, who directed him in two of his earliest dramatic roles in National Velvet and The Human Comedy, said Rooney was "the closest thing to a genius" with whom he had ever worked. He won a Golden Globe Award in 1982 and an Emmy Award in the same year for the title role in a television movie Bill and was awarded the Academy Honorary Award in 1982.
Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child actor, and made his film debut at the age of six. He played the title character in the "Mickey McGuire" series of 78 short films, from age seven to 13. At 14 and 15, he played Puck in the play and subsequent film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. At the age of 16, he began playing Andy Hardy, and gained his first recognition at 17 as Whitey Marsh in Boys Town. At only 19, Rooney became the second-youngest Best Actor in a Leading Role nominee and the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Mickey Moran in 1939 film adaptation of coming-of-age Broadway musical Babes in Arms; he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939. Rooney received his second Academy Award nomination in the same category for his role as Homer Macauley in The Human Comedy.
Drafted into the military during World War II, Rooney served nearly two years, entertaining over two million troops on stage and radio. He was awarded a Bronze Star for performing in combat zones. Returning in 1945, he was too old for juvenile roles, but too short at 5 ft 2 inches for most adult roles, and was unable to gain as many starring roles. However, numerous low-budget, but critically well-received films noir had Rooney playing the lead during this period and the 1950s. Rooney's career was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as The Bold and the Brave (1956), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Pete's Dragon (1977), and The Black Stallion (1979). Rooney received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1957 for The Bold and the Brave, and 1980 for The Black Stallion. In the early 1980s, he returned to Broadway in Sugar Babies, a role that earned him nominations for Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. He made hundreds of appearances on TV, including dramas, variety programs, and talk shows.
Early life and acting background
Mickey Rooney was born Joseph Yule, Jr., in Brooklyn, New York on September 23, 1920, the only child of Nellie W. Carter and Joe Yule. His mother was an American former chorus girl and burlesque performer from Kansas City, Missouri, while his father was a Scottish-born vaudevillian, who had emigrated to New York from Glasgow with his family at the age of three months. They lived in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. When Rooney was born, his parents were appearing together in a Brooklyn production of A Gaiety Girl. He later recounted in his memoirs that he began performing at the age of 17 months as part of his parents' routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo.
1924–1926: Career beginnings as a child actor
Rooney's parents separated when he was four years old in 1924, and he and his mother moved to Hollywood the following year. He made his first film appearance at age six in 1926, in the short Not to be Trusted. Rooney got bit parts in films such as The Beast of the City (1932) and The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933), which allowed him to work alongside stars such as Joel McCrea, Colleen Moore, Clark Gable, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Wayne, and Jean Harlow. He enrolled in the Hollywood Professional School and later attended Fairfax High School.
Military service and later film career
In June 1944, Rooney was inducted into the United States Army, where 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, 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.
Rooney's career declined after his return to civilian life. He was now an adult with a height of only 5 feet 2 inches (5 feet 1 inch according to his 1942 draft registration) and he could no longer play the role of a teenager, but he also lacked the stature of most leading men. He appeared in the film 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).
Personal life
At the time of his death (April 6, 2014), Rooney was married to Jan Chamberlin Rooney, although they had separated in June 2012. He had nine children and two stepchildren, as well as 19 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Rooney had been addicted to sleeping pills and overcame the addiction in 2000 when he was in his late 70s. In 1997, he was arrested on suspicion of beating his wife, Jan, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
In the late 1970s, Rooney became a born-again Christian and was a fan of Pat Robertson.
On February 16, 2011, Rooney was granted a temporary restraining order against his stepson Christopher Aber and Aber's wife Christina, and they were ordered to stay 100 yards from Rooney, his stepson Mark Rooney, and Mark's wife Charlene. Rooney claimed that he was a victim of elder abuse. On March 2, 2011, Rooney appeared before a special U.S. Senate committee that was considering legislation to curb elder abuse, testifying about the abuse he claimed to have suffered at the hands of family members. In 2011, all of Rooney's finances were permanently handed over to a conservator, who called Rooney "completely competent".
In April 2011, the temporary restraining order that Rooney was previously granted was replaced by a confidential settlement between Rooney and Aber. Aber and Jan Rooney denied all the allegations.
In May 2013, Rooney sold his home of many years, reportedly for $1.3 million, and split the proceeds with his wife, Jan.
Marriages
Rooney was married eight times, with six of the marriages ending in divorce; his eighth and final marriage lasted longer than the previous seven put together. During the 1960s and 1970s he was often the subject of comedians' jokes over his apparent inability to stay married. In 1942, he married his first wife, actress Ava Gardner, who at that time was still an obscure teenaged starlet. They divorced the following year, partly because of alleged infidelity. While stationed in the military in Alabama in 1944, Rooney met and married Betty Jane Phillips, who later became a singer under the name B. J. Baker. They had two sons together. This marriage ended in divorce after he returned from Europe at the end of World War II. His marriage to actress Martha Vickers in 1949 produced one son, but ended in divorce in 1951. He married actress Elaine Mahnken in 1952, and they divorced in 1958.
In 1958, Rooney married model and actress Barbara Ann Thomason (stage name Carolyn Mitchell). She was murdered in 1966 by stuntman and actor Milos Milos, who then shot himself. Thomason and Milos had an affair while Rooney was traveling, and police theorized that Milos had shot her after she wanted to end it. Rooney then married Barbara's best friend, Marge Lane, though the marriage lasted only 100 days. He was married to Carolyn Hockett from 1969 to 1975. In 1978, he married his eighth and final wife, Jan Chamberlin. Their marriage lasted until his death, a total of 34 years (longer than his seven previous unions combined). However, they separated in 2012.
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- SERVES
- 6
- CHILL TIME
- 3 Hr
- COOK TIME
- 8 Min
This easy version of a classic Chinese dish is short on work but long on taste. Pass out the chopsticks and enjoy homemade Peking Chicken. Yes, the flavors of Asia are as close as our own kitchens!
- 1 scallion (green onion), thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dry sherry
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- In a medium bowl, combine scallion, soy sauce, sherry, cornstarch, ginger, sugar, and pepper; mix well. Add chicken chunks and toss to coat completely. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 3 hours.
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade, discarding marinade, and cook chicken in batches 8 to 10 minutes, or until crispy on all sides and no pink remains.
