Birth name Joseph Yule NationalityUSA Birth 23 september 1920 at New York City (USA) Death 6 april 2014 (at 93 years) at Los Angeles (USA) Awards Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, Academy Honorary Award, Bronze Star Medal, Academy Juvenile Award
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule, Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor of film, television, Broadway, radio, and vaudeville. In a career spanning nearly 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.
At the height of a career that was marked by precipitous declines and raging comebacks, Rooney played the role of Andy Hardy in a series of fifteen films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he could sing, dance, clown and play various musical instruments, becoming a celebrated character actor later in his career. Laurence Olivier once said he considered Rooney "the greatest actor of them all." 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."
Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child and made his film debut at age six. At thirteen he played the role of Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His acclaimed film performance was hailed by critic David Thomson as "one of cinema's most arresting pieces of magic." In 1938, he co-starred with Spencer Tracy in the Academy Award-winning film, Boys Town. At nineteen 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. At the peak of his career between the ages of 15 and 25, he made forty-three films and co-starred alongside Judy Garland, Wallace Beery, Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor. He was one of MGM's most consistently successful actors and a favorite of studio head Louis B. Mayer.
Rooney was the top box office attraction from 1939 to 1941, and one of the best-paid actors of that era, but his career never rose to such heights again. 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 he was not able to obtain acting roles as significant as before. Nevertheless, Rooney was tenacious and he rebounded, his popularity renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979), for which he was nominated for an Oscar. 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. During his career, he received four Academy Award nominations and was nominated for five Emmy Awards, winning one.
At his death, Vanity Fair called him "the original Hollywood train wreck." He struggled with alcohol and pill addiction and married eight times, the first time to Ava Gardner. Despite earning millions during his career, he had to file for bankruptcy in 1962 due to mismanagement of his finances. Shortly before his death in 2014 at age 93, he alleged mistreatment by some family members, and testified in Congress about what he alleged was physical abuse and exploitation by family members. By the end of his life, his millions in earnings had dwindled to an estate that was valued at only $18,000, and he died owing medical bills and back taxes, and contributions were solicited from the public.
Biography
Rooney was married eight times. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was often the subject of comedians' jokes due to his alleged inability to stay married. At the time of his death, he was married to Jan Chamberlin Rooney, although they had separated in June 2012. He had a total of nine children, as well as 19 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
He was addicted to gambling and was addicted to sleeping pills, which he was only able to overcome in 2000, when he was in his late 70s.
Rooney married his first wife, Ava Gardner, Hollywood starlet at the age of 21 (she was 19) in 1942, but the two were divorced in 1943, well before she became a star in her own right. She divorced him because he couldn't remain faithful to her. While stationed in the military in Alabama in 1944, Rooney met and married local beauty queen Betty Jane Phillips, who later became known as a singer under the name BJ 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 Elaine Mahnken, better known as actress Elaine Devry, in 1952. They divorced in 1958.
In 1958, Rooney married Barbara Ann Thomason (stage name Carolyn Mitchell), but tragedy struck when she was murdered in 1966. He then married Barbara's best friend, Marge Lane. That marriage lasted 100 days. He was married to Carolyn Hockett from 1969 to 1974, but financial instability ended the relationship.
Finally, in 1978, Rooney married his eighth wife, Jan Chamberlin. Their marriage lasted longer than his previous seven combined, although they became estranged in 2009 and legally separated in 2012.
On September 23, 2010, he celebrated his 90th birthday at Feinstein's at Loews Regency on the Upper East Side of New York City. Among those who attended the fete were Donald Trump, Regis Philbin, Nathan Lane and Tony Bennett.
On February 16, 2011, Rooney was granted a temporary restraining order against Christopher Aber and Aber's wife Christina. Aber was one of Jan Rooney's two sons from a previous marriage.The court order stated that the Abers were to stay 100 yards from Rooney, his stepson Mark Rooney and his wife, Charlene Rooney. Mickey charged Chris and Christina Aber with elder abuse and fraud, and Rooney's attorneys alleged that Aber "threatens, intimidates, bullies and harasses Mickey" and refused to reveal the actor's finances to him, "other than to tell him that [he] is broke." 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. On March 27, 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 his stepson, Aber. Christopher Aber and Jan Rooney have denied all the allegations, and after Rooney's death, Aber contended that Rooney was abusive to his wife and addicted to sleeping pills. Rooney was arrested for beating his wife in February 1997, although prosecutors decided not to file battery charges against him. In June 2012, Mickey requested through the Superior Court to reside with Mark and Charlene permanently and legally separated from his wife, Jan Rooney.
Rooney's eldest child, Mickey Rooney, Jr., is a born-again Christian, and has an evangelical ministry in Hemet, California. He and several of Rooney's other eight children have worked at various times in show business. He is known to have an illegitimate son, William James Rooney. Tim Rooney, died in 2006, aged 59.
In May 2013, Rooney sold his home of many years, and split the proceeds with Jan Rooney.
Marriages
Wife
Years
Children
Ava Gardner
1942–1943
Betty Jane Rase (née Phillips)
1944–1949
Mickey Rooney, Jr. (Joseph Yule III) (born July 3, 1945)
Tim Rooney (Timothy Hayes Yule)(January 4, 1947 – September 23, 2006)
Martha Vickers
1949–1951
Theodore Michael Rooney (born April 13, 1950)
Elaine Devry
1952–1958
Barbara Ann Thomason
(a.k.a.: Tara Thomas, Carolyn Mitchell)
1958–1966
Kelly Ann Rooney (born September 13, 1959)
Kerry Yule Rooney (born December 30, 1960)
Michael Joseph Rooney (born April 2, 1962)
Kimmy Sue Rooney (born September 13, 1963)
Marge Lane
1966–1967
Carolyn Hockett
1969–1975
Jimmy Rooney (adopted from Carolyn's previous marriage) (born in 1966)
, 1h43 OriginUSA GenresFantasy, Romance ThemesTransport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies ActorsTim Roth, Mili Avital, Rod Steiger, Mickey Rooney, John Turturro, O-Lan Jones Roles Tollkeeper Rating66% Dans le désert de l’Utah, en 1933, trois jeunes cinéastes français réalisent un film sur un vieil homme qui depuis cinquante ans rêve de faire fortune avec un péage automobile. Soixante ans après on retrouve, à New York, la même équipe de cinéastes qui croise Henry Berst, un chauffeur de taxi qui après avoir été agressé et presque tué par un malfrat, sombre dans une terrible dépression et aperçoit dans ses hallucinations un angelot nu.
, 1h30 OriginFrance GenresComedy ThemesFilms about television ActorsBenoît Delépine, Féodor Atkine, Marine Delterme, Victoria Principal, Elliott Gould, William Atherton Roles Griffith Rating43% Michael Kael est le correspondant permanent à Paris d'une grande chaîne d'information américaine, la World News Company. Mais un jour, le patron de cette grande chaîne l'envoie en Afrique, afin de faire un reportage sur un festival de danse franco-africaine. Michael Kael se rend rapidement compte, ainsi que les autres journalistes, que ce festival n'est qu'un prétexte, et qu'il est le pion d'une énorme manipulation médiatique, dont l'objectif est politique. Mais son incapacité et son manque de talent, d'un point de vue journalistique, vont faire rater l'opération, car il déclenchera la panique dans des villes du monde entier, à l'approche de l'an 2000.
, 1h21 OriginGerman GenresFantasy, Adventure, Animation ThemesFilms about magic and magicians, Les fées, Children's films ActorsMichael Habeck, Hans Paetsch, Mickey Rooney, Phil Nibbelink, Dom DeLuise, Corey Feldman Roles Narrator (voice) Rating35% The year is 1492. Many people believed that the world was flat, and that ships would fall off the edge of the earth and float off into space. However, an Italian navigator named Christopher Columbus had a revolutionary idea — he thought that the world was square. That is, until a small woodworm named Pico overhears him and convinces Columbus that the world is really round by eating up the edges of his square globe, making it look round. Finally realizing that the world is round, Columbus decides to take his discovery to King Ferdinand and his wife Queen Isabella. Pico joins him, and the duo instantly become friends.
, 1h46 Directed byStuart Rosenberg OriginUSA GenresWestern ThemesFilms about music and musicians, Musical films ActorsScott Glenn, Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Balthazar Getty, Tess Harper, Gary Busey Roles Junion Rating61% Scott Glenn is H.D., a champion rodeo rider whose career is ruined after being gored by a bull. He returns home to discover things have drastically changed — the family farm has been abandoned, his old girlfriend Julie (Kate Capshaw) is a now a widowed mother, and his sister Cheryl (Tess Harper) has put his father (Ben Johnson) in a nursing home. H.D. rescues his father from the home and returns him to the ranch. But when H.D. leaves the farm to visit Julie, his father seeks out Cheryl. Cheryl retaliates by threatening to return her father to the nursing home and sell the ranch. At this point, H.D. takes notice of a rodeo contest which would give him $100,000 if he can ride four bulls for a total of 32 seconds. H.D. bonds with his father as he gruelingly prepares for a return to the rodeo to win the contest and buy the ranch.
, 1h30 OriginUSA GenresScience fiction, Horror ThemesRobot films ActorsMickey Rooney, William Thorne, Lilyan Chauvin, Clint Howard, Britt Leach, Gilmer McCormick Roles Joe Petto Rating43% Late one night in December, a young boy named Derek Quinn (William Thorne) hears the doorbell ringing and goes downstairs and finds a Christmas present that has been addressed to him on the porch. His father Tom (Van Quattro) reprimands him for being up so late and opening the door, sending him off to bed. Instead Derek watches from the stairs as his curious father opens the gift. Finding a musical orb shaped like Santa Claus in the box he activates it, causing it to strangle him with retractable cords; as Tom struggles he slips and falls onto a fireplace poker, his impaled body being found by his wife Sarah (Jane Higginson) a few moments later.
, 4h Directed byDick Lowry OriginUSA GenresWestern ThemesMusical films ActorsKenny Rogers, Rick Rossovich, Christine Belford, Gene Barry, Bruce Boxleitner, Reba McEntire Roles The Director Rating62% Kenny Rogers stars comme Brady Hawkes, en tant que joueur titulaire, se lance dans un voyage pour rencontrer un fils qu'il n'a jamais connu après que ce dernier lui envoie une lettre. Sur le chemin, Brady rencontre Billy Montana (Bruce Boxleitner) et les deux deviennent amis. Billy (en essayant d'aider Brady dans sa quête) croit se sentir comme un joueur de poker professionnel lui-même. Bien que Billy fait des erreurs le long du chemin (certains d'entre eux comprennent: essayer de trouver un moyen de tricher ou faire parler lisse), Brady assure qu'il reste sur un bon comportement lors d'un trajet en train de Yuma, CA. La prostituée aide duo Jennie Reed (Lee Purcell) qui a du mal avec un baron de train. A la fin, le beau-père du fils de Brady (Clu Gulager) est confronté.
, 1h35 Directed byMasanori Hata, William T. Hurtz, Masami Hata OriginUSA GenresDrama, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure, Musical, Animation ThemesCircus films, Films about magic and magicians, Musical films, Children's films ActorsGabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, René Auberjonois, Danny Mann, Bernard Erhard, Greg Burson Roles Flip (voice) Rating70% Set in 1905 (the year the Little Nemo comic strip premiered in the New York Herald), the film opens with the young boy Nemo experiencing a nightmare in which he is pursued by a locomotive. Upon awakening the next day, he goes to see a parade welcoming a traveling circus. However, Nemo is unable to see the circus because his father and his mother are too busy to take him. Later that night, Nemo imitates sleepwalking in an attempt to sneak some pie away, which acts against a promise he had made earlier to his mother. Upon falling asleep that night, Nemo is approached by figures from the parade. The circus organist introduces himself as Professor Genius and claims that they had been sent on a mission by King Morpheus, the king of a realm named Slumberland. The mission involves Nemo becoming the playmate of the princess, Camille. Although Nemo initially has reservations about interacting with royalty of the opposite gender, he decides to set off to fulfill his mission after being persuaded with a gift box of cookies from the princess.
Directed bySimon Wincer OriginUSA GenresDrama ActorsCheryl Ladd, Wayne Rogers, Diane Ladd, Mickey Rooney, Brian Kerwin, Shawnee Smith Roles John Paul Jones Rating67% Maude, une jeune femme ambitieuse, retourne vivre dans son État natal, le Kentucky, afin de se consacrer à sa passion pour les courses hippiques. Dans ces terres reculées où l'homme reste le maître incontesté, Maude est confrontée aux dures exigences de la loi ancestrale.