Mickey Rooney

Acting

Born Sep 23, 1920

From Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Died Apr 06, 2014

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, producer, and radio personality. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent film era. At the height of a career that was 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 American family values. 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, 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 the age of six. At 14, he played Puck in the play and later the 1935 film adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Critic David Thomson hailed his performance as "one of the cinema's most arresting pieces of magic". In 1938, he co-starred in Boys Town. At 19, 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 43 films, which made him one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most consistently successful actors and a favorite of MGM 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 would never again rise to such heights. 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 was unable to get as many starring roles. Nevertheless, Rooney's popularity was renewed with well-received supporting roles in films such as Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and The Black Stallion (1979). 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, and won an Emmy in 1982 plus a Golden Globe for his role in Bill (1981).

Mickey Rooney

Known For

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Night at the Museum

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The Fox and the Hound

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

The Muppets

Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure

Babe: Pig in the City

The Black Stallion

Pete's Dragon

Filmography — Acting

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb

Night at the Museum

Breakfast at Tiffany's

The Fox and the Hound

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

The Muppets

Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure

Babe: Pig in the City

The Black Stallion

Pete's Dragon

Night of 100 Stars

The Bridges at Toko-Ri

Captains Courageous

Arabian Adventure

The Care Bears Movie

National Velvet

Rendezvous

Erik the Viking

Girl Crazy

Quicksand

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

Skidoo

Operation Mad Ball

Pulp

That's Entertainment, Part II

Words and Music

Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town

Boys Town

Showbiz Goes to War

That's Entertainment!

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

The Comic

How to Stuff a Wild Bikini

The Strip

Chained

Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July

Mickey's 50

A Midsummer Night's Dream

The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw

Judy Garland: By Myself

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

That's Dancing!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic

The Year Without a Santa Claus

The Lion Roars Again

Manhattan Melodrama

Andy Hardy Comes Home

The Beast of the City

Bill

Phantom of the Megaplex

The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn

The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies

Babes on Broadway

Leave 'Em Laughing

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Lionpower from MGM

Thousands Cheer

The Human Comedy

Hollywood: Style Center of the World

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Sid & Judy

From the Ends of the Earth

Francis in the Haunted House

Andy Hardy Meets Debutante

Broadway's Lost Treasures

Lord Jeff

A Dream Comes True