Mickey Rooney - Biography

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Compact, versatile, intensely energetic performer who made his stage debut at the age of 18 months as part of his family's vaudeville act. Born Joe Yule Jr, Rooney made his film debut at age 6 and, from 1927 to 1933, starred in over 50 episodes of the two-reel comedy series, "Mickey McGuire." He adopted the name "Mickey Rooney" in 1932 and began landing bit parts in feature films, signing with MGM in 1934. Rooney was loaned out to Warner Bros. in 1935 and played a memorable Puck in the Max Reinhardt/William Dieterle production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Stardom came for Rooney when he began a popular, 15-film tenure as the brash title character in the "Andy Hardy" series (1937-47), turned in a fine performance in "Boys Town" (1938) as Father Flanagan's toughest case, and enjoyed great success opposite Judy Garland in a number of breezy musicals including "Babes in Arms" (1939), "Babes on Broadway" (1941) and "Girl Crazy" (1943). For the period just before and after America entered WWII, Rooney was the incarnation of the all-American boy: an ambitious, confused, mischievous scamp who nonetheless conveyed a basically earnest naivete. From 1939 to 1941 he was the number one star at the US box office, and his burgeoning adult roles in "The Human Comedy" (1943) and "National Velvet" (1944) continued his status as one of the nation's most popular film stars.

Getting too old to play juveniles after WWII, Rooney found his stardom declining in such films as the bland "Words and Music" and the underrated "Summer Holiday" (both 1948). He did, however, establish himself as a solid character actor in the 1950s with his roles in "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" (1954), "The Bold and the Brave" (1956) and "Baby Face Nelson" (1957), though he misfired as a huffy Japanese landlord in the otherwise delightful "Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). In his later years, Rooney did a charming revamp of the horse trainer role he played in "National Velvet" in "The Black Stallion" (1979). He also made a triumphant return to the stage in 1980 in the glitzy Broadway musical revue, "Sugar Babies", and won widespread acclaim for his sensitive portrait of a retarded man in the 1981 TV drama, "Bill". The 90s saw Rooney still active as the ornery horse trainer on the syndicated series, "The Adventures of the Black Stallion" and assuming the role of Father Flanagan himself in the direct-to-video release "The Road Home" (1996). Rooney's eight wives have included actresses Ava Gardner and Martha Vickers.