So long, Mickey Rooney

[WolfeMacleod]

Mickey Rooney passed away.

I'll always remember this movie. One of my favorites.

[Nostril Cheese]

He lived in my hometown and we'd see him walking around sometimes. Very bitter and angry old man.

R.I.P.

[craigster59]

Yeah, I thought he still lived in the Conejo Valley, but I guess he moved to Studio City.
He was an angry guy and a bit of a letch, scoping out the chicks at Thrifty Drug. RIP, he has a lot of films under his belt.

I keep hearing on the news how the last of "Hollywood's Golden Age" has died. I wonder what Maureen O'Hara and Lauren Bacall have to say about that.

[sand_man]

R.I.P.

Not to inject humor on a somber subject, but when I heard it this morning, I thought to myself, "huh, didn't he pass away like 20 years ago"?

[Nostril Cheese]

He was in T.O. for years. Lots of stories about him. Used to yell at kids all the time. Pretty funny actually.

I heard he got carried out of Akreys a few times.

[Baz]

Mickey Rooney Dies at age 93. He is survived by his eighth wife Jan, and nine children.

His 200-plus film credits notwithstanding, the spry, spirited Rooney will be best remembered for playing the impetuous title character in MGM's beloved Andy Hardy movies.

But most of all, he leaves behind a colorful Hollywood legacy that spanned 80 years and more than 200 films, including Boys Town and The Black Stallion. Rooney won two honorary Oscars, the first in 1938, the second in 1982. In January 2005, Rooney made headlines for the unlikeliest of reasons when the Fox network rejected a Super Bowl cold remedy commercial -- featuring Rooney's bared bottom -- for being inappropriate.

Rooney certainly knew how to put on a show. But of all the characters that Rooney inhabited — from Puck in the 1935 film production of A Midsummer Night's Dream to his Oscar-nominated turn as a preternaturally mature teen in 1943's The Human Comedy — not one could compete with or begin to overshadow Rooney himself.

Laurence Olivier called Rooney "the greatest actor of them all," yet he was the unlikeliest of stars. At 5-foot-3, Rooney was short, with pointy, elfin features and a spirited, in-your-face energy more suited to selling cars than starring in films. Yet during the Depression, when jobs were scarce and the national mood grim, audiences loved his joie de vivre and his down-home appeal.

Born Joe Yule, Jr. in a Brooklyn, N.Y., rooming house on Sept. 23, 1920, Rooney made his first stage appearance at 17 months as part of his comic father and dancer mother's vaudeville performances. Performing, Rooney told BackStage, was " in my blood. It's who I am."

He switched to the silver screen at age 6, playing the title character Mickey McGuire in 78 film shorts based on the old Toonerville Trolley cartoons from 1927 until 1933. In 1932, he changed his moniker to the catchier Mickey Rooney and five years later, landed the role that would define him for the rest of his career: the feisty teen-about town Andy Hardy, with a cheeky grin, irresistible boy-next-door charm and plenty of romantic mishaps.

The 15-part movie series was such a smash that from 1939 to 1941, Rooney became the Tom Cruise of his time: the No. 1 box-office draw in the country.

But like any good mutual fund, Rooney diversified, playing a problem child in Boys Town opposite Spencer Tracy in 1938 and co-starring in the 1939 musical Babes in Arms with longtime collaborator and pal Judy Garland, with whom he co-starred in 10 films. The two enjoyed a close friendship off-screen and it was no coincidence that of all his Hollywood compatriots, Rooney bonded most with Garland, a troubled star who, like him, matured in front of the cameras and struggled to find her footing as an adult.

At the peak of his fame, Rooney met President Roosevelt in the White House and auto magnate Henry Ford in Dearborn, Mich. And soon, his personal life became every bit as gaudy as his film roles, starting with his 1942 marriage to sultry actress Ava Gardner, the first of his eight wives (they split in 1943).

His popularity soaring, his star ever rising, Rooney's success seemed unstoppable — until 1944, when he served in World War II, joining the entertainment brigade dubbed the Jeep Theater and travelling 150,000 miles to entertain more than 2 million overseas troops.

But when the war was over in 1945 and Rooney returned to Hollywood, he was suddenly something of an outsider. MGM, the studio that had turned Rooney into a megastar, dropped him. And he found there was little industry wiggle room for a quirky, unconventionally appealing actor who wasn't a kid anymore, but lacked the stature of a mature leading man.

Like Macaulay Culkin in the 1990s, Rooney had trouble making the transition from kid star to adult actor.

But Rooney, ever the realist, knew his time at the top would be short-lived. "I tell you, there are 150 million kids waiting to fill the reservoir," he told USA TODAY in 1994. "I say bravo to the youngsters. I had my day at bat."

[Ayles]

For you Northwesterners:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64-Ieeu7oIA

[intakexhaust]

If you like old race cars, he stared in The Big Wheel (1949). On DVD or DL.

The Big Wheel (1949) - IMDb

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

If you like old race cars, he stared in The Big Wheel (1949). On DVD or DL.

The Big Wheel (1949) - IMDb

Yep, one of my favorites, he has a son who is into Porsches too.

[futuresoptions]

R.i.p.

[Bob Kontak]

R.I.P

He came up Marilyn Monroe's name for Norma Jean.

[strupgolf]

I've heard both the good, which I've seen, and the bad, which I have'nt seen, so RIP to you Rooney, you gave us all a very good show. You had great talent and starred in some great classics.

[Crowbob]

I always thought he was a creep. I remember him giving an interview on TV back in the late 70's, I think it was. He came across as a nasty angry, little man and since then I have avoided everything he has ever done.

I don't think he had trouble making the transition from kid star to adult actor. I think he failed making the transition to adult.

He lived an interesting life. I'll give him that.

[tabs]

"I lost $2 at Santa Anita and I've spent $3 million trying to get it back." Mickey Rooney

[Eric 951]

He was funny when he guested on "The Simpsons"

--Jiminy Jillickers!

[creaturecat]

Met him during the filming of The Black Stallion.
He seemed to be in pretty good humour, at that point in his life.