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Biography
Born into a vaudeville family, Rooney began performing at the age of 17 months in 1922. His father was from a Scottish background, whilst his mother came from the southern US. His adopted name means that he is often mistakenly referred to as an Irish - American. He is five feet tall.
Mickey Rooney, 1940s.
Entering the movie business in 1927, he literally made his name as the title character in the Mickey McGuire shorts. These were a series of over forty silent, two-reel comedies adapted from the Toonerville Trolley comic strip, in which he starred through 1936. For a time he billed himself as Mickey McGuire, but legally changed his name to Mickey Rooney in 1932. Also during this period he met Walt Disney, and later he would claim Disney had named Mickey Mouse after him. It is difficult to verify, and others have made similar claims, but Rooney takes credit for giving rising starlet Norma Jean Baker the stage name Marilyn Monroe.
In 1934 he signed to MGM and was educated at the studio's School for Professional Children.
Rooney's successful role as Andy Hardy in A Family Affair (1937) led to fourteen further films featuring that character from 1938 to 1958. His first role as the top-billed star in a feature film was as Shockey Carter in Hoosier Schoolboy (1937) with Edward Pawley playing his father. His breakthrough serious role came in 1938's Boys Town opposite Spencer Tracy as Whitey Marsh, which opened shortly before his 18th birthday. His fame peaked in World War II with a string of successful musicals with Judy Garland, including the Oscar nominated Babes in Arms (1939) as well as more serious roles in films such as The Human Comedy (1943) and National Velvet (1944).
In 1944 Rooney entered military service for 21 months during World War II, during which time he was a radio personality on the American Forces Network; after his return his career slumped. He appeared in a number of indifferent films, including 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 her CBS variety series in the early 60's), and one final Andy Hardy film in the late 1950s. The Mickey Rooney Show, also known as Hey Mulligan, appeared on NBC for 39 episodes during 1954 and 1955. In 1960 he directed and starred in The Private Lives of Adam and Eve an ambitious comedy known for its multiple flashbacks and many cameos. In the 1960s Rooney returned to theatrical entertainment. He still accepted film roles in undistinguished movies, but occasionally he would appear in better works such as Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and The Black Stallion (1979). On Dec 31, 1961, he appeared on televisions "What's My Line" and mentioned that he had already started enrolling students in the MRSE (Mickey Rooney School of Entertainment).
He was awarded an Academy Juvenile Award in 1938, and in 1983 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted him their Academy Honorary Award for his lifetime of achievement. Laurence Olivier called Rooney "the single best film actor America ever produced." Judy Garland stated that Rooney was "the world's greatest talent."
Rooney did the voices for three Christmas TV animated/stop action specials: Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), and Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July—always playing Santa Claus.
He continued to be busy in stage and television work through the 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the acclaimed stage play Sugar Babies with Ann Miller beginning in 1979, starring in a long-running TV series based on The Black Stallion, touring Canada in a dinner theatre production of The Mind with the Naughty Man in the mid-1990s, and playing The Wizard in a stage production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt. He also appeared in the documentary That's Entertainment III.
He also voiced Mr. Cherrywood in 1985's The Care Bears Movie, and starred as the Movie Mason in yet another family film, 2000's Phantom of the Megaplex (a Disney Channel Original Movie).
In January 2005, Rooney made headlines again, starring in a commercial that was barred as "indecent" from its scheduled slot during Super Bowl XXXIX. The ad included a comic turn (literally) that saw Rooney's backside briefly exposed. The pulling of the ad is considered more fallout from Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" a year earlier.
As of 2006, Rooney continues to work in film, and tours with his wife, Jan Chamberlain, in a multi-media live stage production called "Let's Put On a Show!"
Currently, he and his family live in the Conejo Valley in Southern California.
Selected filmography
Babe: Pig in the City (1998)
The Care Bears Movie (1985)
The Black Stallion (1979)
The Magic of Lassie (1978)
Pete's Dragon (1977)
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960) -directed and acted
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958) - the final Andy Hardy film
Baby Face Nelson (1957)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955)
Words and Music (1948) - his last film appearance with Judy Garland
Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
National Velvet (1944)
Girl Crazy (1943)
The Human Comedy (1943)
A Yank at Eton (1942)
Babes on Broadway (1941)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Babes in Arms (1939)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939)
Boys Town (1938)
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry (1937) - his first appearance with Judy Garland
Captains Courageous (1937)
A Family Affair (1937) - the first Andy Hardy film
The Devil is a Sissy (1936)
Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936)
Riffraff (1936) - starring Jean Harlow and Spencer Tracy
Ah, Wilderness! (1935)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) - as Puck
Selected other works
The Happy Elf (2005) - Santa Claus (voice)
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) - Santa Claus (voice)
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) - Santa Claus (voice)
Santa Claus is Coming to Town (1970) - Santa Claus (voice)
Marriages
He has been married eight times:
Ava Gardner (1942-1943)
Betty Jane Rase (1944-1949), two children
Martha Vickers(1949-1951), one child
Elaine Devry (1952-1958)
Carolyn Mitchell (born Barbara Ann Thomasen) (1958-1966), four children
Marge Lane (1966-1967)
Carolyn Hockert (1969-1974), two children
Jan Chamberlin (1978-present)
Five sons:
Tim Rooney, actor
Teddy Rooney, actor
Mickey Rooney Jr., actor and musician
Kyle Rooney
Jimmy Rooney
Four daughters:
Kimmy Rooney
Kelly Rooney
Kerry Rooney
Jonelle Rooney
Two Stepsons:
Chris Aber Rooney, actor
Mark Aber Rooney, musician
Two Grandchildren:
Shannon Rooney
Dominique Rooney
Two Great-Grandchildren:
Kaitlyn Rooney
Hunter Rooney
