Mickey Rooney

Biography

Mickey Rooney, born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr., was an American actor whose career spanned nearly nine decades, from child vaudeville to film, television and Broadway. He was one of the leading stars of classic Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s and later became a highly regarded character actor.

Born in Brooklyn in 1920 to two vaudeville and burlesque performers, he began performing as a toddler alongside his parents. He made his film debut at six, in the 1926 short Not to Be Trusted. After his parents separated, he moved with his mother to Hollywood. Between 1927 and 1936 he starred as the title character in the 78-short Mickey McGuire series.

At 14 he played Puck in Warner Bros.' adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935). He then signed with MGM, where he befriended Judy Garland and formed a successful musical partnership with her. His breakthrough came with A Family Affair (1937), which launched the Andy Hardy series about an impulsive, romantic teenager in a middle-class family. From 1939 to 1941 he was the top box-office draw in the country and one of the best-paid actors of the era.

His move toward drama came with Boys Town (1938), opposite Spencer Tracy, and Babes in Arms (1939), again with Garland. After serving in the Second World War, he found leading roles harder to secure: he was too old for juvenile parts and too short for many adult ones. In the mid-1940s and 1950s he made many low-budget films, several later regarded as film noir. The production company he founded in 1948 collapsed and left him with debts.

He regained prominence in the 1960s with supporting roles, including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963). Pete's Dragon (1977) and The Black Stallion (1979) followed, the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His final years included the Night at the Museum series, the first of which was released in 2006, eighty years after his first screen appearance.

His private life was turbulent, with eight marriages, nine children and financial troubles that kept him working. He died in Los Angeles in 2014. His legacy lies in his versatility, his energy in musicals and comedy, and a career that spans silent film, the studio era and modern television.

Key films

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935): Puck, the mischievous sprite, which showed his talent at an early age.
• Boys Town (1938): the rebellious boy who clashes with Father Flanagan, opposite Spencer Tracy, and his first major dramatic role.
• Babes in Arms (1939): a musical with Judy Garland and his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
• The Human Comedy (1943): the role of Homer Macauley, his second Oscar nomination in the same category.
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961): a supporting appearance in one of the decade's most remembered films.
• Night at the Museum (2006): one of his late roles and a box-office hit.