Mickey Rooney, Legendary Actor, Dies at 93

[itsrobert]

Source: Variety.com

April 6, 2014 | 08:01PM PT


Carmel Dagan



Mickey Rooney, the pint-sized actor who was one of MGM’s giant box office attractions in the late ’30s and early ’40s, died on Sunday. He was 93.


As adept at comedy as drama and an excellent singer and dancer, Rooney was regarded as the consummate entertainer. During a prolific career on stage and screen that spanned eight decades (“I’ve been working all my life, but it seems longer,” he once said), he was nominated for four Academy Awards and received two special Oscars, the Juvenile Award in 1939 (shared with Deanna Durbin) and one in 1983 for his body of work.

He also appeared on series and TV and in made for television movies, one of which, “Bill,” the touching story of a mentally challenged man, won him an Emmy. He was Emmy nominated three other times. And for “Sugar Babies,” a musical revue in which he starred with Ann Miller, he was nominated for a Tony in 1980.

Both in his professional and personal life Rooney withstood many peaks and valleys. He was married eight times and filed for bankruptcy in 1962, having gone through the $12 million he had earned. And until middle age, he was never able to quite cast off his popularity as a juvenile. Nonetheless, Rooney’s highs more than compensated for his lows. Via his “Andy Hardy” series of films, the five-foot-three Rooney came to embody the virtues of small-town American boyhood. Those films and a series of musicals in which he co-starred with Judy Garland made him the nation’s biggest box office attraction for three years running.


Read more: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/mickey-rooney-golden-age-box-office-giant-dies-at-93-1201153308/

[YoungDemCA]

1. RIP

nt

[ballyhoo]

2. RIP, Mickey, I talked to you once in 1966 at a little coffee shop on

Santa Monica Blvd. I was surprised you talked to me. Hope the next stop is as good as your last one.

[LovingA2andMI]

3. RIP....

Always liked Mr. Rooney.

[Ken Burch]

4. He brought a lot of joy to film audiences in the 1930's and 1940's...a distinctly unjoyful period.

Those of us who grew up in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970's also remember him for his hysterically funny ads for Rainier Beer(warning, this one might not seem totally "pc" by contemporary standards...but just go with it. That's his wife, Jan Chamberlain, singing the "Jeannette MacDonald" part in the duet)

[SoapBox]

9. ROFL

Oh...My...Gosh.

I grew up in Portland area and forgot all about him pouring the bottle, well, watch the vid!

[Major Hogwash]

26. Wow, I remember that commercial!

Mickey was great and wasn't afraid to tackle any part, even the part of the singing Mountie.

Ha ha ha

[The Second Stone]

5. I honestly thought he was going to live forever

and keep showing up in new movies.

[Ken Burch]

10. Well, he just about did, when you think about it. n/t.

[RGinNJ]

6. RIP

I ate dinner with him in the early 80's. He was starring in the show Sugar Babies on Broadway at the time.After the show he went across the street to a at the time a very crowded Beefsteak Charlie's. I was sitting by myself at a table and he asked to join me. I was completely star struck. I cannot remember any of the conversation but he was a charming dinner companion .

[DeSwiss]

7. Break-a-leg in heaven Mickey. n/t

[SoapBox]

8. RIP

You will be missed.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

11. The first time I noticed him was in the 1950s when I was a kid watching the late show

and particularly the film he did with Spencer Tracy, Boys Town.

[shanti]

12. RIP Mickey

I didn't know he was married 8 times, wow!

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

13. and to Ava Gardner, no less

[Divernan]

14. For a little guy, he sure lived life large!

[denbot]

15. At 5'3 he was a giant.

R.I.P. Mickey.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. R.I.P.

Mickey and Shirley within months of each other... Two of the few child stars who were able to survive the rigors of Hollywood and go on to successful adult careers.

You will be missed and thanks for your contributions. Your legacy will last forever.

[SkatmanRoth]

17. Mickey Rooney - RIP

[Auggie]

18. 340 acting credits listed at IMDB.com

[RBInMaine]

19. RIP - VERY talented and great career from the time he just a kid. He'll be very missed.

[Omaha Steve]

20. Marta and I met him back in 2002

It was an autograph signing event. Great conversations about the items we had signed.

[pinboy3niner]

22. I saw him onstage in the '60s

As a volunteer usher, I spent multiple performances stationed near his dressing room when he was starring in 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' at a new music theater in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.

I didn't meet him, but I enjoyed seeing him in the play over and over again.

[liberal N proud]

21. A true Hollywood Legend

And I am surprised that he was only 93. I thought he was much older than that, simply because we have seen him in movies all our lives.

WOW!

[sybylla]

23. My grandfather crossed the ocean with him on the same boat heading for WWII

My grandfather never had a nice thing to say about him. I guess at 21 years he was a little big for his britches. Probably didn't help they were the same age.

But people change and I wish Mr. Rooney and his family peace and comfort.

[El Supremo]

24. The last surviving star of 'It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World'. >>

He hated one of the greatest comedies of all time.

I loved Mickey Rooney no matter what people say about him.

[FailureToCommunicate]

25. Loved him as Puck, and the night watchman in Night At the Museum and everything in between

RIP Mickey

[pinboy3niner]

27. PHOTO of Rooney last week with Dick Van Patten, Mel Brooks at Santa Anita Racetrack

Despite reports of a long-term illness, Rooney apparently remained active right up to the end...


'Three of a Kind' - Hollywood legends Dick van Patten, Mickey Rooney, and Mel Brooks enjoy the races at Santa Anita March 30

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/thoroughbred-racing/hollywood-legend-longtime-racing-fan-mickey-rooney-dies-at-93/

[sofa king]

28. Check out the cast of this failed show:

In 1982, Mickey Rooney did a short-lived TV show called one of the boys. The regular cast was:

Mickey Rooney
Scatman Crothers
Nathan Lane
Dana Carvey

I remember seeing it; it wasn't funny.

But it will permit you to win Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon simply by knowing those four worked together. Why? Because Mickey Rooney and Scatman worked with everyone important in the first half of the Twentieth Century, while Lane and Carvey are well associated with everyone since.