April 6, 2014 at the age of 94, the outstanding American actor Mickey Rooney died. His biography is actually a Hollywood story.
Born on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, Mickey Rooney first appeared on stage as an actor in the vaudeville of his parents, and in 1937 he played Andy Hardy in the first of 15 films featuring this character. He starred with Judy Garland in a series of successful musicals, including in Babes in Arms ("Children in Armor"), and was awarded the Academy's Special Anniversary Prize in 1938. Rooney continued to work even after his ninety years.
Young star
In fact, the famous actor was called Joseph Yule Jr. He was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rooney first went on stage as a kid in the acting collective of his parents. He first starred in a movie in 1926, playing a child. The following year, he played the protagonist in the first short film Mickey Maguire. It was during the filming of a series of short films that he took on the stage name of Mickey Rooney.
The actor reached new heights in 1937 in the film, which introduced everyone to Andy Hardy, an American teenager. This favorite character has appeared in nearly twenty films and helped make him the highest grossing actor. Other films followed, which also contributed to the career development of the young star, including Boys Town (Boys' City, 1938) and Babes in Arms (Children in Armor, 1939). In 1938, Rooney received an Oscar for "bringing the spirit of youth to the screens and playing the roles of adolescents."
Along with Judy Garland, he also appeared in a number of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) and Girl Crazy (Crazy Girl, 1943). For the first time they worked together in the film "Andy Hardy", from that time they became good friends. He also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in "National Velvet" (1944).
Challenges and Triumphs
After serving in the army during World War II, the actor played various roles. He has appeared in musicals such as Summer Holiday (The Summer Holiday Vacation, 1948) and the dramas Killer McCoy (Killer McCoy, 1947) and The Big Wheel (The Big Wheel, 1949), but none of these paintings brought him as much success as his early work.
In 1952, another film was released with Mickey Rooney - "Silence" (Sound Off). It was a musical comedy. The film was shot in August 1951. In the movie Silence, Mickey Rooney played a major role. It was the first of three contracts between actor and producer Joni Taps from Colombia, he was paid $ 75,000 for each of the three paintings.
Due to the decline in popularity in the cinema, he decided to turn to television. However, the Mickey Rooney show went on only from 1954 to 1955. Nevertheless, the unsurpassed artist was able to declare himself, appearing as a guest on television, speaking in nightclubs and playing in several films. One of his most prominent roles at that time was the military drama The Bold and the Brave (The Bold and the Bold, 1956), which showed that he could brilliantly play serious roles.
Rooney also appeared in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961), in which the main roles were played by Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. The way Rooney played his Japanese neighbor Hepburn, Mr. Junioshi, was criticized, as it was considered an offensive racial stereotype. Later, the actor himself said that he played a comic role and was never going to insult anyone.
A year later, he played the dramatic role of a boxing trainer in the movie Requiem for the Heavyweight (1962) with Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason. Despite the fact that in the late 1960s and 1970s he experienced a decline in his career, the actor showed viewers and critics why he was one of the most stable stars in Hollywood. In 1979, the film "Black Steed" brought him the Oscar in the nomination "Best Supporting Actor." Around the same time, he also hit the audience with a theatrical role in the production of “Sugar Children” with Anne Miller on Broadway. The couple also took part in the series.
The number of films by Mickey Rooney is amazing: he starred in more than 190 films, not counting short films, participated in 27 television projects.
In 1981, the actor received an Emmy Award for his role as a person with mental disabilities in the movie Bill. The recognition from critics did not end there: in 1982, he received an honorary award from the Academy of Film Academy for outstanding services.
Later years
Mickey Rooney continued to act after he was 90 years old. He has appeared in films such as Night at the Museum (2006) with Ben Stiller and Muppets (2011). Outside of filming, he spoke with stories of elder abuse. In 2011, he addressed the Congress on this issue.
The actor knew firsthand about the victimization of older people. Rooney sued his stepson Chris Aber, the son of his eighth wife, claiming that Aber and his wife verbally and financially insulted him. The actor said that the couple was misleading him about their finances, they used his funds to cover their expenses and did not buy him food and medicine. In 2013, the lawsuit was satisfied in favor of the actor, who received $ 2.8 million.
Marriages
Mickey Rooney was known for his personal life and numerous marriages. He was married eight times, including a short union with Hollywood beauty Ava Gardner in 1942. The stars were married only a year and did not have time to have children. In 1944, Rooney married again, the beauty queen Betty Jane Reis, and the couple had two sons - Mickey Jr. and Timothy. Rooney and Reis divorced in 1949. Just six hours after completing the divorce procedure, he married his third wife, actress Martha Vickers. They had one son born in marriage - Theodore.
After a divorce from Vickers, he headed to Las Vegas to marry actress and model Elaine Meinken Devry. They were married until 1958, and immediately after the divorce, Rooney married again, marrying model and actress Barbara Ann Thomason, with whom he has four children in common - Kelly, Kerry, Michael and Kimmy. Their marriage ended tragically when a family friend and lover of Barbara killed her and committed suicide.
Soon after the tragic event, Rooney married Thomason's girlfriend, Margaret Lane, but the relationship lasted only 100 days. In 1969, he married Carolyn Hackett, they had two children - Jimmy and Jonell. They divorced in 1975, and three years later, the actor married his eighth and last wife, singer Jen Chamberlin.
Death
Mickey Rooney, whose career lasted nine decades, died in his own home in Los Angeles on April 6, 2014 at the age of 93. In his autobiography, Life Is Too Short, he wrote that if he were brighter, the ladies were softer, the scotch tape weaker, the gods kinder, the game of dice hot, then perhaps everything would end with a story from one sentence.