Mickey Rooney Biography

His parents were popular entertainers on the Vaudeville circuit and Mickey soon became part of their act.

Mickey’s parents divorced when he was three years old and it was his mother who encouraged her young son towards a career in entertainment by taking him to Hollywood to audition for Hal Roach's ‘Our Gang’ series. After missing out on the role, Mickey returned in 1926 and landed his first role in ‘Not To Be Trusted’.

In 1927, he was cast as Mickey McGuire in a series based on a popular comic strip. Around the same time, Joe Yule Jr. became known as Mickey Rooney thanks to a legal name change by his mother.

In 1934, a chance outing at a Los Angeles tennis competition saw the rising young actor spotted by MGM producer, David O. Selznick. Reporting back to studio boss Louis Mayer, Selznick announced that he had discovered a ‘goldmine’ and urged the studio to sign up Rooney.

Selznick signed Rooney up for ‘Manhattan Melodrama’ and following the release of the film in 1934 he was offered a long-term contract with MGM and was educated at the studio's School for Professional Children.

From 1939-41, Mickey Rooney was the number one box office star in the US thanks to his roles in films such as ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ and the ‘Andy Hardy’ series. His fame peaked with a string of successful musicals with Judy Garland, including the Oscar nominated ‘Babes in Arms’ and classic films such as ‘National Velvet’ in 1944. Rooney and Garland developed a deep friendship over the years and starred in a total of nine films together.

Rooney completed 21 months of military service during World War II and, although a successful radio broadcaster during this time, his career suffered upon his return from war. During the 1950s, he worked on the television series ‘Hey Mulligan’ and in 1960 he directed and starred in ‘The Private Lives of Adam and Eve’.

Rooney continued to make films during the 60s and 70s, and in 1979 he appeared in the acclaimed stage play 'Sugar Babies' with Ann Miller.

In 1983, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted him their Academy Honorary Award for his lifetime of achievement.

While his career has been long-lived, Rooney’s marriages have been somewhat shorter. Starting off with Hollywood starlet Ava Gardner in 1941, he has been married eight times. His married his eighth wife, Jan Chamberlin, in 1978 and the couple have been together for longer than all of his previous seven marriages combined. The couple live in Los Angeles and continue to tour with a multimedia live stage production called ‘Let's Put On A Show!’