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Monday, April 7, 2014
It's a Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad World -- Mickey Rooney Passes Away at 93
While many took him for granted over the years, or underappreciated his talents, Mickey Rooney continued to be one of the world's greatest and most versatile actors for pretty much his entire life.
Born Ninian Joseph Yule Jr. in Brooklyn, New York in 1920, he would first appear on the vaudeville stage at age 17 months before going on to star in his own comedy short series as "Mickey McGuire" in 1927. This led to a career in films that has rarely been matched for longevity and productivity.
Highlights include the "Andy Hardy" series, teen musicals with Judy Garland, BOYS TOWN with Spencer Tracy, playing a hardbitten killer in THE LAST MILE, a memorably autumnal role in THE BLACK STALLION, and a great team up with Buddy Hackett and a host of other great comedy stars in the perennial favorite, 1963's IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD.
Also noteworthy is his appearance in surrealist filmmaker Fernando Arrabal's off-kilter children's film THE EMPEROR OF PERU, which we reviewed here.
Rooney had a sometimes volatile personal life which included eight marriages, the first to actress Ava Gardner. He was said to be a difficult interview subject and notoriously crabby during DVD commentary tracks for his old movie and TV appearances.
In recent years he has been living with his son and daughter-in-law Mark and Charlene Rooney, seemingly enjoying a full and happy life. He passed away on April 6, 2014.
We've enjoyed his movies immensely over the years and loved just having him around. Now we'll miss him, but we'll always have our memories of the Mick.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
(Thanks to IMDb)
2011 The Muppets
Smalltown Resident
2006 Night at the Museum
Gus
1998 Babe: Pig in the City
Fugly Floom
1982 Odyssey of the Pacific (aka The Emperor of Peru)
The Railway Engineer
1979 The Black Stallion
Henry Dailey
1977 Pete's Dragon
Lampie
1969 The Comic
Martin 'Cockeye' Van Buren
1968 Skidoo
George 'Blue Chips' Packard
1965 How to Stuff a Wild Bikini
Peachy Keane
1963 It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Ding Bell
1962 Requiem for a Heavyweight
Army
1961 Everything's Ducky
Kermit 'Beetle' McKay
1961 Breakfast at Tiffany's
Mr. Yunioshi
1959 The Last Mile
'Killer' Mears
1958 Andy Hardy Comes Home
Andrew 'Andy' Hardy
1957 Baby Face Nelson
Lester M. 'Baby Face Nelson' Gillis
1956 Francis in the Haunted House
David Prescott
1954 The Atomic Kid
Barnaby 'Blix' Waterberry
1944 National Velvet
Mi Taylor
1941 Babes on Broadway
Tommy Williams
1940 Young Tom Edison
Thomas Alva 'Tom' Edison
1939 Babes in Arms
Mickey Moran
1939 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry Finn
1938 Boys Town
Whitey Marsh
1938 Love Finds Andy Hardy
Andrew Hardy
1937 Captains Courageous
Dan
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