The honorary Oscar is the motion picture industry’s highest acknowledgement of film legends. It is given only occasionally, and the select recipients include such names as Charles Chaplin, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Joan Crawford, Laurence Olivier and Deborah Kerr. In 1983, it was presented to Mickey Rooney. 2007 marks Mickey’s 85th Anniversary in show business.
Mickey was born Joe Yule, Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, son of well-known performers Joe Yule and Nell Carter. The consummate performer, he made his first stage appearance at the age of two when he crawled out on stage during hid parents’ vaudeville act. All of Mickey’s eighty plus years have been busy. At four, he made his motion picture debut, as a midget in “Not To Be Trusted”. A year later, he became Mickey “himself” McGuire for seventy-eight short film comedies based on Fontaine Fox’s tough little cartoon character. He outgrew the role at twelve and went on the road taking the name Mickey Rooney.
In the 1930s, he signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for whom he made the famous “Andy Hardy” series. Box office receipts for 1938-1940 made him the number one star in the world. In 1939, he received a special Academy Award for the film “Boys Town” with Spencer Tracy and for his work in the Andy Hardy series. This was also the year he made his first major musical with Judy Garland, “Babes in Arms”, which earned him an Academy Award nomination as best actor. It was the first time a juvenile had competed with adult stars for the honor.
The next time he was so honored was in 1943 for his work in “The Human Comedy”. In 1944, he made “National Velvet” with Elizabeth Taylor, before joining the army in World War II. As a regular GI he entertained frontline troops with the “Jeep Shows The Jeep Shows” consisted of three men in a jeep who delivered much needed entertainment to the troops in foxholes at the front.. For his services in the war, he was awarded the Bronze Star with clusters.
After the war, Rooney set about rebuilding his career. He would make several classic films including “Killer McCoy”, “The Fireball”, “Baby Face Nelson” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” His list of credits for the past eight decades is impressive, containing more than three hundred fifty films, including “The Black Stallion” for which he received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Continuing to be a forceful presence in the motion picture industry, in 2006 Mickey co-starred with Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson and his old friend Dick Van Dyke, in the 20th Century Fox’s major Christmas release “Night At The Museum”. He also continues his work promoting and developing new generations of film makers by producing and starring, with Jan, in small films such as “The Yesterday Pool:, “To Kill A Mockumentary” and “A Christmas Too Many”. In 2008 Mickey has been working on many productions to be released in 2009.
With the advent of Television, Mickey dove into conquered the new medium. During its “golden Age” he appeared in many classic dramas, such as “The Comedian” with famed director John Frankenheimer, (for which he received an Emmy nomination) and the classic “Twilight Zone” episode “The Last Night of a Jockey”. In 1982, he portrayed Bill Sackter in the in the television film “Bill” and receive an Emmy The Golden Globe, and the Peabody Award for his performance. He repeated the role two yeas later in “Bill On His Own”. He has starred in numerous television series including “Hey Mulligan”, “Mickey” for which he won the Golden Globe in 1064 as Best Actor in a Television Series, “A Year At The Top” with Sammy Davis, Jr., “One Of The Boys? With Nathan Lane and Dana Carey and “The adventures of the Black Stallion”.
In 1979, Mickey achieved a new triumph, which took him to the cover of “Life” magazine, the starring role in the theatrical production of “Sugar Babies” for which he received a Tony nomination. The shoe ran successfully on Broadway for three years and had a record-breaking eight-year run on the road. In 1988, he wowed London’s West End audiences in ‘Sugar Babies”. His stage success continued in 1989 when he and Donald O’Conner made a twenty-city tour in “Two For The Show”, which they co-wrote. In 1990, they enjoyed similar success, with a thirteen city tour in Neil Simon’s “The Sunshine Boys”. He returned to Broadway in 1993 to appear with Larry Gatlin in “The Will Rogers Follies”. He successfully revived “Sugar Babies” in 1995 at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas with Juliette Prowse and appeared in Toronto at Royal Alexandra Theatre in “Crazy For You”. In 1997, he toured the United States and Canada as “the Wizard” and Professor Marvel” in Madison Square Garden’s acclaimed production of “The Wizard of Oz”.
In 1999 Mickey and his wife Jan launched a successful tour of “The One Man One Wife Show” in Australia and New Zealand. The show delighted audiences throughout the United States and Europe for its entire five year run.
In 2004 Mickey and Jan triumphed Off-Broadway in their new autobiographical musical, “Let’s Put On A Shoe!” at the Irish Repertory Theatre. They followed their successful New York run with long-term engagements at the prestigious Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and in Branson. In 2006 they repeated hat triumph with a 15 city tour of the United Kingdom and many US cities. At the end of the year they made their British pantomime premier in the wildly successful, Sunderland Theatre production of “Cinderella”. They did 50 performances. 2008 has been particularly busy with the sell out performances in various Performing Arts Centers across the US and at Resort and the Hilton Casinos in Atlantic City.
Mickey is also an accomplished musician and can play almost every instrument in an orchestra. As a member of ASCAP, Mickey has composed numerous pop songs, a symphony and several film scores.
His entire achievements pale, in comparison to what Mickey considers his greatest life achievement. That is Mickey’s 25 plus year marriage to Jan (Chamberlin) Rooney. A stellar talent in her own right, Jan is a multi-faceted Singer, Actress Songwriter and Abstract Artist. The recipient of three stars on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, in April of 2004, he was honored to receive a Fourth Star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame. He proudly shares that star with his wife, Jan for their achievement in live entertainment. They remain deeply in love with on another. They currently reside in Venture County, California. There they enjoy the pleasure and quiet of the country with the other loves of their lives, children, grandchildren and their two birds and their beloved dog, Digby. They are both strong Animal Rights Advocates.
