Mickey Rooney

Rooney developed a very close friendship with Judy Garland, his co-star for many musicals and some films.

He jumped from one marriage to another with alarming frequency. In the 1940s itself, he married three women, beauty queen Ava Gardner, Betty Jane Rase, with whom he had two children Mickey and Tim. He also married Martha Vickers, with whom he had a son, Theodore.

In the 1950s too, he married twice, first marrying Elaine Devry and then Barbara Ann Thomason, with whom he had four children, Kelly, Kerry, Michael and Kimmy.

Mickey Rooney was born as Joseph Yule, Jr. to Nellie and Joe Yule in Brooklyn, New York. Both his parents did vaudeville theatre and seventeen-month-old Mickey too appeared with his parents.

With his father busy travelling, Mickey moved to Kansas City with his mother, who made him audition for the series ‘Our Gang’. However, Mickey did not get the role. When he was three years old, his parents got divorced.

He began doing cameos in films and enrolled at ‘Hollywood Professional School’, where many other future film stars, such as Joseph A. Wapner Nanette Fabray, Judy Garland, Lana Turner, etc. also studied.

His first role was in the silent short film ‘Not to Be Trusted’ in 1926 where he played an adult midget. He then featured in a series of short films as ‘Mickey McGuire’.

At the age of twelve, his agent gave him the name ‘Mickey Rooney’. In 1934, Mickey was discovered by MGM producer David O. Selznick and was subsequently signed for the film ‘Manhattan Melodrama’. The film’s success led to a long-term contract and his admission in the MGM-owned ‘School for Professional Children’.

In 1937, he played the character of Andy Hardy as a supporting role in the film ‘A Family Affair’, which fetched him considerable fame. The unexpected success led to thirteen more Andy Hardy movies in the next decade. Rooney’s other notable films of this period were ‘Hoosier Schoolboy’, ‘Boys Town’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

He starred in the successful musical ‘Babes in Arms’ with Judy Garland which led to several other musicals featuring the pair, including ‘Girl Crazy’ and ‘National Velvet’.

Rooney joined the army in 1944 and spent over twenty-one months there till the World War II ended. During this time, he entertained the troops and also featured on the ‘American Forces Network’ radio.

Rooney’s portrayal of the iconic character of Andy Hardy started off in a supporting role in the film ‘A Family Affair’. However, the character’s subsequent popularity resulted in almost twenty more films featuring Andy Hardy. These films also helped to make Rooney the number one box-office star.

He formed a very successful and much-loved pairing with actress Judy Garland in a series of successful musicals, such as ‘Babes in Arms’, ‘Strike up the Band’, ‘Babes on Broadway’ and ‘Girl Crazy’, which cemented his status as a top star at the time.

His portrayal of Henry Dailey, a retired horse jockey in the acclaimed film ‘The Black Stallion’ garnered much appreciation. The film was a success at the box office too, collecting over 37 million compared to its paltry budget of 2 million.