He had a nice, long life though, at least.
Jimminy Jillikers!
Interesting fact: Rooney was the number one box office draw in 1939 to 1940 - spanning two decades.
I saw him on Broadway in Sugar Babies. He was great - you could feel the charisma from the middle of the theater.
I guess I should find one of his old movies.
The door is almost closed on the “Golden Age” of Hollywood.
Great performer.
He’ll be missed.
They brought Sugar Babies to Little Rock in 1987 or 88?? and I really enjoyed Rooney’s performance.
He had an amazing career. R.I.P.
I don’t know WHY I thought I’d be the first to break this story. Scooped by you all again.
RIP, Mickey.
Is that a typo? Being the top draw in consecutive years isn’t that impressive.
I thought he was already dead but then I remembered recently seeing him washing pretend dishes in a commercial surprisingly not about Alzheimer’s.
He lived almost twice as long as the other guy who died today, Jon Pinnette.
I was surprised at how old he was until I remembered how old I am.
Whoosh!
This board is built on Simpsons references.
How many of his ex-wives did he outlive?
maybe 4
I first saw Mickey Rooney on talk shows and the like sometime in the 60s. He was a stubby little balding middle aged man, reputed to be major star and hearthrob. It didn’t make any sense at all. It was a few more years before I saw the younger Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy movie. So all of a sudden it was… well… slightly less absurd. I guess he was an attractive young man in those days, and the hottest young Hollywood actresses played opposite him in those movies. I’ve seen more of his movies since those days and he was pretty good comic actor, and he’s a part of the storied romance of show biz, a shooting star who rode the cult of celebrity through to the end of his life. Sleep tight tonight Mickey.
I just saw him in a Night Gallery rerun a few nights ago. I recall he was offered the role of Archie Bunker and turned it down. RIP, Mickey.
He was a dreadful little goblin in person: a self pitying holier than thou hypocrite and homophobe in interviews with lots of nasty stories about his behavior. OTOH, he was one of the last bona fide superstars of the 1930s and one of the last silent movie actors, and gave some good performances (including Bill) in the 1980s. End of an era and all that. RIP.
He and his current wife were legally separated. They were not divorced, and the marriage lasted almost 40 years, but his Elder abuse accusations against her son (I obviously have no idea as to their accuracy) caused a rift a couple of years ago, so ultimately he was 0 for 8. (Another wife died before divorcing him, but they were separated; she was murdered by her boyfriend.)
He did have a very chequered life, but he was a talented performer, and “Bill” is one of the best TV movies ever made. The DVD includes a sequel, which I shut off after about 15 minutes because it was so terrible.
I’m recording the 1922 version of The Prisoner of Zenda on the Turner Movie Network, only to see if Lewis Stone, who played Andy Hardy’s father 76 years ago, ever looked young.
The silent, eight years short of a century old, was made two years after Mickey Rooney was born — to parents who performed in vaudeville. As did he, for Og’s sake.
In those terms, that span of time Rooney was around is a mind-blower.
Abe Vigoda now cries triumphantly out to the heavenlies… “There can be only one!”
Someone on Reddit pointed out that he started his acting career so early that he could had acted alongside Buster Keaton.
And he did, but not in the silent era, they appeared together in one of the Frankie Avalon and Anette Funicello beach movies How to Stuff a Wild Bikini in 1965.
But I will remember more his Oscar nominated role as retired jockey Henry Dailey in The Black Stallion (1979)
RIP.