# RIP Mickey Rooney. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2014, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526 "2014-04-07T03:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/21 "2014-04-07T06:36:01Z")
He was also in _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_ with Buster Keaton (with Buster in a “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo). ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/22 "2014-04-07T07:10:23Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > The door is almost closed on the “Golden Age” of Hollywood. > Great performer. > He’ll be missed. Yeah - who, really, is left? Reading his New York Times obituary that mentioned all the stars he worked with the only two living names I recognized were Olivia de Havilland and Carol Channing. Rooney was great in “The Clown,” the live teleplay from the '50s written by Rod Serling. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/23 "2014-04-07T09:53:17Z")
RIP. But, he was not dead already? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/24 "2014-04-07T12:11:54Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Yeah - who, really, is left? Reading his New York Times obituary that mentioned all the stars he worked with the only two living names I recognized were Olivia de Havilland and Carol Channing. > > Rooney was great in “The Clown,” the live teleplay from the '50s written by Rod Serling. Highly recommended. Kirk Douglas is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/25 "2014-04-07T12:30:46Z")
When this news first started popping up on my feed, I misread it as Mickey Rourke. That was actually less surprising than the truth. Rooney just seemed like the kind of guy who was going to make 100, while Rourke is a death-by-misadventure waiting to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/26 "2014-04-07T14:07:25Z")
I saw him and a wife (I think his latest) when he came to my campus in college. It was interesting to see someone who lived such a long life in the cinemas, dating back to original vaudeville. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/27 "2014-04-07T14:12:49Z")
Interesting that we lost Shirley Temple and Mickey Rooney within just a few months of each other. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/28 "2014-04-07T14:17:34Z")
In good news, now Judy Garland will finally have someone to put on shows in the old barn with again. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/29 "2014-04-07T14:40:24Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > 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. Another example of child stardom messing someone up in a continuing way. One article I read mentioned that back in their vaudeville days, his parents evaded child-welfare authorities by passing off him off as a midget. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/30 "2014-04-07T16:26:32Z")
My favorite Mickey Rooney clip: A Hollywood classic! :o ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/31 "2014-04-07T18:03:54Z")
When I told my husband about this, he asked, “Wasn’t he ninety million years old?” I said, “No, he’d been married ninety million times.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/32 "2014-04-07T18:30:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > My favorite Mickey Rooney clip: > > A Hollywood classic! :o Was he the one in blackface? Here’s one of my favorites. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/S7LqsAnhrR4/hqdefault.jpg "Andy Rooney - Bottled Water") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7LqsAnhrR4) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/33 "2014-04-07T18:33:24Z")
Didn’t Jay Leno have him sitting in the audience for one of the last (if not the last) show? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/34 "2014-04-07T18:41:54Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Another example of child stardom messing someone up in a continuing way. One article I read mentioned that back in their vaudeville days, his parents evaded child-welfare authorities by passing off him off as a midget. I thought he _was_ a midget. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/35 "2014-04-07T18:48:07Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > But I will remember more his Oscar nominated role as retired jockey Henry Dailey in _The Black Stallion_ (1979) Which is a lovely extension of his role as the jockey/trainer in the second best horse-racing movie ever made (after the Ballard masterpiece), **National Velvet** 34 years earlier. His first Oscar-winning movie was **Manhattan Melodrama** in 1934, his last was **The Muppets** in 2011–a 77-year span and a record unlikely to be beaten anytime soon. He was also a damn good Puck. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/36 "2014-04-07T19:00:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > My favorite Mickey Rooney clip: > > A Hollywood classic! :o Hmmm. It’s interesting that the women went for a more realistic “blackface”. I wonder if that was standard. Either way, we really need more young actors doing blackface today. It would save so many young black actor from having to work stereotypical jobs. Plus, when the country had blackface, it didn’t have all this problem with global warming. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/37 "2014-04-07T20:18:30Z")
I could never understand how he attracted such beautiful women. The guy either had an unmatched line of bullshit or a 12" dick. Maybe both. Of course, for awhile there he was a very rich man with a lot of Hollywood influence, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/38 "2014-04-07T20:28:40Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Hmmm. It’s interesting that the women went for a more realistic “blackface”. I wonder if that was standard. The women have to be “light” black to still be attractive to the male members of the audience, I will venture. For just a moment, though, I thought the second female singer was Lena Horne. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/39 "2014-04-07T22:09:19Z")
Hard to believe he died, I thought he was going to outlast everyone. Are there any other stars that had kept working from the 20s on to today? (I know he wasn’t a star until the 30s). I mean who else could refer to Betty White as a newcomer? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526/40 "2014-04-07T23:23:58Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Hard to believe he died, I thought he was going to outlast everyone. Are there any other stars that had kept working from the 20s on to today? (I know he wasn’t a star until the 30s). I mean who else could refer to Betty White as a newcomer? [Baby Peggy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_Serra_Cary) is still alive, though she has been out of the business for a few generations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-mickey-rooney/685526.md?page=3)