# There's Just Something . . . Creepy About Mickey Rooney **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068 "2004-04-09T00:16:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/1 "2004-04-09T00:16:36Z")
Well, nowadays he’s totally do-lally, of course. But I am watching him in _Girl Crazy_ (1943) and I cannot for the life of me figure out why he was such a huge star in his teens and 20s. The “short” part doesn’t bother me a bit. But he’s . . . _weird_-looking, in a demented lawn-gnome kind of way. Totally lacking in sex appeal. His acting makes Jim Carrey seem nuanced and subdued. He can’t really sing. But he was a huge star and was married, what, 27 times? I just don’t _get_ it. [Judy Garland in 1943, by the way? _Adorable_.] ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Milburn\_Drysdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs\_Milburn\_Drysdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Milburn_Drysdale)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/2 "2004-04-09T00:18:34Z")
My husband feels the same way. He says there’s something scary about him, like a leprechaun … he also does a great impression of him telling his ridiculous lies, such as “And thensh I tolshd her to change hur name from Normash Jean to Marln MONroe.” He IS creepy. And like the energizer bunny, he just keeps on going. and going. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/3 "2004-04-09T00:30:35Z")
On every Judy Garland special: “And _that’s_ . . . when the _illness_ set in.” Even if he were 6’3", there’d be something of the unwholesome gnome about him. The fact that his acting makes Daffy Duck look like Sunny von Bulow only adds to his lack of appeal. Yet he was the number-one movie star in 1939-40, and among the women who married him was _Ava Gardner!_ ---
**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/4 "2004-04-09T01:12:44Z")
His bit on The Simpsons was good though. Helicopter Pilot: “Hurry, Mr. Rooney! We’ve got a disenchanted little girl in a Jell-O Pudding commercial!” Mickey Rooney: “I could play that.” And yes, he IS an evil gnome. An immortal imp, who eats children. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/5 "2004-04-09T01:15:51Z")
> [@Spudo](#): > > …And yes, he IS an evil gnome. An immortal imp, who eats children. Oh, is that why he was sent to Boystown? 😃 - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/6 "2004-04-09T01:22:26Z")
My friends used to quote from MASH like some quote the bible. One of our running jokes was imitating Father Mulcahy saying “jocularity, jocularity”. But, did he himself ever say that that line or phrase??? Most recently, my wife and I were watching our MASH DVD. There is an episode entitled “Movie Night” where the gang sings and jokes around. They all take turns imitating the Father. I don’t recall seeing this episode from start to finish, although I recall their silly song about “Army Life”. So, did Father Mulcahy claim this? Or, is it perhaps a common phrase preachers would preach, like “turn the other cheek”? What’s the scoop? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/7 "2004-04-09T01:24:15Z")
Speaking of married 27 times. One of his wives was Ava Gardner! I remember seeing him in an interview about the time “Black Stallion” was out, and the interviewer asked him to deny rumors that he cheated on her while they were on their honnymoon. His answer: Who would cheat on Ava Gardner? My wag: Mickey Rooney would. I like the guy. But yeah, no sex appeal at all. Wonder what the attraction was. Confidence? Humor? Money? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/8 "2004-04-09T01:25:49Z")
Call me Pavlov’s Dog! I didn’t mean to hijack! (It was a fly-by fruiting!) I keep hitting the wrong button BECAUSE I am used to the older verison of this board! You used to be able to start a new thread from within an existing thread! Don’t shoot me…shoot the IT programmers! Oh, Magoo, you’ve done it again! You can’t teach an old Doper new tricks! - Jinx, one bad-news bear! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/9 "2004-04-09T02:02:34Z")
> [@kevja](#): > > Wonder what the attraction was? . . . I don’t care _how_ big it is; it’s attached to Mickey Rooney! ---
**Author:** ![mrunlucky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7993a0/32.png) [@mrunlucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrunlucky)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/10 "2004-04-09T03:39:09Z")
Read the viewer comments on the Imdb about a Mickey Rooney movie from 1971 called [_The Manipulator_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066802/). Ow! ---
**Author:** ![RindaRinda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dfb087/32.png) [@RindaRinda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RindaRinda)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/11 "2004-04-09T05:39:10Z")
I was neutral about him until I saw _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_. Although I probably shouldn’t blame him personally for that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/12 "2004-04-09T06:15:47Z")
But he was the biggest staaaaaar. In the wooooooorld! ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/13 "2004-04-09T06:49:40Z")
Praise Jeebus I’m not the only one who finds Mickey Rooney totally repulsive. I can’t stand him. I’m a moderately huge Judy Garland queen and I simply can’t watch any of her performances in the Andy Hardy series because I can’t stand Mickey Rooney. The only thing in which I find him barely tolerable is his guest shot on _The Simpsons_. It’s visceral; he activates my fight or flight reflex and as a result I change the channel. Every time someone from that era dies I seriously say to myself "why the fuck is (X) dead while Mickey Rooney is still alive? How old is he, anyway? 130? Just die already, Mickey! ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/14 "2004-04-09T12:30:31Z")
Have you ever seen his turn as Puck in “Midsummer Night’s Dream?” Talk about gnomish… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/15 "2004-04-09T13:18:21Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > But he was the biggest staaaaaar. In the wooooooorld! Before Dana Carvey was hired on SNL, he was on a short-lived sitcom with Rooney (“One of the Boys”). That quote—“I was the number one star in the worrrrrrrld, you hear me? The worrrrrrrrld. _Bang!_”—came **directly** from Rooney. Word for word. And over and over. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/16 "2004-04-09T13:25:44Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Before Dana Carvey was hired on SNL, he was on a short-lived sitcom with Rooney (“One of the Boys”). Wow, that was Dana Carvey? I watched that show. The premise was that this kid’s grandfather came to live him at college (for reasons that, blessedly, I’ve managed to forget) – and the college exteriors were shot at Drew University, which is where I went to grad school. That is, I swear on all that is honorable, the _only_ reason I watched that show. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/17 "2004-04-09T13:28:44Z")
So, I guess… (Wait for it.) (Get ready to cringe.) (You know its coming.) _There’s Something About Mickey_ ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/18 "2004-04-09T13:34:30Z")
Can we declare it nearly unanimous, then? Mickey Rooney is Creepy. Period. Exclamation Mark! His career is even more baffling than Joan Rivers’ or Don Rickles’. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/19 "2004-04-09T13:39:51Z")
He’s always been spooky but now he’s like a maniacally-grinning spotted toad. Are we sure he’s human? Or maybe he’s the “picture” to Dick Clark’s Dorian Grey?? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068/20 "2004-04-09T13:42:01Z")
For those of you lacking in nightmare fuel, [The Mickey Rooney Experience](http://pages.prodigy.net/mshimkus/rooney.htm)! Take a gander at the third photo down . . . By the way, during _Girl Crazy_ last night, Mickey went into one of his endless “funny” routines, and Judy Garland sat there with a frozen smile on her face, and you could hear her thinking, "pills . . . only another hour of this and L.B. will give me more pills . . . can’t . . . last . . . that long . . . " [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theres-just-something-creepy-about-mickey-rooney/239068.md?page=2)