ACTOR
Mickey Rooney
- Known for
- Babe: Pig in the City (1998), The Black Stallion (1979), Erik the Viking (1989), Nimo (1989)
77 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Mickey Rooney is an actor best known for Babe: Pig in the City, The Black Stallion and Erik the Viking.
All facts (77)
- #001
During World War II, Mickey Rooney served 22 months in the United States Army, five of them with General George S. Patton's Third Army. He rose to the rank of sergeant and earned a Bronze Star, among other decorations.
- #002
Liza Minnelli asked Rooney to deliver the eulogy at her mother Judy Garland's funeral in June 1969, but he declined because, given his long and close friendship with Garland, he felt he would not be able to get through it.
- #003
Mickey Rooney may be the only actor in history to have appeared in at least one film in each of ten consecutive decades.
- #004
He reunited with his friend and former co-star Judy Garland as a singing and dancing partner in an episode of The Judy Garland Show (1963). On the program he displayed his musical versatility by playing a solo on drums.
- #005
In 1938, Rooney was severely reprimanded by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer for having a passionate affair with Norma Shearer. The affair was causing a major uproar on the set of Marie Antoinette (1938), where the two hid in her trailer. Mickey was 18 at the time; Shearer was 36, and her husband, MGM studio executive Irving Thalberg, had recently died. Mayer managed to keep the story out of the public eye, and it was not revealed until years later, when Rooney gave the explicit details in his autobiography.
- #006
When he died in 2014 at the age of 93, he had at least three projects in which he was set to appear.
- #007
He has four stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: a Motion Pictures star at 1718 Vine St., a Television star at 6541 Hollywood Blvd., and a Radio star at 6372 Hollywood Blvd. He also shares a Live Theatre star at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. with his wife Jan Rooney.
- #008
He originally came to Hollywood to audition for "Our Gang" (also known as The Little Rascals (1955)), but Mickey's mother turned down the offer because of a dispute over pay.
- #009
In the 1970s he overcame a drug addiction.
- #010
The first of his eight marriages was to Ava Gardner, but his marriage to Jan Rooney lasted longer than all seven of his other wives combined.
- #011
Along with Norman Lloyd, William Daniels, Ernest Borgnine, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lee, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, Edward Asner, Marla Gibbs, Adam West, William Shatner, Larry Hagman, June Lockhart, Florence Henderson, Shirley Jones, Hal Linden and Alan Alda, Rooney was one of several actors who reached their 80s and/or 90s in Hollywood without retiring from acting, or without having stopped getting work.
- #012
He chose to live permanently with his stepson Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene Rooney. They moved to Hollywood Hills in June 2012, when he permanently and legally separated from his eighth wife.
- #013
When he died, his eight surviving children said in a statement that they had been prevented from seeing Rooney in his final years.
- #014
At the age of 19, he became the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for a leading role, for Babes in Arms (1939).
- #015
He was nominated for Broadway's 1980 Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) for "Sugar Babies."
- #016
With James Stewart's death on July 2, 1997, Rooney became the last surviving entertainer among the 46 artists caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941).
- #017
He was an animal rights advocate.
- #018
At 17 months old, he began performing by wearing a specially tailored tuxedo as part of his parents' act.
- #019
He was Blake Edwards's former roommate.
- #020
Mickey Rooney underwent double heart bypass surgery in 2000.
- #021
His hobbies included listening to music, playing football, playing golf, dancing, horse racing, painting, getting together with old friends and watching classic films.
- #022
His acting career lasted 89 years; his first film was released in 1926 and his last in 2015.
- #023
He first appeared in films in 1926. He began his career as a contract player at MGM in 1934.
- #024
During the filming of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) he broke his leg and was doubled by George P. Breakston in many scenes.
- #025
For many years he was a co-owner of the Mickey Rooney Tabas Hotel in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
- #026
He attended the same high school as Jason Robards, Ann Miller, Nanette Fabray, Lana Turner, Alan Hale Jr., Marge Champion, Alexis Smith and Joseph Wapner.
- #027
On news of his death, numerous television news anchors across the country mistakenly gave his name on air as that of CBS humorist and writer Andrew Rooney (also known as Andy Rooney), who had died two and a half years earlier.
- #028
He was a passionate gambler on horse races.
- #029
He ranked first in number of films, ahead of Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Jane Wyman, Eddie Albert and Ernest Borgnine; he appeared in more than 100 films.
- #030
Rooney was the son and only child of Scottish-born vaudevillian and actor Joe Yule and English-descended Nell Ruth Carter (born 12 July 1897 in Kansas City, Missouri; died 3 March 1966 in Los Angeles, California). Yule and Carter divorced in 1923, when Mickey (Joe Yule, Jr.) was three years old. In 1925 Rooney and his mother moved to Hollywood, where he attended Hollywood Professional School and Fairfax High School.
- #031
His son Teddy Rooney appeared alongside him in Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), playing Andy Hardy Jr.
- #032
Mickey's stunt double was Jesse Wayne for 27 years, beginning in 1959.
- #033
He played George M. Cohan three times, twice in TV programs and toured in the stage musical "George M!"
- #034
According to one story, Mickey Mouse was named after Rooney. While Walt Disney was working on the first drawings of what would become Mickey Mouse, he saw a young Rooney. He asked the child actor what he thought of the drawings and also asked him his name. This later turned out to be false.
- #035
Together with his wife he toured the United Kingdom, singing songs in selected theatres and telling stories about his career.
- #036
In 1967 he met a young, struggling comedian and talk show host Joan Rivers in a production of Murray Schisgal's comedy play 'Luv'. The two remained lifelong friends for more than 45 years, until Rooney's death in 2014.
- #037
On 26 November 1999 he underwent surgery in Sydney, Australia, because of a perforated colon.
- #038
Tony Bennett and Regis Philbin were among those who attended his 90th birthday party.
- #039
Mickey Rooney knew Liza Minnelli from the day she was born.
- #040
On June 11, 2004, Mickey Rooney attended the state funeral of former President Ronald Reagan.
- #041
Mickey Rooney sold his modest Westlake home in May 2013.
- #042
Through his son Timothy Rooney, Mickey Rooney had 19 grandchildren, including Shannon Rooney and Dominique Rooney, and several great-grandchildren, among them Kaitlyn Rooney and Hunter Rooney.
- #043
Although he had never played Texas Hold 'Em poker before, Mickey Rooney finished 7th at the World Poker Tour Invitational.
- #044
Mickey Rooney filed for bankruptcy in 1962 and published his autobiography in 1965.
- #045
Mickey Rooney's parents, like Julie London's, were vaudeville performers.
- #046
Mickey Rooney appeared in four films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture: A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Boys Town (1938) and The Human Comedy (1943).
- #047
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mickey Rooney performed a nightclub comedy act with comedian Joey Forman.
- #048
In November 2013, Mickey Rooney attended the memorial service for his longtime friend A. C. Lyles (also known as "Mr. Paramount"). Also present were Mickey's son Mark Rooney, Mark's wife Charlene and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- #049
On July 7, 2009, Mickey Rooney attended Michael Jackson's memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles with his son Mark Rooney, his daughter-in-law Charlene Rooney and his wife Jan Rooney.
- #050
Mickey Rooney was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.
- #051
From December 2008 to January 11, 2009, Mickey Rooney appeared on stage in the United Kingdom at the Bristol Hippodrome as Baron Hardup in the pantomime Cinderella.
- #052
Mickey Rooney did not have a successful series until he was 70 years old.
- #053
Mickey Rooney's third son, Teddy Rooney, died on July 2, 2016, at the age of 66, only two years after his father's death.
- #054
Mickey Rooney is the father of Jonelle Rooney (born January 11, 1970) from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett. He also adopted Carolyn's son Jimmy Rooney (born 1966) from her previous marriage.
- #055
Mickey Rooney attended the funeral of Sidney Luft, Liza Minnelli's former stepfather, just days before his 85th birthday.
- #056
Mickey Rooney was portrayed by Moosie Drier in Rainbow (1978) and by Dwayne Adams in Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001).
- #057
On August 12-13, 2006, Mickey Rooney attended the 2006 Twilight Zone Convention held at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ.
- #058
Mickey Rooney was a loyal conservative Republican for many years. In his later life, however, he supported the man rather than the party. He was reported to have said he was proud of President Barack Obama and his policies.
- #059
From his marriage to Carolyn Mitchell, Mickey Rooney was the father of Kelly Ann Rooney (born September 13, 1959), Kerry Yule Rooney (born December 30, 1960), Michael Rooney (VI) (born April 2, 1962) and Kimmy Sue Rooney (born September 13, 1963).
- #060
In 1983, Mickey Rooney was presented with an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar, a Lifetime Achievement award at the Virginia Film Festival in honor of Films Made by Virginians, and a World War II War Service award (two years in Europe).
- #061
Mickey Rooney died on April 6, 2014, only four months before Robin Williams took his own life. Both appeared in Night at the Museum (2006) and its sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014).
- #062
During World War II, Mickey Rooney served in the army in Germany as a sergeant.
- #063
Mickey Rooney was considered for the Penguin in Batman (1966).
- #064
In December 2024, Mickey Rooney was honored as Star of the Month on Turner Classic Movies.
- #065
On November 5 and 6, Mickey Rooney appeared in person on stage with his wife Jan at the American Visions Art Galleries in Folsom and Granite Bay, California.
- #066
From his marriage to Betty Jane Rase (B. J. Baker), Mickey Rooney was the father of Tim Rooney and Mickey Rooney Jr.
- #067
Mickey Rooney is one of the few actors whose career spanned from the silent era of cinema to the digital age.
- #068
Mickey Rooney's third child, Teddy Rooney, was born weighing 7 lb. 3 oz. in April 1950 to Martha Vickers.
- #069
Mickey Rooney was the stepfather of Christopher Aber and Mark Rooney.
- #070
Mickey Rooney died on April 6, 2014. Only five months later, his friend Joan Rivers would die on September 4 of the same year, five months after him.
- #071
Mickey Rooney made his film debut playing a tough kid named Mickey McGuire in a short comedy, and took the name Mickey, with the studio adding Rooney.
- #072
Mickey Rooney was a spokesman for the Garden State Life Insurance Company.
- #073
Mickey Rooney had 5 sons, 4 daughters and 2 stepsons.
- #074
In 2000, Mickey Rooney underwent a double heart bypass.
- #075
Mickey Rooney was a fan of The 700 Club (1966).
- #076
Mickey Rooney made his film debut in a short comedy, playing a tough boy named Mickey McGuire; he took the name Mickey from the role, and the studio he worked for added Rooney.
- #077
Mickey Rooney's father came from an apartment on Polmadies Street in Glasgow.
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