By Raquel Stecher
Mickey Rooney was born to be in show business. There was no subtlety with him. He was a pint-sized ball of energy. When Rooney was performing, whether it was on screen, on the radio or on stage, he’d give you his all and then some.
Mickey Rooney was born in 1920 and passed away in 2014 and for nearly all of that time, he worked as an actor. Born to a pair of vaudevillians, Rooney was already entertaining audiences as a toddler. When his parents separated, four-year-old Rooney and his mother moved to Los Angeles. By the age of six, he was an actor in silent films and would soon be the star of the Mickey McGuire series of shorts. He played various child roles in feature films and held his own even alongside major Hollywood players.
The apex of Rooney’s fame came by way of MGM. Producer David O. Selznick was impressed with teenage Rooney and recommended him to big boss Louis B. Mayer. Rooney signed a contract and his career took off. He got plum roles in films like A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935) (he was loaned out to Warner Bros for the part of Puck!), Boys Town (1938) (this movie makes me cry every time), and Captains Courageous (1937).
The film Judge Hardy’s Children (1938) was such a huge success—making MGM $2 million in profits—that they launched the Andy Hardy series with a focus on Mickey Rooney. With this franchise, he became the poster boy for the American teen and the top box office star for the studio.
Rooney’s star shined brightest when he was side by side with his dear friend and frequent co-star Judy Garland. They made a variety of MGM musicals together including Busby Berkeley musicals Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941). For his role in Babes in Arms (1939), Rooney received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the first for a teenage actor. Garland also appeared with Rooney in the Andy Hardy films.
Rooney’s diminutive size made him perfect for playing jockeys. He starred in various equestrian themed films including Down the Stretch (1936), Thoroughbreds Don’t Cry (1937), National Velvet (1944), The Black Stallion (1979), and several others.
After entertaining the troops during WWII, Rooney returned home to find fewer opportunities. The key to his success was youthful energy, and his diminutive stature which didn’t translate well to adult roles. That didn’t stop him. He just kept reinvented his career and kept working. And sometimes it was out of necessity due to his mishandling of finances (he loved betting on horses) and his many failed marriages. Desperate for any work he could get, Rooney took some truly awful parts, including a racist characterization of a Japanese landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) (save yourself the trauma and just fast forward through those scenes).
However there were some other roles where Rooney shined, including Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) (this film is comedy gold), The Black Stallion (1979), Night at the Museum (2006), and one of my personal favorites, Quicksand (1950).
When I went to see him perform in Atlantic City in 2008.
Rooney is a polarizing figure among classic film fans. His overt exuberance sometimes puts people off while others, like myself, feed off of that intensity. In his old age, he was particularly cantankerous and could be outright cruel. But you have to admire his passion for what he did. He simply lived to perform and did so until his dying day.
I saw Mickey Rooney in 2008 when he performed in Atlantic City, and then again in 2013 when he made an appearance at the 50th anniversary of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) in Hollywood. Believe me when I say that he still had a lot of spunk and vivacity even in his old age.
The Big Chance (1933)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935)
Little Pal (1936)
Boys Town (1938)
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
Babes on Broadway (1941)
Girl Crazy (1943)
National Velvet (1944)
Francis the Talking Mule (1950)
Operation Mad Ball (1957)
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
Skidoo (1968)
Evil Roy Slade (1972)
Pulp (1972)
Pete’s Dragon (1977)
The Black Stallion (1979)
Erik the Viking (1989)
Revenge of the Red Baron (1994)
The First of May (1999)
Night at the Museum (2006)
Raquel Stecher has been writing about classic films for the past decade on her blog Out of the Past. She attends the TCM Classic Film Festival as well as other events where old movie fanatics get together to geek out. Raquel has been a devoted DVD Netflix member since 2002! Follow her on her blog Out of the Past or find her on Twitter @RaquelStecher and @ClassicFilmRead, Facebook, and Instagram.