Mickey Rooney
“A pint-sized dynamo whose career spanned vaudeville stages to the digital age.”
In 1937, the teenage Rooney first played Andy Hardy in A Family Affair, launching a 16-film series that turned him into America's most beloved boy-next-door. By 1939 he was the top box-office star in the world, a position he held for three years.
Born to Perform
Joseph Yule Jr. came into the world in 1920 to a vaudeville family and was on stage before he could talk. He starred in dozens of Mickey McGuire shorts as a child, eventually adopting Mickey Rooney as his screen name.
King of Hollywood
As Andy Hardy and in musicals with Judy Garland, Rooney became the biggest box-office draw in the world from 1939 to 1941. His boundless energy and versatility made him a defining star of MGM's golden age.
Falls and Comebacks
Financial troubles and eight marriages marked his turbulent adult life, but Rooney repeatedly reinvented himself. His 1979 triumphs in The Black Stallion and Broadway's Sugar Babies sealed his status as a show-business survivor.
Career Timeline
- 1920Born Joseph Yule Jr. in Brooklyn.
- 1939Andy Hardy is a civic object.
- 2014Dies in North Hollywood at ninety-three.
Biggest Hits
- Rooney first appeared on stage at 17 months old as part of his parents' vaudeville act.
- He received two honorary Academy Awards across his career: a Juvenile Award in 1939 and an Honorary Oscar in 1983.
The Moment You Remember
Older audiences still smile at the irrepressible Andy Hardy, the all-American teenager whose small-town scrapes and heart-to-hearts with his judge father once charmed the entire nation.
Portrait: Studio publicity still · Public domain (PD US not renewed) · via Wikimedia Commons