Rooney, a child of vaudeville, made his film debut at age 6 and starred in more than 200 movies during his long career. In his teens, he appeared in 15 extremely popular Andy Hardy movies, making him Hollywood’s most bankable star.
But those heady days didn’t last – Rooney found himself struggling to find work after he aged out of youth films. No one expected him to bounce back, but he did more than once. Along the way, Rooney also earned four Academy Award nominations.
The 5-foot-2 performer could do it all: act, sing, dance, even play piano and drums. “Mickey was plastic; he could inhabit any role,” says William J. Birnes, coauthor of The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney. “He worked until the very, very, end.”
In fact, in 1981, Rooney enjoyed one of his greatest career triumphs, playing a developmentally challenged man in the television film Bill.
“Mickey absorbed who Bill was and won an Emmy for that performance,” said Birnes. “It was unbelievable.”