Rooney, Mickey, originally Joe Yule, Jnr 1920-
US entertainer

Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he appeared on stage as part of his parents' vaudeville act from the age of 15 months. He made his film debut in Not To Be Trusted (1926) and, between 1927 and 1934, starred in about 80 Mickey McGuire short films. Small in stature and irrepressibly energetic, he sang, danced and acted, and played the all-American boy Andy Hardy in a series of films from A Family Affair (1937) to Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958). The USA's most popular film star between 1939 and 1941, he appeared in other films including Babes in Arms (1939), The Human Comedy (1943) and National Velvet (1944). After wartime service in the army, his youthful persona was no longer to the public's taste, but he developed into a prolific and enduring character actor in films including The Bold and The Brave (1956), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) and The Black Stallion (1979). He won an Emmy award for a television film Bill (1981) and found great success in the stage revue Sugar Babies (1979-85), which he still occasionally performs. He also received special Academy Awards in 1938 and 1983. He has been married eight times and has written two volumes of autobiography, I. E. (1965) and Life is Too Short (1991).