Celebrated American filmstar Mickey Rooney dies aged 93
Actor appeared in more than 300 films during a career spanning 80 years and was married eight times - first to actress Ava Gardner - and also twice declared bankrupt
Mickey Rooney, a celebrated child actor who embodied the All-American boy in the 1930s and 40s, and became one of the era’s top box-office draws, has died. He was 93.
The eight-times-married Rooney, whose roller-coaster showbusiness career spanning 80 years was marked by an often-turbulent personal life, died on Sunday, the Los Angeles coroner’s office confirmed.
The first and most famous of his eight wives was actress Ava Gardner, whom he married in 1942. His third wife was another actress, Martha Vickers, who played Lauren Bacall's nymphomaniac younger sister in The Big Sleep.
Jokes about his tendency to walk down the aisle were commonplace in the 1950s and 60s; even Rooney joked about it, saying in 1981, “My marriage licence reads, ‘To whom it may concern’."
“My marriage licence reads, ‘To whom it may concern’ ... Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day.“
He also said: "Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day."
Rooney starred making films in short silent productions in 1927. He gave an eye-catching performance as Puck in 1935's A Midsummer Night's Dream - alongside established stars such as James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland - and became a star himself, while still a child, after playing the role of the relentlessly positive Andy Hardy - providing comic relief - in the 1937 film, A Family Affair.
