Mickey Rooney and Ann Miller

Mickey Rooney Born September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA Died April 6, 2014 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (natural causes) Birth Name Joseph Yule Jr. Nicknames The Mick The Mickster Height 5' 2" (1.57 m) Mickey Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York. He first took the stage as a toddler in his parents vaudeville act at 17 months old. He made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney. Rooney reached new heights in 1937 with A Family Affair, the film that introduced the country to Andy Hardy, the popular all-American teenager. This beloved character appeared in nearly 20 films and helped make Rooney the top star at the box office in 1939, 1940 and 1941. Rooney also proved himself an excellent dramatic actor as a delinquent in Boys Town (1938) starring Spencer Tracy. In 1938, he was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award. Teaming up with Judy Garland, Rooney also appeared in a string of musicals, including Babes in Arms (1939) the first teenager to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy (1943). He and Garland immediately became best of friends. "We weren't just a team, we were magic," Rooney once said. During that time he also appeared with Elizabeth Taylor in the now classic National Velvet (1944). Rooney joined the service that same year, where he helped to entertain the troops and worked on the American Armed Forces Network. He returned to Hollywood after 21 months in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946), did a remake of a Robert Taylor film, The Crowd Roars (1932) called Killer McCoy (1947) and portrayed composer Lorenz Hart in Words and Music (1948). He also appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), starring Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard. Rooney played Hepburn's Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi. A sign of the times, Rooney played the part for comic relief which he later regretted feeling the role was offensive. He once again showed his incredible range in the dramatic role of a boxing trainer with Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962). In the late 1960s and 1970s Rooney showed audiences and critics alike why he was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars. He gave an impressive performance in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film The Black Stallion (1979), which brought him an Academy Award nomination as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also turned to the stage in 1979 in Sugar Babies with Ann Miller, and was nominated for a Tony Award. During that time he also portrayed the Wizard in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz with Eartha Kitt at New York's Madison Square Garden, which also had a successful run nationally. Rooney's personal life, including his frequent trips to the altar, has proved to be just as epic as his on-screen performances. His first wife was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, actress Ava Gardner. Mickey permanently separated from his eighth wife Jan in June of 2012. Rooney requested through the Superior Court to permanently reside with his son Mark Rooney, who is a musician and Marks wife Charlene, an artist, in the Hollywood Hills. He legally separated from his eighth wife in June of 2012. Ironically, after eight failed marriages he never looked or felt better and finally found happiness and peace in the single life. Mickey, Mark and Charlene focused on health, happiness and creative endeavors and it showed. Mickey Rooney had once again landed on his feet reminding us that he was a survivor. Rooney died on April 6th 2014. He was taking his afternoon nap and never woke. One week before his death Mark and Charlene surprised him by reunited him with a long lost love, the racetrack. He was ecstatic to be back after decades and ran into his old friends Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten. Spouse (8) Jan Rooney (28 July 1978 - 6 April 2014) ( his death) Carolyn Hockett (27 May 1969 - 24 January 1975) ( divorced) ( 2 children) Margaret Lane (10 September 1966 - 14 December 1967) ( divorced) Carolyn Mitchell (1 December 1958 - 31 January 1966) ( her death) ( 4 children) Elaine Devry (18 November 1952 - 18 May 1958) ( divorced) ( 2 children) Martha Vickers (3 June 1949 - 25 September 1952) ( divorced) ( 1 child) B.J. Baker (30 September 1944 - 3 June 1949) ( divorced) ( 2 children) Ava Gardner (10 January 1942 - 21 May 1943) ( divorced) Father of Tim Rooney and Mickey Rooney Jr., from his marriage to Betty Jane Rase (B.J. Baker). Father of Jonelle Rooney (born January 11, 1970) from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett. He also adopted Carolyn's son from a previous marriage, Jimmy Rooney (born 1966). Was nominated for Broadway's 1980 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Sugar Babies." With a film career that lasted from 1926 to 2015, he has the longest career in cinema history, surpassing Lillian Gish. Rooney's 339 film credits span ten decades: 1920s-2010s. Laemmle's 17 film credits include a break from 1939 to 2010 (except for a video short in 2001). Father of Kelly Ann Rooney (born September 13, 1959), Kerry Yule Rooney (born December 30, 1960), Michael Rooney (VI) (born April 2, 1962) and Kimmy Sue Rooney (born September 13, 1963), from his marriage to Carolyn Mitchell. At age 19 became the first teenager to be Oscar-nominated in a leading role for Babes in Arms (1939). His first of eight marriages was to Ava Gardner but his marriage to Jan Rooney was longer than those of all his other seven wives combined. Had 19 grandchildren, including Shannon Rooney and Dominique Rooney by his son Timothy Rooney, and several great-grandchildren among whom Kaitlyn Rooney and Hunter Rooney. He was most proud of his film The Black Stallion (1979). With the death of James Stewart on July 2, 1997, Rooney was the last surviving entertainer of the 46 caricatured in Hollywood Steps Out (1941). His hobbies included listening to music, football, golfing, dancing, horse racing, painting, getting together with old friends and watching classic movies. Graduated from Hollywood High School in 1938. His future The New Adventures of the Black Stallion (1990) co-star, Richard Ian Cox, was a childhood movie hero of his. Began his career as a contract player for MGM in 1934. Was an animal rights activist. He chose to permanently reside with stepson Mark Rooney and Mark's wife Charlene Rooney. Release of his autobiography, "Life is too Short". [1991] He has been quoted as saying he was proud of President Barack Obama and his policies. Mickey Rooney had passed away on April 6, 2014, just four months before Robin Williams committed suicide. They both starred in the movie: Night at the Museum (2006) and its sequel Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014). His third son, Teddy Rooney, died on July 2, 2016, at age 66, just two years after the death of his father. Interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA. When he passed away in 2014, at the age of 93, he had at least three future projects that he was going to perform in. When he died his eight surviving children said in a statement that they were barred from seeing Rooney during his final years.

Ann Miller Born April 12, 1923 in Chireno, Texas, USA Died January 22, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA (lung cancer) Birth Name Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier Nickname Annie Height 5' 7" Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier on April 12, 1923 in Chireno, Texas. She lived there until she was nine, when her mother left her philandering father and moved with Ann to Los Angeles, California. Even at that young age, she had to support her mother, who was hearing-impaired and unable to hold a job. After taking tap-dancing lessons, she got jobs dancing in various Hollywood nightclubs while being home-schooled. Then, in 1937, RKO asked her to sign on as a contract player, but only if she could prove she was 18. Though she was really barely 14, she managed to get hold of a fake birth certificate, and so was signed on, playing dancers and ingénues in such films as Stage Door (1937), You Can't Take It with You (1938), Room Service (1938) and Too Many Girls (1940). In 1939, she appeared on Broadway in "George White's Scandals" and was a smash, staying on for two years. Eventually, RKO released her from her contract, but Columbia Pictures snapped her up to appear in such World War II morale boosters as True to the Army (1942) and Reveille with Beverly (1943). When she decided to get married, Columbia released her from her contract. The marriage was sadly unhappy and she was divorced in two years. This time, MGM picked her up, showcasing her in such films as Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953). In the mid-1950's, she asked to leave to marry again, and her request was granted. This marriage didn't last long, either, nor did a third. Ann then threw herself into work, appearing on television, in nightclubs and on the stage. She was a smash as the last actress to headline the Broadway production of "Mame" in 1969 and 1970, and an even bigger smash in "Sugar Babies" in 1979, which she played for nine years, on Broadway and on tour. She also appeared in the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" in 1998, in which she sang the song "I'm Still Here", a perfect way to sum up the life and career of Ann Miller. On January 22, 2004, Ann Miller died at age 80 of lung cancer and was buried at the Holy Cross Cemetary in Culver City, California. Spouse (3) Arthur Cameron (25 May 1961 - 10 May 1962) ( annulled) William Moss (22 August 1958 - 11 May 1961) ( divorced) Reese Llewellyn Milner (16 February 1946 - 28 January 1948) ( divorced) ( 1 child) She made herself four years older, when she began working in Hollywood. She became an excellent tap dancer after her mother told her while watching Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935) starring Eleanor Powell if she would practice a little with that same quality. When she was in her early teens, she was advised to pretend she was 18 in order to get a job in the movies. Her father wanted a boy, so Ann was named Johnnie Lucille Collier, and she later went by Lucille. In 1937, in order to keep her contract with RKO Pictures, she got a fake birth certificate, which said she was Lucille Ann Collier, born on April 12, 1919 in Chireno, Texas. Famous for her big hair in the later years of her career. Discovered by Lucille Ball while doing a show at a nightclub in San Francisco, California. Lucille Ball helped her career immensely. Refusing to do movies for years because she disliked nudity and sex, she finally relented and returned to films after nearly four decades with David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001), which contained nudity and explicit sex. At the end of her MGM contract, she flew overseas to Morocco to entertain on the Timex TV Hour for Bob Hope. She sang and danced "Too Darn Hot" in 120-degree heat, entertaining 5000 soldiers. In her tap shoes, she claimed to be able to dance at 500 taps per minute. Her tap shoes were called Moe and Joe and were exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. On an interview on Turner Classic Movies, she told a story about how each time she needed to dress for a dance on screen, the tops of her stockings needed to be sewn to the costume she was wearing. This was a tedious process and needed to be repeated each time there was a run, etc. One day, she suggested to the man supplying the stockings that he add a top to the stockings so they could be worn as one piece... and that's how pantyhose was born. Inducted into the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2004. On her tax returns, she listed her occupation as "Star Lady". She donated a pair of her gold colored tap shoes to the National Museum of American History in the Smithsonian Institute. Nominated for the 1980 Tony Award (New York City) for Best Actress in a Musical for "Sugar Babies". During an interview with Robert Osborne for Turner Classic Movies, Ann Miller said that when she was 9 months pregnant with Reese Milner's child, he got drunk one night, beat Ann up and threw her down a flight of stairs. Ann broke her back and had to give birth with a broken back. Had to audition for Easter Parade (1948) in a steel back brace after breaking her back. Was very good friends with: Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth, Lucille Ball, Ginger Rogers, Kathryn Grayson, Marie MacDonald and Linda Cristal. At just 15-years-old, she played the wife of Dub Taylor - who was 16 years her senior - in You Can't Take It with You (1938). She was buried next to her miscarried daughter, which reads "Beloved Baby Daughter Mary Milner November 12, 1946". She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. She was awarded a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars on January 10, 1998. Personal Quotes " I have worked like a dog all my life, honey. Dancing, as Fred Astaire said, is next to ditch-digging. You sweat and you slave and the audience doesn't think you have a brain in your head." [Fred Astaire] was a perfectionist. At rehearsal when you thought you'd got it perfect he would say, "Go on, Annie, just one more time!" What I wouldn't give to do it just one more time. At MGM, I always played the second feminine lead. I was never the star in films. I was the brassy, goodhearted showgirl. I never really had my big moment on the screen. Broadway gave me the stardom that my soul kind of yearned for.