On September 23, 1920, legendary American actor, vaudevillian, and entertainer Mickey Rooney was born Ninian Joseph Yule Jr. in Brooklyn, New York. He first appeared onstage as a toddler in his parents’ vaudeville act, beginning a remarkable show-business career that would span nearly nine decades and carry him from the silent-film era into Hollywood’s golden age.
Rooney became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in the late 1930s and early 1940s. He headlined the enormously popular Andy Hardy series and became a celebrated screen partner of Judy Garland in musicals including Babes in Arms (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), and Girl Crazy (1943). His performance alongside Garland in Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938) also helped establish both young performers as MGM favorites.
Known for his explosive energy, comic timing, and dramatic range, Rooney topped the annual U.S. box-office-star poll for three consecutive years—1939, 1940, and 1941. Across a career of more than 300 films, as well as television, Broadway, radio, and vaudeville, he earned Academy Award nominations for Babes in Arms and The Human Comedy, received a special Juvenile Academy Award, and was later honored with an Academy Honorary Award for his lifetime of film achievement.
Rooney’s extraordinary longevity, versatility, and commitment to performing made him one of the most enduring figures in American popular entertainment.
Image via Alamy
