A definitive biography of the iconic actor and Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney (1920-2014) and his extravagant, sometimes tawdry life, drawing on exclusive interviews, and with those who knew him best, including his heretofore unknown mistress of sixty years.
“I lived like a rock star,” said Mickey Rooney. “I had all I ever wanted, from Lana Turner and Joan Crawford to every starlet in Hollywood, and then some. They were mine to have. Ava [Gardner] was the best. I screwed up my life. I pissed away millions. I was #1, the biggest star in the world.”
Mickey Rooney began his career almost a century ago as a one-year-old performer in burlesque and stamped his mark in vaudeville, silent films, talking films, Broadway, and television. He acted in his final motion picture just weeks before he died at age ninety-three. He was an iconic presence in movies, the poster boy for American youth in the idyllic small-town 1930s. Yet, by World War II, Mickey Rooney had become frozen in time. A perpetual teenager in an aging body, he was an anachronism by the time he hit his forties. His child-star status haunted him as the gilded safety net of Hollywood fell away, and he was forced to find support anywhere he could, including affairs with beautiful women, multiple marriages, alcohol, and drugs.
In The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney, authors Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Birnes present Mickey’s nearly century-long career within the context of America's changing entertainment and social landscape. They chronicle his life story using little-known interviews with the star himself, his children, his former coauthor Roger Kahn, collaborator Arthur Marx, and costar Margaret O’Brien. This Old Hollywood biography presents Mickey Rooney from every angle, revealing the man Laurence Olivier once dubbed “the best there has ever been.”
- 604 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney
About this book
Information
Print ISBN
9781501100963
Subtopic
Film & VideoTable of contents
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Foreword by Roger Kahn
- Introduction by Jeanine Basinger
- Prologue: The Last Movie
- 1: Born in a Trunk
- 2: Mickey McGuire
- 3: Ma Lawlor and Universal Studios
- 4: Selznick Rescues Mickey: The Start at MGM
- 5: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- 6: The Gates of Hell
- 7: Mickey and the Lion
- 8: The Make-Believe World of Andy Hardy’s America
- 9: Mickey and Judy and the MGM Backyard Musicals
- 10: Mickey Goes Wild
- 11: Ava
- 12: The First Divorce
- 13: Mickey and the Pit Bull
- 14: Greetings
- 15: Rooney Inc.
- 16: The Lion Strikes Back
- 17: The Mick, the Duke, and the Deuce in the Coconut
- 18: Bigamy and Barbara Ann
- 19: The Mickey Jinx and the Murder in Brentwood
- 20: Career Swings
- 21: The Seventies: Aftermath of Tragedy
- 22: Escape from Los Angeles
- 23: Sugar Babies
- 24: Mickey’s Back: The Oscars, and the Emmys, and Bill
- 25: Going Ungently into That Good Night
- 26: Time May Lie Heavy Between
- 27: The Last Years
- 28: His Revels Are Now Ended
- 29: It’s a Wrap
- Afterword by Paul Petersen
- Photographs
- Acknowledgments
- Appendix: Mickey Rooney Filmography and Credits (in Chronological Order)
- About Richard A. Lertzman and William J. Birnes
- Notes
- Index
- Copyright
Trusted by 375,005 students
Access to over 1.5 million titles for a fair monthly price.
Study more efficiently using our study tools.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn how to download books offline
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
- Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
- Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.5M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1.5 million books across 990+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn about our mission
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more about Read Aloud
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS and Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app
Yes, you can access The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney by Richard A. Lertzman,William J. Birnes in PDF and/or ePUB format. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.