Deaths 2022

Deaths 2021

Deaths 2020

Deaths 2019

Deaths 2018

Deaths 2017

Deaths 2016

Deaths 2015

Deaths 2014

Deaths 2013

Deaths 2012

Deaths 2011

Deaths 2010

Deaths 2009


Full list by date of death

Mickey Rooney

Actor

Born - 23 September 1920, Brooklyn, New York City, USA
Died - 6 April 2014

Firecracker, tow-haired, pocket-sized American superstar, and the country's number one box-office attraction from 1939 to 1941. Born Ninian Joseph Yule Jr, he was in films from childhood, after a stage bow at two years old in his parents' vaudeville act. Rooney, known as The Mick, could sing, dance, play piano and drums and act in such an engagingly chirpy way that he was soon the favourite of millions. After war service, his star exploded, but he clawed his way back with some gritty acting performances in tougher vein and stayed around in featured roles to the end, dying with his boots on. After a debut in the short Not to Be Trusted (1926), his 300-plus films (including shorts) included The Kid's Last Fight (1933), Manhattan Melodrama (1934), Ah! Wilderness (1935), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936), Captains Courageous (1937), A Family Affair (1937, the first of the Hardy Family films), Boys Town (1938), Judge Hardy and Son (1939), The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939), Strike Up the Band (1940), Babes on Broadway (1941), A Yank at Eton (1942), Girl Crazy (1943), National Velvet (1944), Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946), Words and Music (1948), The Big Wheel (1949), Military Policemen (1952), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954), The Bold and the Brave (1956), Baby Face Nelson (1957), Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958), The Last Mile (1959), Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), Blood Money (1962), Ambush Bay (1966), Pulp (1972), Pete's Dragon (1977), The Black Stallion (1979), Erik the Viking (1989), Babe: Pig in the City (1998), Night at the Museum (2006), The Muppets (2011) and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2014), his last. Eight times married, his wives included actresses Ava Gardner, Martha Vickers and Elaine Devry. Four times Oscar-nominated, he was given special Academy Awards in 1938 and 1983.