Joe Yule's
Life Was a Show
"Let's
Put On A Show !"
How many times did we hear
those words in the early movie career of Mickey
Rooney?
Or how many times did his movie dad,
Lewis Stone, better known as Judge Hardy, sit with young Andy and give him some
fatherly advice...
...advice most of us
also realized as we grew up....
...that "father really did
know best "...
...no matter how old you
were !
We lost Mickey Rooney at the age of 93
on Sunday, April 6th, and his loss in my mind, is yet another reminder of the
"days of yore" that so many of us knew as children...days that lately seem to be
traveling at a speed faster than ever imaginable.
Let's look back at Joseph Yule, Jr.,
born on September 23, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York.
Joe Jr. was the product of parents that
were a part of vaudeville, and one day...92 years ago, young Joe somehow entered
his dad's act while crawling on stage...in a specially made
"tuxedo".
And from that moment, Joe Yule Jr. got
the "bug" that would keep him in show business for nearly the remainder of his
93 years.
Joe's folks separated in 1924 due to a
slump in vaudeville, and his mother, Neil, caught notice of an article in an
entertainment magazine that a man named Hal Roach in Hollywood was looking for
young kids to star in a movie series called "Our
Gang".
However, the ad wanted a dark haired
child....and well, Joe Jr. didn't have dark hair.
Neil couldn't afford hair dye, so she
used burnt cork on his scalp to darken his locks....the result, Joe Jr. got the
part of " Mickey McGuire" that lasted for 78 films from 1927 to 1936.
Joe wanted to keep the name "Mickey
McGuire" due to the fame he had achieved in addition to wanting to use it for
his future career and...he legally changed it to "Mickey McGuire" in
1937.
Unfortunately for the "new Mickey", a
lawsuit ensued and the Our Gang people were able to retain the original rights
to that name, barring young Joe from using it
professionally.
Mom stepped in again....and decided
that at least the Mickey part would be used, and urged her son to change his
last name from "McGuire"
to "Looney".
Joe wouldn't have anything to do with a
name like "Looney", so he compromised with his mother and Joe Yule Jr. went from
Mickey McGuire to a name that would last for the remainder of his
life....
Mickey
Rooney
And in 1937....at the age of 17, life dramatically changed for
Mickey when he landed a role in a "B" movie called
"A Family Affair" in which he was to play a character
named
"Andy
Hardy".
...a "B" movie that became
so popular, that 16 of them were subsequently made from 1937-1958
!
And for being a "tall " 5'3", he
managed to have quite a few girlfriends along the way....Lana Turner, Kathryn Grayson,
Donna Reed, Esther
Williams, Ann Rutherford (as Polly Benedict),
and a character named "Betsy Booth" played by Judy
Garland !
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Mickey didn't stop as "Andy"; and in
the early years starred in such great films as "Boys
Town" with Spencer Tracy in 1938, and "Young Tom
Edison" in 1940.
Think Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, or
Tyrone Power were the big "hunks" of the day, then think
again.
In 1938, 1939, and again in 1940,
Mickey Rooney was the top Box Office Movie Star in
Hollywood.
War was declared in late 1941, and
Mickey patriotically entertained the troops until in 1944, he too enlisted in
the Army, serving 21 months until is discharge. He received
the Bronze Star medal for his service in entertaining troops in combat
zones.
Life became a bit strained for Mickey
following the war, and his career stalled.
He continued to make a number of
memorable films that included "Words and Music"
(1948) in which he played the role of Lorenz Hart, lyrist partner of Richard
Rodgers; "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961); "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1962); "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" (1963); and perhaps the most
successful, "The Black Stallion"
(1979).
A new entertainment medium called
television came into being, and Mickey Rooney soon became a staple year after
year primarily as a character actor.
His memorable performance as the title
character "Bill", a mentally handicapped man
attempting to live on his own after leaving a mental institution, opposite
Dennis Quaid in 1981, earned him both Emmy and Golden Globe
awards.
The Big and Small screen was still not
enough for Mickey and Broadway stage success with Ann Miller in "Sugar Babies" in the 1980s and 90s was the highlight of his
stage career...
...in addition to such other great
performances in "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum" and "The Will Rogers
Follies".
As if aging would never stop the
excitement he brought to his audiences, in 2014 he
made his final movie appearance as the character, "Gus", in "NIght in the Museum 3"
which is still in production.
One can't end a Mickey Rooney story
without mentioning the women of his real life.....8
wives....the first of which was the glamorous Ava Gardner, who he married
in 1942...
... and
last, Jan Chamberlin to whom he was married for 36 years...and separated
from...until the time of his death.
He also had 10 of his own children
along with one which he adopted.
Mickey Rooney...we'll
never forget him.
Why?
He made us
laugh...and...cry
because
He knew how
to...
"Put
On a Show"
Dick
Arendt
From Dave Nall of North Carolina...to...Anthem Opinions
ReplyDeleteA beautiful Memorial, Dick. It has been sent around the world exactly as written as always!
Cheers! ... ... ... Dave
From Ed Easter of Birmingham, Alabama...to...Anthem Opinions
ReplyDeleteVery good
From Barbara Wollard of Barrington, IL....to...Anthem Opnions
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed Mickey Rooney very much. Your article was great.