What a day for good bye’s. Just got news that Mickey Rooney died as well and my heart drooped. One of my earliest memories of watching film in School was Shakespeare’s a “Mid Summers Night Dream”, when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. We still used traditional film reels and projectors in the classroom. Two images remain. The donkey scene when Bottom say’s “I feel a bit harry about the face”, and Mickey Rooney playing Puck.
He was born Joe Yule, Jr. in 1920 and made his first appearance on the stage at 17 months of age as part of the vaudeville performances put on by his parents. Rooney’s career on the silver screen began at age 6 where he played Mickey McGuire in dozens of short films based on the Toonerville Trolley cartoons. In 1932, he picked up the stage name of Mickey Rooney.
Mickey Rooney has had an amazing career which spanned most of his life. In his time Laurence Olivier had called Rooney “the greatest actor of them all.” As an entertainer and performer he new how to put on a show and drew crowds wherever he went. And with over 200 movies to his credit Mickey Rooney is a part of our film heritage and has created a lasting impact in the film industry and upon our culture.
Mickey Rooney arrives at the 81st Annual Academy Awards held at The Kodak Theatre on February 22, 2009 in Hollywood, Calif. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz, FilmMagic
It is a melancholy time as we see the last of our classic heroes and some of our newer ones, pass the torch of legacy to the next generation. A little something is lost. A few things forgotten. Times change and we move on. But with hope I look back to the past, to the memories that changed and shaped who I am know. And a mischievous laugh is right there at the genesis of my memory. And so I say thank you and good bye to dear “Puck”
For a more in depth look at his life and career check out the following link.
http://www.wfaa.com/entertainment/mickey-rooney-254129431.html
In Memorandum, enjoy a little classic Rooney.
The Little Hollywood Shootout is a guerrilla film making competition and retreat held each year in Kanab Utah, known as Utah’s Little Hollywood because of all the classic films shot there during the golden age of the Hollywood western.
