Mickey Rooney dead at 93
Acting legend Mickey Rooney has died.
US media are reporting the 93-year-old passed away overnight.
Rooney, who had been ill for some time, most recently appeared in The Muppets in 2011 and Night At The Museum in 2006.
He was married eight times, first and most famously to his MGM co-star Ava Gardner.
Rooney was one of the most famous child actors in history. He played the role of Andy Hardy in 20 films and was also the first teenager to ever by nominated for an Oscar when he was honored in 1940 for his role in Strike Up the Band, according to entertainment website Variety.
Mickey Rooney pictured last week with Dick Van Patten and Mel Brooks. Picture: AP/Benoit
Born in New York on September 23, 1920, as Joseph Yule, Rooney's first foray into acting was as a 17-month-old toddler in his parents' vaudeville show.
According to Variety, he made his first film appearance in 1926. The following year, he played the lead character in the first Mickey McGuire short film. It was in this popular film series that he took the stage name Mickey Rooney.
Mickey Rooney with Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet in 1944.
In a career spanning more than eight decades, Rooney received multiple awards, including a Juvenile Academy Award, an Honorary Academy Award, two Golden Globes and an Emmy Award.
Rooney is survived by wife Jan Chamberlin, a singer he married in 1978; son Mickey Rooney Jr. from his marriage to singer Betty Jane Rase; son Theodore Michael Rooney from his marriage to actress Martha Vickers; daughters Kelly Ann Rooney, Kerry Rooney and Kimmy Sue Rooney and son Michael Joseph Rooney from his marriage to Barbara Ann Thomason; and daughter Jonelle Rooney and adopted son Jimmy Rooney from his marriage to Carolyn Hockett, according to Variety.
Mickey Rooney and his wife Jan in 2007. Picture: Reuters/MARIO ANZUONI
