Remembering Mickey Rooney

A Polaroid photo was taken of me with Mickey in 1982 at a birthday party at his Westlake Village home.



On April 7, Internet news headlines reported that actor Mickey Rooney (Joe Yule Jr. 1920-2014) made his transition at the age of 93.  I had known Mickey while working for his agent Ruth Webb from early 1980 through March 1987.

When starting the job, I had been informed that I would be Mickey's assistant working in Ruth's home office, where I also was involved with the daily agency work.  I had been working as a story analyst (script reader) for Ingels, Inc. after majoring in cinema at USC.  Ruth had recently become active in film and television work after being a well-known stage agent in New York.  Before that, she had been an actress whose credits included Broadway productions.  The aspect of the job that I found advantageous was the prospect of opportunities for my (then) planned screenwriting career.  I eventually became a subagent myself.  My expectation continuously was that I would be there only for a few more weeks but this went on for more than seven years. 

 

Working as a talent agent, you see how competitive it is for every role so Mickey's long and eclectic career is something rare.  To be around Mickey was to notice his unusual energy level.  It is hard to put into words his frame of mind; it was something that had to be experienced.  His friend Richard Quine articulated this by acknowledging "he comes on so strong" in a Daily Variety article mentioning his "mile-a-minute ideas." 

 

Mickey loved to entertain people.  Sometimes when visiting the office he would answer the telephone to surprise agency callers.  Ruth specialized in older stars yet there were some younger clients as well.  Agency clients included Gene Barry, Shelley Berman, John Carradine, Yvonne DeCarlo, Dody Goodman, Kathryn Grayson, Julie Newmar, Martha Raye, Mamie Van Doren and Abe Vigoda, among many others.  In retrospect, it's amazing what nice and gracious people they all were.

My age was twenty-three when I met Mickey, who was making as much as $50,000 a week on Broadway (and later touring) in the burlesque musical "Sugar Babies" and had been nominated for an Academy Award for "The Black Stallion." 

 

Mickey's cronies called him 'The Mick.'  Something I noticed was that just about everybody who came into contact with Mickey felt as if they knew him because of having seen his movies.  After having experiencing intervals when he wasn't working, Mickey was enjoying every minute of his current success.

 

In addition to his acting, Mickey was also a music composer who played the piano and other instruments.  Mickey's idea of a good time was going to the racetrack and it was noticeable that the subject of horse racing had been a recurring one throughout his movie career.

 

There were times when Ruth worried about the possibility that he would decide to change his representation; perhaps, to one of the major agencies.  Ruth was diagnosed as a manic depressive (bipolar) while I was working with her.  One contributing factor seemed to be her reliance on medications, which had begun in New York when she needed to find a way to work longer hours.

 

In 1980 Mickey had to deal with the difficulties of being confronted with evidence that his attorney had forged contracts to embezzle a $10,000 holding fee.  Ruth had recommended the attorney to him but Mickey knew it was something she couldn't have foreseen.  

 

He thought it was unfair that actors didn't receive residuals for film and TV productions made before 1960 and instigated a legal appeal that brought him the support of more than one hundred of his fellow performers.  The appeal was refused as this agreement had been made by the Screen Actors Guild and could not be reversed.  Mickey took out ads in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter thanking his fellow actors on April 28, 1983: "Even Though We Lost, Thank You For Your Support."     

While performing in "Sugar Babies," he simultaneously acted in movies, television shows, commercials, and the 1982 NBC TV series "One of the Boys."  When the sitcom had mediocre ratings, he was incensed by the lack of network promotion of the show.  In 1983 he accepted a cameo role in the "Celebrity" miniseries before realizing that it was an NBC production and he ended up walking off the set.  There was litigation over the incident yet Mickey explained his reasons for what happened and avoided financial penalty. 

 

When he was in Southern California, he resided with his considerate wife Jan and her sons from a previous marriage.  His son Tim was actively involved in Mickey's life at this time and they had purchased a ranch together.

 

Over the years since the '80s, I've occasionally read news articles about Mickey and his life.  Some interviews I saw suggested that he had become more introspective and presumably he had found more time for introspection.  Several years ago he received media attention when he spoke to the Senate Special Commission on Aging.  It was sad that he considered himself as having lost control of his life to become a victim of elder abuse and financial abuse.

 

Keeping in mind my recent articles about Edgar Cayce and talking poltergeist cases that provide insights about the meaning of such expressions as 'Oneness' and 'The Holy Ghost,' it is ironic to note that Mickey is one of innumerable actors who have performed vocally to play animals in animated films (his credits include the Disney movie "The Fox and the Hound") while Edgar's son Hugh Lynn Cayce reminisced about interacting with Mickey in France 1944 during World War II in the biography Hugh Lynn Cayce: About My Father's Business (1988) by A. Robert Smith.

 

During the seven years that I worked at the talent agency, there were times when it became clear to me that Mickey was trying to become a better person.  When I discovered that he was a steady and dedicated viewer of 'televangelist' shows, I was surprised.  He would occasionally write letters to the preachers appearing on these TV shows.

 

His wife Jan was accustomed to his temperament and she didn't give up helping Mickey to become a better person.  When Mickey and Jan both had roles on the 1982 Christmas episode of "The Love Boat," his character had a very unusual name: 'Angelarum Dominicus.'

 

He had been offered the role of Archie Bunker in "All In The Family" but that was a role that he was not willing to play.

 

I have been surprised when Mickey has expressed a homophobic perspective in media interviews and think this was due to the interpretations of Christian dogma familiar to him.  "Sugar Babies" producer Harry Rigby was in a same sex relationship and Mickey was on good terms with him.

In January 1984 Mickey celebrated his 60th anniversary in show business with Daily Variety publishing a special issue on January 27 and the mayor proclaiming the day "Mickey Rooney Day in Los Angeles."  The musical "Sugar Babies" had reopened in Hollywood the previous day.  Will Tusher quoted him:

"Mine," he says with visible satisfaction, "is a creative situation.  I've never been happier in my life.  I'm only concerned for the people who have not had the good fortune I've had."

 

Mickey had acknowledged Ruth the previous April upon receiving an honorary Academy Award in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable performances.  Mickey had said: "The woman who put it all together was Ruth Webb, my agent, who picked up the pieces, picked up the pieces and put 'em back together."  Tusher reported the events leading to Ruth's role in Mickey's comeback.

When, as a result of a casting call that proved a false alarm in 1971, she ferreted out a forgotten and inactive Mickey Rooney in Florida and assumed his representation, it was indeed the day he was born again as an entertainer, and put back on the road to superstardom — and a depth of respect and recognition that even exceeds his juvenile halcyon days as Andy Hardy.

Webb overcame a residual of misinformed resistance to book Rooney on the dinner circuit, sat with him for 10 days to nurse him through a nervous breakdown in the aftermath of his seventh marriage, took him into her Hollywood Hills home to help him recuperate afterward, was overwhelmed by her personal witness to his awesome talents, learned his moods, refused to be driven off by his tantrums, has remained at his beck and call around the clock, helped restore his self belief and his belief in his fellow man, negotiated his renaissance in the hit show, "Sugar Babies" . . .

 

There were two times when I almost became a professional screenwriter because of opportunities made possible by Mickey.  I adapted the novel Bob: Son of Battle when a producer was interested in the project although the funding source was eventually lost.  There was also an occasion when Roger Corman had financing for a low-budget movie if a script could be found.  Mickey had provided a screenplay—one of the many zany travesties he had written—called "The Search for Sonny Skies" aka "The Famous."  Everyone thought the script was terrible so I almost completely rewrote it to be a black comedy/thriller "Whatever Became of Sonny Skies?" designed as a vehicle for Mickey based on the premise of the actor who played Sonny Skies (a variation of the "Mickey McGuire" two-reelers of the 1920s/30s) attempting to make a bizarre comeback.  Ultimately, Mickey was only willing to star in one of his own scripts.  I was destined to become a metaphysical author. 

 

Most of the time, I found Mickey to be a good-hearted delightful person who was considerate with people as he had known hard times of his own.  He was generous with his friends and family and considered it important that all of his fan mail be answered, employing a publicist's wife to do this. 

  

Mickey was still represented by Ruth when I gave two weeks notice before leaving the agency in 1987.  After Mickey eventually ended his professional relationship with her, Ruth gained media attention with her partner agent Sherri Spillane by representing people whose names became known to the public after being involved in scandals, including Tonya Harding, John Wayne Bobbitt, Joey Buttafuoco, Divine Brown, and a variety of individuals promoting some form of connection to the O.J. Simpson trial.

 

How it all happened was explained in the cover story of the January 12, 1996 Los Angeles Reader, "Scandal Queens" by Samantha Dunn.  After signing Harding and Bobbitt, Sherri recalled that somebody kiddingly said to her, "What are you going to do next, get Joey Buttafuoco?"  She decided that wasn't a bad idea. 

 

A word of advice for young people — be very careful about what job you accept as you may be there longer than you think and, most importantly, be certain that any job you do is in harmony with your spiritual beliefs.  And for all those rich and successful performers who have not been loyal to the agents, managers or publicists responsible for helping them to get where they are, this may be a sign of a genuine lack of altruism.

 

Mickey’s best-known films include "A Midsummer Night’s Dream," the "Andy Hardy" series, "Boys Town," "Babes In Arms," "National Velvet," and "It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World" co-starring Rooney as Ding ‘Dingy’ Bell.

Mickey was a child star in "Mickey McGuire" two-reelers before garnering acclaim for Andy Hardy and other roles.

Although Mickey was offered solo star billing above the title for "Sugar Babies," he insisted Ann Miller receive equal billing.

Ruth and Sherri dressed tongue-in-cheek for their Los Angeles Reader interview.

This was the photo of Mickey used at the agency while I worked at Ruth Webb Enterprises, Inc.