Monday, April 7, 2014

R.I.P.: WGN Remembers Actor Mickey Rooney

Actor Mickey Rooney, one of Hollywood's brightest stars in the 1930s and 1940s, died Sunday in California, the Los Angeles County Coroner's office said.

He was 93.

He became a star in the 1920s when he began appearing in dozens of shorts based on the popular "Mickey McGuire" comic strip, but he shot into Hollywood's stratosphere in his next film series, starting in more than a dozen "Andy Hardy" films between 1937 and 1946.

Rooney also starred as half of one of the most famous screen partnerships in film history, teaming with actress Judy Garland in a number of the "Andy Hardy" films. He also starred with her in several Busby Berkeley musicals, including 1940's "Strike up the Band" and "Babes on Broadway" a year later.
From 1939 through 1941, Rooney was the No. 1 box office draw in the United States.

He earned an Oscar nomination for his role in the World War II film "The Bold and the Brave" in 1956.

From their archives, WGN 720 AM has posted  a video from 2009 of Mickey and wife Jan visiting Greg Jarrett in the WGN Showcase Studio.

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