Mickey Rooney died on this day 10 years ago, aged 93.
- Rooney's real name was Joseph Yule- he was a nepo baby, as his dad Joe Yule was a vaudeville actor.
- Rooney was quick to become a child star, and in 1927 got the role of the titular character of the Mickey McGuire short films. During this time, he also briefly voiced Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (which had been taken from Walt Disney at the time).
- Rooney's friendship with Judy Garland was well-publicized, and their 1939 film Babes in Arms got him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.
- Rooney served in World War II as an entertainer for troops, and earned several medals from the Army. By the time he returned, he was no longer a teenage heartthrob and caused his career to decline- but he would eventually make a comeback.
- Among Rooney's most famous roles were Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's (...a racially-charged character to say the least), Ding Bell in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Lampie in the 1977 version of Pete's Dragon, and Henry in The Black Stallion. Rooney was nominated for four Oscars (winning none but earning an honorary one) and five Emmys (winning one).
- Rooney would also delve into voice acting, most notably as adult Tod in The Fox and the Hound, Santa Claus in both of Rankin-Bass' Santa Claus is Comin' to Town and The Year Without a Santa Claus, and as himself in the season 7 Simpsons episode "Radioactive Man":
- Rooney appeared on the DeathList eight times between 1997 and 2014, and was the second death (of 10 that year) on the list when he died.