Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor, vaudevillian, comedian, producer and radio personality. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was one of the last surviving stars of the silent film era. At the height of a career that was marked by precipitous declines and raging comebacks, Rooney performed the role of Andy Hardy in a series of 15 films in the 1930s and 1940s that epitomized American family values. A versatile performer, he
Joe Yule of Glasgow, Scotland, and arrived at the Port of New York, August 2, 1892. Their surname was recorded on the ship's manifest as "Yule" not "Ewell." They settled in Brooklyn. His father was a boiler maker. The Yules spelled the men's Christian name as "Ninnian" not as Ninian. As a teenager, he performed in local vaudeville theatres in Brooklyn and later was booked into leading burlesque wheels, including the Columbia Burlesque Wheel; he adopted the stage name Joe Yule. In 1919, he married fellow vaudevillian Nellie W. Carter, a native of Kansas City, Missouri. In 1920, while they were appearing