EXCLUSIVE: How Hollywood Icon Mickey Rooney Was a Fighter to the End — Radar Reveals Legendary Star Refused to Let Personal or Professional Setbacks Slow Him Down
Mickey Rooney refused to let personal or career setbacks stop his remarkable Hollywood journey.
July 2 2026, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
In a life filled with exceptional highs and devastating lows, 1979 was a very good year for Mickey Rooney, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The performer made his Broadway debut in Sugar Babies that fall, becoming the Great White Way's hottest "new" star at age 59. "There's no feeling like facing a Broadway audience," gushed Rooney. "I'm sorry I took so long to get here, but we all come to the place where we're supposed to be at the right time."
Comeback King Defied Hollywood
William J. Birnes said Mickey Rooney earned an Emmy for his performance in the television film 'Bill.'
Rooney, a child of vaudeville, made his film debut at age 6 and starred in more than 200 movies during his long career. In his teens, he appeared in 15 extremely popular Andy Hardy movies, making him Hollywood's most bankable star.
But those heady days didn't last – Rooney found himself struggling to find work after he aged out of youth films. No one expected him to bounce back, but he did more than once. Along the way, Rooney also earned four Academy Award nominations.
The 5-foot-2 performer could do it all: act, sing, dance, even play piano and drums. "Mickey was plastic; he could inhabit any role," says William J. Birnes, coauthor of The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney. "He worked until the very, very, end."
In fact, in 1981, Rooney enjoyed one of his greatest career triumphs, playing a developmentally challenged man in the television film Bill.
"Mickey absorbed who Bill was and won an Emmy for that performance," said Birnes. "It was unbelievable."
Fame Couldn't Save Mickey
According to Birnes, Louis B. Mayer had an extra phone line installed in Rooney's dressing room so he could call his 'bookie.'
Rooney's private life was also a rollercoaster ride.
In his early years, he spent money as fast as he earned it. The actor became addicted to gambling and habitually blew thousands of dollars at the racetrack.
"When he was 17, MGM's Louis B. Mayer had an extra phone line installed in Mickey's dressing room so he could talk to his bookie," said Birnes.
Rooney had a weakness for women, too. He fell in love often and couldn't remain faithful for long. By the end of his life, he'd been married eight times, fathered 10 children and spent a fortune in alimony and child support payments. It's little surprise that he had to declare bankruptcy.
In 1962, Mickey confessed that he had $500 in the bank and nearly $500,000 in debts. "He also had a problem with back taxes, so the government took everything," said Birnes.
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Birnes said Rooney carried on a 60-year affair with a married woman who was the wife of one of his friends.
Sadly, Rooney never developed long-lasting ties with his children, wives, or family. The star, who successfully sued a stepson for elder abuse in 2013, enjoyed his most enduring relationship with a woman he saw infrequently.
"They never married but had an affair that lasted 60 years," confided Birnes. "She was married the whole time, and her husband was one of Mickey's friends."
Life threw him many curveballs, but Rooney never lost faith in himself or his abilities.
"There have been crevices, fissures, pits, and I've fallen into a lot of them," he said. "But the crux of it is that you can't give up on life. You've got to keep going."
