No slow lane
for Mr. Rooney

By Rita Charleston
For the Times

Actor, singer, dancer, musician, composer, director, producer, screenwriter, novelist and multi-award winner Mickey Rooney is considered a living legend by many.
After all, Rooney has hundreds of films under his belt. He has earned an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, a special Juvenile Oscar that he shared with Deanna Durbin in 1939, five Oscar nominations, one Emmy award, five Emmy nominations and two Golden Globes.
He is, indeed, the stuff Hollywood legends are made of.
The thing is, Mickey Rooney doesn‘t like the title of "Living Legend."
"I’m so tired of hearing that," said Rooney, set to appear July 6 through July 11 at the Atlantic City Hilton with wife Jan in their long-running musical Let’s Put On a Show.
"I’m just a man, a human being," Rooney continued. "I’ve simply been fortunate enough to do what I do and have it appreciated by my audiences."
Titles aside, Rooney, now celebrating his 85th year in show business, has achieved legendary status through his body of work. Married eight times, he also earned and lost fortunes, and rose to the top of his field before hitting some particularly unpleasant lows.
"But so have you. So has everyone, if you really want to stop to think about it. Life would be pretty drab and dull and pretty monotonous if it didn’t have its challenges."
Born in Brooklyn to vaudevillians Joe Yule and Nell Carter, he originally was named Joe Yule Jr. and made his unofficial debut at 18 months when he crawled onstage during his parents’ act, becoming a regular in that act the following year.
Crossing over eventually to motion pictures, he was dubbed Mickey McGuire for 78 short-film comedies that followed but he outgrew the role at age 12. On the road again, he took the name Mickey Rooney.
Over the years, his legion of fans has known Rooney for such films as Boys Town, The Andy Hardy films, National Velvet and more. His pairing with Judy Garland solidified his place as a musical star. His ability to play almost any instrument in the orchestra earned him a related career composing pop songs and film scores.
A multi—talented performer, Rooney dismisses his other major talent — having married some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, starting with Ava Gardner.
"Look, there are lots of people out there who have been married many times, but maybe they don’t sell newspapers," he said.
True enough, and Rooney said interest in his trips to the altar stopped after he took wife No. 8, singer-actress-songwriter Jan Chamberlain.
Rooney believes "you never know what’s going to make a marriage work. I think you just have to keep going until you find the right one. It’s not easy. But making it work takes love, courtesy and always thinking about the other person. You have to be in love, and you have to have patience and understanding."
"We respect and love each other, and have for all these years," Rooney continued "We’ve even got our own star together on Hollywood Boulevard. I had three stars already, but this is the first for us together."
Ask Rooney what he considers to be his greatest life achievement and he quickly answers his longtime relationship with his wife. "Together we’re performing this current show consisting of songs and dances. I play a little jazz piano, and we perform old-time favorites like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers," he said. "It’s pure entertainment, and we hope the audiences really enjoy seeing it as much as we do performing it."
At 87, Rooney said he can’t see into the future but has no plans to slow down or, heaven forbid, retire.
"Why would I retire? Why would I even slow down?" he asked. "If you slow down, you’re through. So I say no to the word ‘retire’ and yes to the word ‘inspire.’ That’s my motto." ••
For times and ticket information, call Ticketmaster at 1-800-736-1420.