Happy Birthday, Mickey Rooney!

MICKEY ROONEY
Credit: Wikipedia

On September 23, 1920, Mickey Rooney (Joseph Yule, Jr.) was born, a blessed event that left the world a much richer place. Peers in Hollywood paid tribute to his talent, Cary Grant calling him "the most talented man in the history of movies": Rooney acted, acted and sang, danced, danced, danced, played drums, sang while strumming the guitar, did comedy, e.g., on "Hollywood Palace," a song and dance routine with Sammy Davis thrown in, along with some Wallace Beery and Cary Grant impersonations, for good measure... in short, he was a burst of theatrical talent and vitality... and just plain fun... 

Here he is on Private Screenings talking with TCM host Robert Osbourne in 1997... and forty years earlier on "What's My Line?"

His best friend was Judy Garland, about whom he reminisced with Osbourne... Here's a clip from the last film he made with her, "Words and Music" (1948), about Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, with Judy singing "I wish I were in love again"...

Finally, this classic: Micky Rooney on "The Twilight Zone"...  

Wishing Mickey Rooney the very best on his special day...