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Mickey Rooney: Family Affair
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Rooney was born in Brooklyn, New York to a vaudeville family. His father, Joseph Yule, was from Scotland, and his mother, Nellie W. Carter, was from Kansas City, Missouri. Both parents were in vaudeville, and appearing in a Brooklyn production of A Gaiety Girl when Joseph, Jr. was born. He began performing at the age of fifteen months as part of his parents' routine, wearing a specially tailored tuxedo.[1]
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Rooney's first major feature role came as Puck in a film adaptation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. Rooney quickly became a national institution for his performances as young Andy Hardy in a series of hugely popular family films beginning with A Family Affair (1937).
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When he appears on talk shows, Rooney almost invariably reminds audiences that he was the number one box office star of 1939, 1940 and 1941. "I was the number one star in the world, you hear me? The world!" He then regales the host with tales from his Hollywood history. He ... says he came up with the stage name "Marilyn Monroe" for blonde innocent Norma Jean Baker, and lost his virginity in a brothel where the tab was paid by show-biz pal Milton Berle. He says he "discovered" Sammy Davis, Jr., and turned down the Archie Bunker role in All in the Family.
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Mickey was one of the first people considered for the role of Archie Bunker on All in the Family. After he turned it down, the role eventually went to Carroll O'Connor. (edit)
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Family Affair