Mick & Joots

Fan Site

This page is dedicated to Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney -MGM's Greatest Song and Dance Team! A little about the two. Mick and Joots, who were one of Hollywood's first teen idols, made a total of ten films together that were all great successes in the box office. Thoroughbreds Don't Cry was the first movie Rooney and Garland appeared in. Next came Love finds Andy Hardy. But after making their third movie together, "Babes in Arms, everyone wanted to continue seeing them in films together. After watching Babes in Arms, One preview card stated, " After such a hit Judy and Mickey should never be parted." another said, " Would appreciate Garland and Rooney again." and in 1943 the The Box Office Digest reported, " One of the hottest Box office announcements that any exhibitor could make these days, is the simple listing of the names ' Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland' on his marquee- and not to worry about the title of his picture." After making a few films together and as their friendship grew, Mickey gave Judy the nickname 'Joots' and the nickname caught on. Soon, almost everyone referred to the pair as Mick 'n' Joots. Mickey and Judy had just as much excitement working together as the audience had watching them in films. Mickey said, " With other actresses, I had to play everything straight, if i tried to clown around with a novice, fiddle with the timing, or ad-lib, I'd rattle her and ruin the scene. With Judy, it was the exact opposite. We actually tried to throw each other off track, tried to get the other one to mess up a scene." " Mickey understood me" Judy was later to say." And he must have known i was crazy about him." " We performed magic, the two of us, together, on film" Mickey once said, and indeed he was right. Hopefully, after watching their movies and hearing their great voices, ( which is the point of this fan site) you'll fall in love with that magic they made, as i did.Biography taken from Judy Garland's wikipedia page

Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and musician whose eighty-five year career in entertainment began in 1922 and continues through 2007. As of 2007, he is the only surviving screen actor to appear in silent films and still continue to act in movies into the 21st century His birth.He was born Joseph Yule, Jr. on September 23, 1920. He 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. Why was his named changed to Mickey? The Yules separated in 1924 during a slump in vaudeville, and in 1925, Nell Yule moved with her son to Hollywood, where she managed a tourist home. Fontaine Fox had placed a newspaper ad for a dark haired child to play the role of "Mickey McGuire" in a series of short films, and, lacking the money to have her son's hair dyed, Mrs. Yule took her son to the audition after applying burnt cork to his scalp. Joe got the role and became "Mickey" for 78 of the comedies, running from 1927 to 1936, starting with Mickey's Circus, released September 4, 1927. These had been adapted from the Toonerville Trolley comic strip, which contained a character named Mickey McGuire. Joe Yule briefly legally became Mickey McGuire to trump an attempted copyright lawsuit (as it was his legal name, the movie producers did not owe the comic strip writers royalties).Rooney later claimed that, during his Mickey McGuire days, he met cartoonist Walt Disney at the Warner Brothers studio, and that Disney was inspired to name Mickey Mouse after him, although Disney always said that he had changed the name from "Mortimer Mouse" on the suggestion of his wife. Rooney also took credit for giving rising starlet Norma Jean Mortenson the stage name Marilyn Monroe, his co-star in the 1950 film 'The Fireball', although she had been so billed as early as 1947.[citation needed]During an interruption in the series in 1932, Mrs. Yule made plans to take her son on a ten week vaudeville tour as McGuire, and Fox sued successfully to keep him from using the name. Mrs. Yule suggested the stage name of "Mickey Looney" for her comedian son, which he altered slightly to a less frivolous version.Rooney did other films, including a few more of the McGuire films, in his adolescence, and signed with MGM in 1934. MGM cast Rooney as the teenage son of a judge in 1937's A Family Affair, setting Rooney on the way to another successful film series. Why he has much respect from veterans In 1994 Mick entered military service for 21 months during WW2, During which time he was a radio personality on the American Forces Network. He didn't get a commission under his request- meaning he didn't get special treatment for being famous. A lot of soldiers respected him for that and that's why they still love him so much today.After his return to civilian life, his career slumped. He appeared in a number of films, including Words and Music in 1948, which paired him for the last time with Garland on film WivesAva Gardner Betty Jane Rase Martha Vickers Thelma Elaine Mahnken Barbara Ann Thomason (Carolyn Mitchell) Marge Lane Carolyn Hockett Jonelle Rooney Jan Chamberlin Kids Mickey Rooney, Jr. Tim Rooney Teddy Rooney Kyle Rooney Kimmy Rooney Kelly Rooney Kerry Rooney Jimmy Rooney Jonelle Rooney Biography taken from Mickey Rooney's wikipedia page

What Mickey says about Judy

M: Why do you think Judy Garland found it so hard to cope?MR: She had a bad doctor who gave her prescription drugs that were all wrong for her. Our family physician was the chief of staff in Santa Monica. I had to call him up one day because I went by her house and had to jump the fence to get to her. She was in the kitchen on the floor, all naked and in disarray. We covered her up, and I said to the doctor, what are these pills? 'Mick,' he said, 'if you want to carry a piano over the Andes, you take one of these pills.' I won't mention the doctor who gave Judy those pills, but he's still alive and he should have been run out of the medical profession long ago. - interview with Matthew Hayes“There’s another woman in my life.We were the best of friends from the day we met,”[ and this segues into a tribute to Judy Garland.]“We weren’t just a team, we were magic."Judy Garland had real talent and we did a lot of great musicals together. I made 19 Andy Hardy films - many with her - and when things weren't going too well in the industry they accounted for 55 per cent of the gross income of MGM."She was - I'm sure - at peace, and has found that rainbow. At least I hope she has""Judy turned to drugs because she was in pain and because drugs made her feel good. As one of the MGM kids, she'd been treated for most of her life to magical, instant, solutions to everything...She could never accept herself so she was always on the run.""If they could have taken her to their hearts a little sooner, she might still be alive today.