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Michael Rooney

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Michael Rooney
Born
Michael Joseph Kyle Rooney

(1962-03-30) March 30, 1962 (age 62)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)Choreographer, dancer
Years active1996–present
ParentMickey Rooney
RelativesMickey Rooney Jr. (half-brother)
Tim Rooney (half-brother)

Michael Joseph Kyle Rooney (born March 30, 1962)[1] is an American dancer and choreographer. He is the last surviving son of actor Mickey Rooney, and is best known for his work on music videos. Rooney has won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography in 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2008.[2]

Early life, including mother’s murder

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Michael Rooney was born on March 30, 1962, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He is the son of Mickey Rooney and the former Barbara Ann Thomason.[3]

In December 1965, when Rooney was not yet four years old, his father filed for divorce after learning his wife was romantically interested in actor Milos Milosevic, but then the couple reconciled.[4] On January 29, 1966, Milosevic shot and killed Barbara Rooney, and then killed himself.[5]

Rooney and his three full-siblings went to live with his maternal grandparents. As a youth he had little contact with his famous father.[6] When he was a young teen his grandmother sat him and his siblings down and explained what happened to their mother. His father later told Michael that his mother was "one of the most wonderful ladies he’d ever met."[7]

1980s dance work

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Rooney started dancing after obtaining a part in his high school's production of West Side Story. He began taking dancing lessons, and his father told him "I can open the door but you have to walk through." His first professional dancing role was in the 1980s series Fame. Other early dancing roles were in War and Remembrance, Annie, Grease 2, Private Eye and Staying Alive. Also in the 1980s he traveled across the United States giving dance workshops.[8]

Choreography career

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Rooney became a choreographer who has won MTV Video Music Awards for best choreography for the videos to both Björk's It's Oh So Quiet.[9] and Fatboy Slim's Praise You. He was the co-producer and choreographer for VH1's Hit the Floor for the year 2013. Rooney also choreographed the major dance sequence in the film 500 Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Michael did the choreography for Miley Cyrus and her Younger Now 2017 MTV VMA performance.

His work has included choreographing Michael Jackson's You Rock My World, Kylie Minogue's Can't Get You Out of My Head and Fatboy Slim's Weapon of Choice.[10] Other music video work has included for Fiona Apple's "Paper Bag", My Chemical Romance's Helena and Bon Jovi's Say It Isn't So. TV work has included for Dancing with the Stars, Any Day Now, Mad About You, Zeke and Luther, Saved by the Bell and the pilot episode of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, while film work has included 500 Days of Summer. He has done choreography for advertisements, including Mother's Cookies, Diesel Jeans and Baileys.[11]

In 2011 he choreographed the puppeteers in The Muppets. That was the only film that he and his father both worked on, for Mickey Rooney had a small cameo part in the musical.[12] He also worked on the television film Lovestruck: The Musical.[13]

Filmography

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Music videos

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References

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  1. ^ Mickey Rooney’s a Papa Again, The Indianapolis Star, April 3, 1962, page 34
  2. ^ McDonald/Selznick Associates - Michael Rooney Awards
  3. ^ It’s Another Son For Mickey Rooney, The Winona Daily News (Winona, MN), April 1, 1962, page 5
  4. ^ Mickey Rooney’s Wife Murder-Suicide Victim, The Charleston Daily Mail, February 1, 1966, page 1
  5. ^ Mick’s 6th Wife Files for Divorce, St. Joseph News-Press, (St. Joseph, MO), December 24, 1966, page 2
  6. ^ James A. MacEachem, Mickey Rooney: A Show Business Life, page 117, McFarland, Inc., 2017
  7. ^ James L. Neibaur, The Essential Mickey Rooney, page 243, Rowman & Littlefield, 2016
  8. ^ Susan English, Mickey’s dancing son to give classes here this weekend, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), January 28, 1988, page 19
  9. ^ MTV Awards: Music and madness get equal billing, The Sheboygan Press (Sheboygan, Wisconsin), September 5, 1996, page 22
  10. ^ Pop's Greatest Dance Crazes, BBC3, 2011
  11. ^ "Baileys kick starts re-launch with biggest ever global campaign", (Press release). Diageo, October 4, 2012
  12. ^ Maria Sciullo, Making Muppets dance a truly amazing feat, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 2011, page 71
  13. ^ Rooney well-received in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 8, 2014, page 23
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