Mickey Rooney Jr. was born on July 3, 1945, as Joseph Yule III to movie legend Mickey Rooney and his second wife, Betty Jane Rase, a former beauty pageant winner who was crowned "Miss Alabama 1944". His mother met Mickey Sr. when he was stationed in the Army in Birmingham, Alabama, during World War II. Mickey Jr. was the first of his father's nine children.
Growing up in Hollywood as the son of a famous movie star, Junior rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest stars on the planet, including Mae West, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. When he was 13 years old, he met Judy Garland at a party at her Brentwood home, who praised him as a "fine-looking young man".
Unlike his extremely short father, Mickey Jr. would grow to be over six feet tall, taking after his tall mother. His father, in his 1991 autobiography "Life Is Too Short", admitted to cheating on Betty Jane, stating that she was "totally oblivious to anything going on outside our home". The marriage ended in divorce in 1948.
Mickey Jr. saw his father frequently after the divorce and shared the name of the #1 box office star of 1939, 1940, and 1941, which opened doors for him. However, making the most of the opportunities wasn't always easy, and he found out he had to work twice as hard to prove himself because of his famous name.
He had his first taste of show business as one of the original Mousketeers on Walt Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club in 1955. After appearing on the show for a year, their contracts were terminated after the mischievous boys got into a hassle with the studio's paint department. Six years later, at age 17, he hosted "The Andy Hardy Theater" on local TV.
Mickey Jr. is musically inclined and has played bass in Willie Nelson's band and recorded an album called "The Song Album". He also plays drums, harmonica, and keyboards and writes music. In addition to his music career, Mickey Jr. is a born-again Christian and met his wife Laura, a Messianic Jew, in 1986. They reside in Hemet, CA and operate the Rooney Entertainment Group, a movie and TV production company.
Mickey Jr. has written his autobiography, "Which One's Your Mother?", and is currently involved in The Lord's Link Ministry, spreading the Good News and testifying to the "folly" of living "life in the fast lane" alongside his wife Laura, who sings and plays the harp.
