Was mickey rooney gay

But less is known about Hart the man. But what's missing, what's been eradicated and will never be uncovered by historians, that's for the dramatists to fill in. Mickey Rooney (born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; [1] September 23, – April 6, ) was an American actor.

In Rodgers and Hart's heyday, musical plots were even thinner than they are now, and songs sometimes did not bear any great relation to the story. The many classic tunes he wrote with Rodgers -- "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "Bewitched," scores of others -- are staples of jazz vocalists, piano bar performers, and any aging rocker who records an album of standards.

There were probably many Mecklins in Hart's life; according to Gary Marmorstein's biography A Ship Without a Sail, Hart would often steal away in the wee hours, eluding all his "respectable" friends, most likely for sexual trysts, none of which, apparently, led to a long-term relationship.

Ben D. Goldberg who is attractive, by the way plays Hart in Falling for Make Believe, and he does an excellent job, as do the remaining cast members portraying real-life personages: Brett Ryback as Rodgers; Jordan Kai Burnett as Rodgers's wife, Dorothy; and scene-stealer Rebecca Ann Johnson as Vivian Ross, a character based on Broadway star Vivienne Segal.

Now a new play, having its world premiere in the Los Angeles area, aims to enlighten audiences about Hart's gay life in a closeted era. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Scott Fitzgerald called him America's poet laureate.

He's portrayed in the play by Jeffrey Landman, who conveys cynicism beautifully when performing "Falling in Love With Love," which provides the show with its title via the lyric "Falling in love with love is falling for make-believe.

One of Our Greatest

While the play conveys the sadness of Hart's situation, it has moments of levity, such as Rodgers locking Hart in their office to get him to work, and Hart writing lyrics on toilet paper -- which has a basis in fact. Dana Carvey has told lots of wild stories about his '80s sitcom co-star Mickey Rooney, including that he used to bring a gun to set.

But he was also an alcoholic, and he became increasingly undependable, trying the patience of the businesslike Rodgers. Many such trysts, according to both Marmorstein and the play, were set up by Milton "Doc" Bender, a dentist turned talent agent and a longtime friend of Hart's.

He was, however, witty, intelligent, charming, and generous, a desirable partner in many ways. Stephen Sondheim said he "freed American lyrics from the stilted middle-European operetta technique. The details of the Rodgers and Hart professional life are readily available with some Googling.

Rodgers and Hammerstein became the kings of Broadway in the s and '50s, bringing serious themes to musical theater, and their greatest hits -- Oklahoma! According to both the play and Marmorstein's book, Hart even proposed marriage to her, apparently thinking they could be a platonic couple like the gay Cole Porter and his socialite wife, Linda.

The basic outline is that he was a short, hard-drinking, irresponsible charmer who died young, at age 48, in No one disputes that he was gay, but details about this aspect of his life are scarce. Although Mickey Rooney has refused on numerous occasions to being homosexual, rumors are constantly found on-line.

In the Age of

In a career spanning nearly nine decades, he appeared in more than films and was among the last surviving stars of the silent-film era. The conventional wisdom is that Rodgers's teaming with the witty, sophisticated Hart produced better songs, while his partnership with the earnest, sentimental Hammerstein resulted in better shows.

[2]. The subject of all those statements is Lorenz "Larry" Hart, the gay man who was the primary writing partner to composer Richard Rodgers in the s and '30s, preceding Rodgers's other celebrated collaboration, with Oscar Hammerstein II.

Hart has long held a place in the pantheon of great American lyricists, with songs that display a wit and creativity perhaps equaled only by Cole Porter's work. Above all, there are the glorious songs, with Hart's clever wordplay, inventive rhymes, use of contemporary slang, and references to celebrities and newsmakers of his era, a feature that somehow doesn't date them.

Regardless of what people may think, it is increasingly common for people to openly admit to being gay, even more being such a crucial such as artist Mickey Rooney. Viv, by all accounts, did not take him seriously.