I know its not sports but...In between the missing airplane and all the other current and not so current events I found buried in the news today that Actor Mickey Rooney passed away on Sunday He was 93.
Must have been more than 20 years ago but while racking up all those frequent flyer miles doing private signings , I spoke to a friend in southern California and he suggested "why not do a private signing with Mickey Rooney?" I was already set to meet boxers Ken Norton and Archie Moore and would be only a stones throw to Mickey's place. Why Not !
"But he's an easy autograph" I said "He signs through the mail"...."He does not sign that stuff, he hasn't signed fan mail in decades" was what I was told , which Mickey was nice enough to confirm later "But don't tell anyone" he said , I guess its OK to tell it now.
We spent the better part of the day together , and the stories ! Wow ! the stories , He was like a time capsule of a by gone era of Hollywood's golden years. And had met and known personally just about any celebrity you could think of ....Heck he was MARRIED to Ava Gardner ! , He was gracious, funny, sad, and quite a story teller. He liked betting on the horses and told me he had just been to the track the week before and left before the last race and was looking for a place to urinate , finally found a safe spot between a couple parked cars. While he was standing there almost through several elderly ladies walked past......ITS MICKEY ROONEY !!! they exclaimed CAN WE HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH ???
From Walt Disney to Joe Louis, Marilyn Monroe to Frank Sinatra , Marlon Brando to Joe DiMaggio he had known them all, and had a story to tell about all of them. The signing should have taken no more than a couple hours but instead , he'd sign a photo and tell a story , sign a photo and tell another story. It overlapped lunch more stories. And I began to realize to him he was ALWAYS acting , ALWAYS putting on a performance , even if it was as in this case me, my son and Mickey's agent. To him he was performing to an audience !
He had some stories that were a little on the "adult" side but was a gentleman and careful only to tell THOSE when my son was not in the room. When the signing was through maybe afraid to lose his "audience" he suggested we take a drive. He insisted on showing us his old house he lived in during the Hollywood Hay day's. At every traffic light he made a point of making faces at the person in the car next to him until someone recognized him and said HEY its Mickey Rooney ! always on the stage that guy.
He said "Hollywood is not what it used to be, they don't make movies here anymore" And I thought about it and he was right. Slowly throughout the years Hollywood forgot about him too. Until briefly yesterday they remembered him again. And then turned the page.
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jim@stinsonsports.com
Vintage autographs for Sale Now at My web site
http://stinsonsports.com/autographs-for-sale/