Mickey Rooney, one of the last stars from Hollywood's golden age, has died at 93. Rooney's career began in the early 1920s and spanned all media -- from silent movies to Broadway to television. During the Great Depression, when the national mood was bleak, his eternal optimism and simple values helped make him a star among American audiences.
Hollywood Superstar Mickey Rooney Dies at 93
![The first customers, most of them pensioners, stand in a queue to enter a branch at National Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens, July 20, 2015.](https://gdb.voanews.com/731b0801-7a71-49fd-9439-242ee2cb24e4_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
1
The first customers, most of them pensioners, stand in a queue to enter a branch at National Bank of Greece headquarters in Athens, July 20, 2015.
![Mickey Rooney is against the ropes as Spencer Tracy stands by him in this scene from the 1938 movie "Boys Town." ](https://gdb.voanews.com/a34b3128-2495-4300-890f-3850abb7611f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
2
Mickey Rooney is against the ropes as Spencer Tracy stands by him in this scene from the 1938 movie "Boys Town."
![Film actor Mickey Rooney celebrates his 21st birthday at a party in a Hollywood night club. Here he slices his birthday cake with (left to right) Louis B. Mayer, studio head; Mrs. Nell Pankey, his mother, and Miss Ava Gardner, Hollywood, California, Sept. 23, 1941.](https://gdb.voanews.com/dc719e97-4442-4428-938e-c3cc80ed05ec_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
3
Film actor Mickey Rooney celebrates his 21st birthday at a party in a Hollywood night club. Here he slices his birthday cake with (left to right) Louis B. Mayer, studio head; Mrs. Nell Pankey, his mother, and Miss Ava Gardner, Hollywood, California, Sept. 23, 1941.
![Mickey Rooney, accompanied by Judy Garland and Ann Rutherford, arriving at the theater in an old Jalopy, New York City, August 17, 1941.](https://gdb.voanews.com/81ce04a5-d4b6-4aa4-b205-e70dfeb3da5b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
4
Mickey Rooney, accompanied by Judy Garland and Ann Rutherford, arriving at the theater in an old Jalopy, New York City, August 17, 1941.