Mickey Rooney, the impish movie actor who found late-career success on stage, is recovering from double bypass heart surgery in Thousand Oaks, CA.
The 80-year-old Rooney, who recently starred in Madison Square Garden's The Wizard of Oz in New York and on tour, and in Broadway's Sugar Babies, discovered two artery blockages when he tested a new CAT scan device for which he was to be the celebrity endorser. Further hospital tests confirmed his ailment and he was operated on Dec. 20.
His condition Dec. 21 was "good" and "stable," the AP reported.
Rooney was born Joe Yule Jr. to actor parents. He went on to be the top box office star of his day, playing boy-next-door Andy Hardy and starring in a number of pictures with Judy Garland, including "Babes in Arms."
Recently, he has appeared with wife Jan in a traveling show called One Man, One Wife. — By Kenneth Jones
