LOS ANGELES -- Mickey Rooney's approach to life was simple: "Let's put on a show!" He spent nine decades doing it, on the big screen, on television, on stage and in his extravagant personal life. A ...

The performance was among Rooney's finest. "Mickey Rooney, to me, is the closest thing to a genius I ever worked with," ''Human Comedy" director Clarence Brown once said. Brown also directed Rooney ...