MICKEY ROONEY - DOCUMENT SIGNED 02/02/1950 - HFSID 259155

MICKEY ROONEY
Mickey Rooney signs a document permitting a photo of him and Judy Garland from Babes in Arms to be used in Three Little Words.
Document Signed: "Mickey Rooney", 1p, 8½x11. No place, 1950 February 2. In letter form to Loew's Incorporated, Culver City, California. In full: "You have informed me that in your photoplay now tentatively entitled 'THREE LITTLE WORDS' you would like to use a still of Judy Garland and me from 'Babes in Arms' as set dressing in the following manner: A lobby billboard advertises the various vaudeville acts at the Palace Theatre, New York City, about 1915. I understand that in this connection you desire to include the above-mentioned photograph of Judy Garland and me, which photograph will be labeled with a fictitious name to represent the vaudeville act. As an inducement moving you to so proceed, I hereby give you this irrevocable permission." Loew's Inc. was the parent company of MGM. MGM's Three Little Words (1950) was the true story of songwriters Harry Ruby and Bert Kalmar. MGM's Babes in Arms (1939) was the story of two children of vaudeville stars who go to a state-run trade school and "put on a show", which they eventually bring to Broadway. Mickey Rooney (1920-2014) was the son of vaudevillians who put him into their act when he was 15 months old. He debuted onscreen in the silent short Not to Be Trusted in 1926 at the age of six. In 1998, 72 years later, Rooney appeared in Babe: Pig in the City and a later film, The Fighting Temptations, was released in 2003. During the course of his career, Rooney received four Academy Award nominations: two for Best Actor (Babes in Arms, 1939; The Human Comedy, 1943) and two for Best Supporting Actor (The Bold and the Brave, 1956; The Black Stallion, 1979). He was awarded special Oscars in 1938 "for significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth, and as a juvenile player setting a high standard of ability and achievement" and in 1982 "in recognition of his 60 years of versatility in a variety of memorable film performances". Rooney, who also won a Golden Globe Best Actor award for his performance in the TV movie, Bill, starred in 16 films as Andy Hardy, the wise-cracking son of a small-town judge, from 1937 to 1958. He made his debut on Broadway in 1979, receiving a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actor for the musical Sugar Babies. Horizontal fold through signature. 2 file holes at upper margin, staple holes and paper clip impression at upper left blank corner. Stamped at lower right corner. Light surface creases. Otherwise, fine condition.