Mickey Rooney was married eight times, and he never shied away from making self deprecating jokes about his many marriages.
The legendary actor, who had a career spanning roughly nine decades, was born Ninnian Joseph Yule Jr. in New York City in 1920, the only child of Nellie W. Carter, a former chorus girl and burlesque performer, and Joe Yule, a Scottish-born vaudevillian.
He spent his early childhood years in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood, before — following his parents' split when he was four years old — he and his mother moved to Hollywood. He made his first film appearance when he was six years old, in the 1926 short Not to be Trusted.
The first of his eight marriages came when he was 22 years old, to fellow Hollywood legend Ava Gardner, though it only lasted a year, and his last marriage, to Jan Chamberlin, lasted longer than the previous seven put together. "I've been married so many times I've got rice marks on my face!” he said in 2005, per Vanity Fair.
Read on to see each and every woman Mickey was married to.
1/8
© Getty ImagesAva Gardner, 1942-1943
Mickey married Ava in 1942, when she was still a little known 20-year-old starlet, though they were both MGM contract players. They divorced one year later, with Ava citing mental cruelty, allegedly over Mickey's infidelity and gambling.
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© Getty ImagesBetty Jane Phillips, 1944-1949
While stationed in the military in Alabama in 1944, Mickey met and married Betty Jane, who was from Alabama, and who later became a singer under the name B. J. Baker. They welcomed two sons together, Mickey Rooney Jr. (1945-2022) and Tim Rooney (1947-2006). They divorced in 1949, and Betty Jane passed away aged 74 in 2002.
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© Getty ImagesMartha Vickers, 1949-1951
Mickey married Martha, a model and actress from Michigan, in 1949, and the two welcomed one son together, Teddy, who died aged 66 in 2016. Martha herself passed away from esophageal cancer aged 46 in 1971.
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© Getty ImagesElaine Devry, 1952-1958
In 1952, Mickey married Elaine Devry (née Elaine Mahnken), also an actress, from Compton, California, when she was 22 and he was 32, after she had divorced from her high school sweetheart, Dan Ducich, that year, after he was convicted of multiple robberies. They divorced in 1958, and she passed away aged 93 in 2023.
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© Bettmann ArchiveBarbara Ann Thomason, 1958-1966
In 1958, Mickey married model and actress Barbara Ann Thomason, who was from Phoenix, Arizona, and was 17 years his junior. They were married until her murder aged 29 in 1966, by stuntman and actor Milos Milos, who at the time was Alain Delon's bodyguard, and with whom she'd allegedly had an affair (he shot himself after murdering her). Prior to her murder, they welcomed four children together, Kelly Ann, 66, Kerry, 65, Michael, 63, and Kimmy Sue, 62.
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© Getty ImagesMarge Lane, 1966-1967
Mickey went on to marry Barbara's best friend Marge, though their marriage only lasted 100 days, and she was not a public figure.
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© Getty ImagesCarolyn Hockett, 1969-1975
He next married Carolyn, also not a public figure at the Las Vegas County Courthouse Wedding Chapel in May 1969, when he was 48 and she was 25 years old. They welcomed daughter Jonelle Rooney in 1970, as well as son Jimmy, and divorced in 1975.
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© Getty ImagesJan Chamberlin, 1978-2012
Mickey's eighth and final wife was Jan, an actress from Los Angeles, who he married in 1978, when he was 58 and she was 40, after they were introduced by his son Mickey Jr., who was a professional country musician. Though like his others, their marriage had its fair share of ups and downs, it lasted 34 years, until they separated in 2012, two years before his death. In marrying Jan, who is 87 years old, Mickey became a stepfather to her two sons with first husband Lynn A. Aber, Christopher, 66, and Mark, 63.
