Mickey Rourke is a Hollywood actor who was named the new sex symbol of Hollywood after his role as John in Adrian Lyne's erotic drama "9 1/2 Weeks" (1985). He was a professional boxer in the past. He has written several screenplays. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as Randy Robinson in Darren Aronofsky's movie "The Wrestler". He is a recipient of the BAFTA and the Golden Globe awards. He also became famous for his fondness for plastic surgery, most of which were unsuccessful.
Pictured: Mickey Rourke
Childhood
In the fall of 1952, the first child, named after his father, was born to Catholic parents Philip Andre and Ann Rourke in New York state. In his later interviews, Philip Andre Jr. jokingly said that his mother started calling him Mickey to avoid confusion with his father. According to another version, he got the nickname from his bodybuilder father, an avid baseball and Mickey Mantle fan. Before the boy turned six, two more children were born in the family - Joseph and Patricia.
Mickey Rourke as a child
The parents' constant quarrels and disagreements led to divorce. Ann took the children and moved to Liberty City (a suburb of Miami, predominantly inhabited by African Americans). There seven-year-old Mickey started school and his mother remarried - to a policeman, Gene Addis, who already had five children from previous marriages. Harsh and uncompromising, he disliked his stepsons, whom, in his opinion, needed to be taught strict discipline using fists. Mickey, being the eldest and the most free-spirited, got the worst of it.
Mickey Rourke and his younger brother Joseph
However, the boy resented his stepfather not because he would slap him for no reason, but because he beat his mother, who was frightened of this very large and mean man. For many years, Rourke dreamed of avenging Addis for his childhood sufferings. Next to their house was a social welfare center, where children from low-income families could do something useful. It was there that Mickey first saw a punching bag.
For a teenager barely making it through school, boxing symbolized a ticket to adult life. He started practicing it diligently and soon entered the ring of the Fifth Street Miami Beach Boxing Hall, where he had his first fights under the nickname "Mickey Mouse". At the same time, the boy spent a lot of time socializing with all sorts of people, preferring the slums of Liberty City to his own home. To earn his first money, he worked as a candy seller and drug dealer until a shootout happened before his eyes, shaking him so much that Mickey decided to leave the town and become an actor.
Youth
Before he left for New York with his sister's money, the young man managed to knock out two of his stepfather's teeth and even participate in the school drama club's staging of "Overseeing Heights", directed by his friend, and received his high school diploma in 1971.
With him, he set off to conquer the acting profession, initially settling in Greenwich Village, a cheap hotel in Manhattan. Making ends meet with random earnings, Rourke was saving up for further education. He didn't mind working as a bouncer, pool cleaner, or street vendor.
Mickey Rourke's first role – the short film 'Love in the Hamptons'
When he auditioned at the renowned Lee Strasberg Acting Studio, one of its founders and examiners, Elia Kazan, was stunned by the scene Rourke performed from Tennessee Williams' drama "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". Mickey outperformed several thousand applicants and became one of the five students of the studio that year. Even Jack Nicholson, who got into Strasberg's studio on his fifth attempt, and Dustin Hoffman, who passed the audition only on the eighth try, could not boast such a breakthrough.
But if studying was easy for the former boxer, life after it was tough for Rourke. Hollywood was in no hurry to make Mickey's dream come true, he attended casting after casting, but he was not offered any roles, even episodic ones. Los Angeles was full of young talents who, like Rourke, dreamed of becoming famous. The opportunity to be an extra in the cult comedy of Steven Spielberg "1941" seemed like a lucky omen to him.
Young Mickey Rourke on the set of the film '1941' (left in the top row)
Film Career: Rise, Fall, Comeback
After working with Spielberg, Mickey Rourke landed a significant role in Michael Cimino's dramatic western "Heaven's Gate."
Mickey Rourke in the movie 'Rumble Fish'
In the early eighties, he landed several supporting and leading roles that helped him gain recognition, but not yet fame. Even his role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Rumble Fish" only caught the director's eye, who called Rourke's talent and personality "magnetic" and "mysterious."
Rumble Fish. Clip
His breakthrough came with "9 ½ Weeks," where he starred alongside Kim Basinger, earning him the status of a Hollywood star and sex symbol. The sensual melodrama, bordering on explicit eroticism, was more successful in Europe than in America, where it was thrice nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award.
Mickey Rourke on the set of '9 ½ Weeks'
Next, he played private detective Harry Angel in Alan Parker's thriller "Angel Heart." His character investigates the disappearance of a musician and encounters various people who die after speaking to him.
A shot from the movie 'Angel Heart'
Riding on his success, Rourke wrote a script for Michael Seresin's drama "Homeboy." He played the lead role of not-so-lucky lone boxer Johnny Walker. His performance was organic and honest; he knew what his character was thinking and feeling before each fight.
The audience did not like the movie 'Homeboy'
However, the film wasn't as successful as his subsequent ones, like "Wild Orchid," "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man." But Rourke was a star and could pick and choose his roles. In 1994, he took a break from acting and returned to the boxing ring.
ET Flashback «84: Mickey Rourke
In the mid-nineties, Rourke returned to scriptwriting. Together with Bruce Rubenstein, he created the story of Butch Stein, an ex-con nicknamed Bullet. The dramatic action film "Bullet," with Rourke in the lead role, was released in 1996. After that, Rourke hit a dry spell: he wasn't getting interesting roles and had to make do with second-rate thrillers.
Kim Basinger meets Mickey Rourke - Nine and a Half Weeks
In a bid to regain his former glory, Rourke, whose face was significantly marred by boxing, turned to plastic surgery. The result was quite the opposite, but more on that later.
The new chapter of Rourke's film career began in the 21st century. He first appeared in minor roles in films directed by Sean Penn ("The Pledge"), Tony Scott ("Domino"), and Robert Rodriguez ("Once Upon a Time in Mexico").
Mickey Rourke and Johnny Depp have been friends since the 90s
He fully showcased his dramatic talent in "Sin City" (2005), a film directed by Quentin Tarantino, Frank Miller, and Robert Rodriguez. On set, Rourke worked with Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, and Benicio Del Toro. Rourke, who bore little resemblance to the heartthrob from "9 ½ Weeks," played the brutish Marv, a "dumb brute" with a formidable intellect. This role followed a series of surgeries, and his openly ugly character was the height of self-irony.
Mickey Rourke in the movie 'Sin City'
The role of Randy Robinson in "The Wrestler," largely autobiographical, marked his return to fame. Rourke gave it his all, both morally and physically. His portrayal of Randy, a fighter whose best days are long behind him, earned him an Oscar nomination, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards, as well as the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Mickey Rourke in the movie 'The Wrestler'
Rourke's success wasn't fleeting. After that, he appeared in high-profile films like "Iron Man 2," "The Expendables," "Passion Play," and played King Hyperion in Tarsem Singh's action-fantasy "Immortals." Since then, up until 2019, he has appeared in over a dozen films.
A shot from the movie 'Iron Man 2'
Boxing and Plastic Surgery
Rourke's acting career could have taken a different turn if not for his uncompromising nature, drug use, and passion for the ring. When Mickey was nearly forty, at the peak of his acting fame, he returned to professional boxing.
1994: Mickey Rourke Returns to the Ring
In four years, he fought eight bouts without defeat (two of them were draws) in the light heavyweight. Rourke explained that he was fighting self-destruction in this way, as he had lost respect for himself as an actor.
In 2009, in Moscow, the famous actor's last fight took place, in which he won by knockout against Elliot Seymour.
In a few years of boxing practice, Rourke broke his cheek, 2 ribs, a finger, 4 joints on his hand, and his nose. He started having memory lapses
Several serious brain concussions led to coordination disorders. Mickey had to forget about the world champion title, as doctors forbade him from boxing if he didn't want to remain mentally disabled for the rest of his life. In addition to this, due to injuries, Rourke underwent several unsuccessful plastic surgeries that permanently distorted his face.
Mickey Rourke Before and After Plastic Surgery
In 2014, the actor began training again, showing off his muscular body.
Mickey Rourke Returned to the Ring in 2014
The actor, as before, is in demand in American and European film industry. He starred in the German melodrama "Berlin, I Love You" as Jim, played Harry in the crime drama "Night Walk" by Aziz Tazi. Rourke has lead roles in Chad Faust's movie "Girl", and the thriller "MR-9" by Asif Akbar.
In 2020, films featuring Mickey Rourke were released: "Girl", where he starred alongside Bella Thorne, "Legionnaire's Trail", and "Adverse".
Mickey Rourke and His Pomeranian
In addition to active filming, Mickey enjoys attending social events, stunning the public with his own style of clothing and always with his four-legged friend. Thus, during New York Fashion Week, the actor appeared in a leather coat, fur boots and a cowboy hat, holding a charming puppy under his arm.
Rourke also looked equally stunning on the "Good Morning, Britain" show. He appeared there after another plastic surgery, which changed the actor's face beyond recognition. The internet immediately erupted in a heated discussion of his appearance with unflattering reviews.
Mickey Rourke on How His Psychiatrist Told Him to Take 'The Wrestler' Role
Mickey Rourke's Personal Life
When the television movie "Hardcase" (1981) was released, Mickey Rourke married actress Debra Feuer, with whom he co-starred in the film.
Mickey Rourke and his first wife
After eight years of marriage, the couple divorced without having any children. Years later, Debra recalled that Mickey was very shy when they first met, and soon she realized how sensitive he was. His excessive care for his wife soon turned into jealousy, and with fame and recognition, Rourke started using drugs, which Feuer could no longer endure.
Mickey Rourke and Debra Feuer
Almost simultaneously with the divorce, the actor saw model Carré Otis at a casting for the role of Emily in Zalman King's drama "Wild Orchid". Mickey passionately fell in love with the girl and told the director that he would only film with her.
Mickey Rourke and Carré Otis
Their romance developed passionately, and by the end of filming, the couple got married, although Otis had already felt Rourke's raging jealousy before the wedding. The marriage, filled with constant reproaches, drugs, drinking, domestic violence, and passionate love, did not last long.
Carré left several times, Mickey kneeled before her, begging her to return, and once even cut off his finger. The pinky was reattached, but the wife still left. Rourke later recalled:
I don't like to talk about it because I still love her, but when my wife was leaving, she said I needed help, and I mentally sent her away... She was right, I needed to change, but I didn't want to, until one day I looked in the mirror and saw myself as other people saw me. The man looking at me was in armor, and that's when I got scared...
The actor was on the verge of suicide when he decided to go to a priest and tell him everything about himself. It was the holy father who kept Rourke from pulling the trigger. Then Mickey forced himself to go to a psychotherapist and in ten years missed only two sessions.
Mickey Rourke Documentary / The Story So Far (2019)
In the first three years after Otis left, the actor sold his collection of cars and motorcycles, and then his mansion in Beverly Hills. He filled the void in his soul and life with boxing and dogs, with whom he lived for some time in a tented truck for two hundred dollars a week.
Numerous rumors and assumptions surround Mickey Rourke's personal life after his divorce. He was attributed relationships with models Sasha Volkova, and then with Eugenia Volodina.
In 2009, there were even rumors about the Hollywood actor's new marriage to Russian model Elena Kuletskaya, whom he dated for ten months and even proposed to. But the wedding never took place, and Rourke was soon seen with another model-looking girl – Anastasia Makarenko. So far, no model other than Otis has managed to lead Mickey to the altar.
Mickey Rourke and Elena Kuletskaia
In November 2019, a photo of Estonian model Carmen Pedaru appeared on Rourke's Instagram with the caption "Best wishes, “beauty”", which provoked speculation about another girl in the actor's service list.
In the photo: Carmen Pedaru
Mickey Rourke Now
In 2021, the premiere of the movie "Man of God" took place, in which Mickey Rourke starred alongside Russian actor Alexander Petrov. The film is Greek, directed by American of Serbian origin, Yelena Popovich. The plot centers around the biography of the slandered bishop Nektarios of Aegina, played by Rourke.
Mickey Rourke in Greece on the set of the movie 'Man of God'
