Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke
Rourke at the 2009 premiere of City Island
Born	Philip Andre Rourke, Jr. September 16, 1952 (1952-09-16) (age 59) Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Other names	Sir Eddie Cook
Occupation	Actor, professional boxer, screenwriter, music supervisor
Years active	Actor (1979–present) Boxer (1991-1994)

Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. (born September 16, 1952)^[1] is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films.

During the 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner, Rumble Fish, and the erotic drama 9½ Weeks, and received critical praise for his work in Barfly and Angel Heart. In 1991, Rourke, who had trained as a boxer in his early years, left acting and became a professional boxer for a period.^[2] He had supporting roles in several later films, including The Rainmaker, Buffalo '66, The Pledge, Get Carter, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire.

In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role in Sin City, for which he won awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Irish Film and Television Awards and the Online Film Critics Society. In the 2008 film The Wrestler, Rourke portrayed a past-his-prime wrestler, and garnered a 2009 Golden Globe award, a BAFTA award, and a nomination for an Academy Award.^[3]

In 2010, he appeared in the blockbusters Iron Man 2 and The Expendables. He is rumored to be playing Lemmy of Motörhead fame in an unannounced Werner Herzog project.

Early life

Rourke was born Philip Andre Rourke, Jr., in Schenectady, New York,^[1] to a family of Irish and French descent.^[4] He was raised Roman Catholic and still practices his faith.^[5][6][7] His father, Philip Andre Rourke, Sr., an amateur body builder, left the family when Mickey was six years old.^[8] After his parents divorced, his mother, Annette,^[9] married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer with five sons, and moved Rourke, his younger brother, and their sister to southern Florida. There, he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1971.^[10]

During his teenage years, Rourke focused his attention mainly on sports. He took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami.^{[citation needed]} It was there that he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career. At age 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as a 118-pound bantamweight (53.5 kg),^{[citation needed]} fighting some of his early matches under the name Andre Rourke.^{[citation needed]} He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym, in Miami Beach, Florida, where Muhammad Ali began his career. In 1969, Rourke, then weighing 140 lbs. (63.5 kg),^{[citation needed]} sparred with former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodríguez. Rodriguez was the number one-rated middleweight boxer in the world and was training for his match with world champion Conor Scullion. Rourke boxed Scullion and claims to have received a concussion in this sparring match.^[11]

At the 1971 Florida Golden Gloves, Rourke suffered another concussion in a boxing match. After being told by doctors to take a year off and rest, Rourke temporarily retired from the ring. From 1964 to 1972, he compiled an amateur record of 20 wins (17 by knockout) and 6 defeats,^[12] which included wins over Ron Carter, Charles Gathers and Joe Riles.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Early acting roles

In 1971, as a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School, Rourke had a small acting role in the Jay W. Jensen-directed school play, The Serpent.^[13] However, Rourke's interests were geared to boxing, and he never appeared in any other school productions. Soon after he temporarily gave up boxing, a friend at the University of Miami told Rourke about a play he was directing, Deathwatch, and how the man playing the role of Green Eyes had quit. Rourke got the part and immediately became enamored with acting. Borrowing 400 dollars from his sister, he went to New York in order to take private lessons with an acting teacher from the Actors Studio, Sandra Seacat. It is she who actually motivated Rourke to go and find his father that he was separate from for more than 20 years and had no idea as to what or whom he was looking for. During his visit as a guest to the actor's studio, after the release of The wrestler (2008 film), while Rourke was talking to Lipton, James Lipton disclosed the fact that Rourke had been selected to the actor's studio in his first audition, which Elia Kazan is reported to have said being the "best audition in 30 years". Similarly, later director Adrian Lyne would go on to say that had Mickey passed away after the release of Angel Heart, he would have become a bigger phenomenon than James Dean. ^[11]

Rourke's film debut was a small role in Steven Spielberg's film 1941. However, it was his portrayal of an arsonist in Body Heat that garnered significant attention, despite his modest time on screen. He mostly appeared in television films in his early career. During the early 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner, alongside Paul Reiser, Daniel Stern, Steve Guttenberg, Tim Daly and Kevin Bacon, and yet again drew further critical notices for his portrayal as the suave compulsive gambler "Boogie" Sheftell; The National Society of Film Critics named him "Best Supporting Actor" that year. Soon thereafter, Rourke starred in Rumble Fish, Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up to The Outsiders.

Rourke's performance in the film The Pope of Greenwich Village alongside Daryl Hannah and Eric Roberts also caught the attention of critics, although the film was not financially successful. In the mid-1980s, Rourke earned himself additional leading roles. His role alongside Kim Basinger in the erotic drama 9½ Weeks helped him gain "sex symbol" status.^[14] He received critical praise for his work in Barfly as the alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski (the literary alter ego of Charles Bukowski) and in Year of the Dragon. In 1987, Rourke appeared in Angel Heart. The film was nominated for several awards. It was seen as controversial by some owing to a sex scene involving Cosby Show cast member Lisa Bonet, who won an award for her part in the film.^[15] Although some of Rourke's work was viewed as controversial in the U.S., he was well-received by European, and especially French, audiences, who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid ... rebel persona"^[16] that he projected in Year of the Dragon, 9½ Weeks, Angel Heart, and Desperate Hours.

In the late 1980s, Rourke performed with David Bowie on the Never Let Me Down album. Around the same time he also wrote his first screenplay, Homeboy, a boxing tale in which he starred. In 1989, Rourke starred in the docu-drama Francesco, portraying St. Francis of Assisi. This was followed by Wild Orchid, another critically panned film, which gained him a nomination for a Razzie award (also for Desperate Hours). In 1991, he starred in the box office bomb Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man as Harley Davidson, a biker whose best friend, Marlboro, was played by Don Johnson. In his last role before departing for the boxing ring, Rourke played an arms dealer chased by Willem Dafoe and Samuel Jackson in White Sands, a film noir which reviewers found to be stylish but incoherent.^[17][18]

Rourke's acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and career decisions. Directors such as Alan Parker found it difficult to work with him. Parker stated that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do."^[16] In a documentary on the special edition DVD of Tombstone, actor Michael Biehn, who plays the part of Johnny Ringo, mentions that his role was first offered to Rourke.^[19]

Boxing career

In 1991, Rourke decided that he "had to go back to boxing" because he felt that he "was self-destructing ... (and) had no respect for (himself as) an actor."^[2] Rourke was undefeated in eight fights, with six wins (four by knockout) and two draws. He fought internationally in countries including Spain, Japan and Germany.^[20]

During his boxing career, Rourke suffered a number of injuries, including a broken nose, toe, ribs, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone.^[21] He also suffered from short term memory loss.^[22]

His trainer during most of his boxing career was Hells Angels member, actor and celebrity bodyguard Chuck Zito.^[23] Freddie Roach also trained Rourke for seven fights.^[24] Rourke's entrance song into the ring was often Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child o' Mine."^[25]

Boxing promoters said that Rourke was too old to succeed against top-level fighters. Indeed, Rourke himself admits that entering the ring was a sort of personal test: "[I] just wanted to give it a shot, test myself that way physically, while I still had time."^[26] In 1995, Rourke retired from boxing and returned to acting.

Rourke's boxing career resulted in a notable physical change in the 1990s, as his face needed reconstructive surgery in order to mend his injuries. His face was later called "appallingly disfigured."^[27] In 2009, the actor told The Daily Mail that he had gone to "the wrong guy" for his surgery, and that his plastic surgeon had left his features "a mess."^[21]

Boxing record
6 Wins (4 knockouts, 2 decisions), 0 Losses, 2 Draws[28]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Draw	6-0-2	Andrew Banks	MD	4	September 8, 1994	Davie, Florida, USA	Scoring was 37-39 for Banks, 38-38 and 38-38.
Win	6-0-1	Thomas McCoy	TKO	3 (4)	November 20, 1993	Hamburg, Germany
Win	5-0-1	Bubba Stotts	TKO	3 (4)	July 24, 1993	Joplin, Missouri, USA
Win	4-0-1	Tom Bentley	KO	1 (4)	March 30, 1993	Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Win	3-0-1	Terry Jesmer	PTS	4	December 12, 1992	Oviedo, Spain
Draw	2-0-1	Francisco Harris	MD	4	April 25, 1992	Miami Beach, Florida, USA	Scoring was 38-39 for Harris, 38-38 and 38-38.
Win	2–0	Darrell Miller	KO	1 (4), 2:14	June 23, 1991	Tokyo, Japan
Win	1–0	Steve Powell	UD	4	May 23, 1991	Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA	In his professional boxing debut, Rourke jabbed and uppercut, but he also danced, clowned and taunted the crowd throughout the fight. The boxers were constantly in clinches, two of which sent Powell through the ropes. Rourke managed to land several solid rights, particularly in the final two rounds. Scoring was 38-37, 38-37 and 39-37.

1990s: return to acting

In the early 1990s, Rourke was offered and declined the role of Butch Coolidge, which later became Bruce Willis' role in Pulp Fiction.^[29] After his retirement from boxing, Rourke did accept supporting roles in several 1990s films, including Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of John Grisham's The Rainmaker, Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66, Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory, Sean Penn's The Pledge and Sylvester Stallone's remake of Get Carter. Rourke also has written several films under the name "Sir Eddie Cook", including Bullet, in which he co-starred with close friend Tupac Shakur.^[30]

While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line; his part ended up on the editing room floor. Rourke also played a small part in the film Thursday, in which he plays a crooked cop. He also had a lead role in 1997's Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was Rourke's first over-the-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain. During that same year, he filmed Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to 9½ Weeks, which only received limited distribution. He ended the 1990s with the direct-to-video films Out in Fifty, Shades and television film Shergar, about the kidnapping of Epsom Derby-winning thoroughbred racehorse Shergar. Rourke has expressed his bitterness over that period of his career, stating that he came to consider himself a "has-been" and lived for a time in "a state of shame."^[27]

2000s

In 2001, he appeared as the villain in Enrique Iglesias's music video for "Hero," which also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt. In 2002, Rourke took the role of The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund's Spun, teaming up once again with Eric Roberts. His first collaborations with directors Robert Rodriguez and Tony Scott in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire, were for smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films.

In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role (Marv) in Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City. Rourke received awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association, the IFTA and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as "Man of the Year" from Total Film magazine that year. Rourke followed Sin City with a supporting role in Tony Scott's Domino alongside Keira Knightley, in which he played a bounty hunter.

Rourke played the role of "The Blackbird" in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Killshot, and appeared as Darrius Sayle in the adaptation of the Alex Rider novel Stormbreaker.

Rourke at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.

In addition, in 2004, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the Driver video game series. Rourke also recently appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams for Berlin's Zoo Magazine. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising",^[31] Christopher Heard stated that actors/musicians Tupac Shakur, Johnny Depp, Sean Penn and Brad Pitt have "...animated praise for Rourke and his work." During a roundtable session of Oscar-nominated actors held by Newsweek, Brad Pitt cited Rourke as one of his early acting heroes along with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman.^[32]

Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sell-out" (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke has stated that "...all that I have been through...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor." Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "... my best work is still ahead of me."^[33]

Rourke had a role in the film version of The Informers, playing Peter, an amoral former studio security guard who plots to kidnap a small child.

In 2008, Rourke played the lead in The Wrestler, winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival, about washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. In regards to first reading the screenplay, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it."

“

I didn't really care for the script, but I wanted to work with Darren and I kind of thought that whoever wrote the script hadn't spent as much time as I had around these kind of people and he wouldn't have spoken the way the dude was speaking. And, so Darren let me rewrite all my part and he put the periods in and crossed the Ts. So once we made that change I was OK with it.[34]

”

He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and pre-choreographed." However, as he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring:

“

I kept getting hurt. I think I had three MRIs in two months because I wasn't landing right. These guys take several years to learn how to land and I think after I started getting hurt doing it, I started to realize these guys are really suffering and I kind of gained a respect for their sport.[35]

”

He trained under former WWE wrestler Afa the Wild Samoan for the part, and has received a British Academy (BAFTA) award, a Golden Globe award, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke was pessimistic about his chances to win the Oscar, as he had burned many bridges in Hollywood due to his past behavior.^[21] Rourke lost the Oscar to Sean Penn, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech.

Rourke has written or co-written six scripts: Homeboy, The Last Ride, Bullet, Killer Moon, Penance and the latest, Pain. Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996.

In early 2009, Rourke developed a small feud with WWE Superstar Chris Jericho, as part of a storyline. The storyline climaxed at WrestleMania XXV, when Rourke knocked out Jericho with a left hook after Jericho won his match against Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat, and Roddy Piper, with Ric Flair in their corner.

In 2009, Rourke starred in John Rich's music video for Shuttin' Detroit Down alongside Kris Kristofferson.

In 2009, Rourke voiced protagonist U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko in the video game Rogue Warrior. The game received very poor reviews from critics.

In 2010, Rourke played the role of the main villain Whiplash in the film Iron Man 2, in an interview with Rip It Up Magazine he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates.^[36] He also had a supporting role playing 'Tool' in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables.

Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play Gareth Thomas in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who came out as gay the previous year.^[37] As of February 2011, he had begun research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months."^[38]

In 2011, Rourke was cast in the film Java Heat as an American citizen shadowing terrorists group in Java, Indonesia. The film will be released in 2013.^[39]

Political views

Rourke's political views came under fire when he claimed to have donated part of his salary from the 1989 film Francesco to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He later retracted the statement, although he has an IRA symbol tattoo.^[40]

Personal life

Rourke has dated several celebrities, including Terry Farrell and Sasha Volkova. He has been married twice. In 1981, he married Debra Feuer, whom he met on the set of Hardcase (1981) and who co-starred with him in Homeboy (1990) as his love interest. The marriage ended in 1989, with Rourke subsequently commenting that making the film 9½ Weeks "was not particularly considerate to my wife's needs."^[41] The two have remained good friends, according to an interview Feuer gave in 2009.^[42]

Andy García and Rourke at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Wild Orchid co-star Carré Otis was briefly a cause célèbre following the release of the film owing to rumors that she and then-lover Rourke filmed an unsimulated sex scene. Otis married Rourke on June 26, 1992. In 1994, Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. The couple reconciled and also starred together in Exit in Red, but their marriage ended in December 1998. In November 2007, Rourke was arrested again, this time on DUI charges in Miami Beach.^[43]

In numerous TV and print interviews, he attributes his comeback after fourteen years to weekly meetings with a psychiatrist, "Steve," and to a Catholic priest he identified as "Father Pete."^{[citation needed]}

Since 2009, Rourke has been dating the Russian model Anastassija Makarenko. In mid-2011, he bought an apartment in Wiesbaden, Germany which is close to his girlfriend's parents place of residence.^[44]

Rourke is also a motorcycle enthusiast and uses motorcycles in some of his films.^{[citation needed]}

Dogs

In addition to his faith and his psychiatric treatment, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well-known as a pet fancier, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuter advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside of a pet shop in 2007^[45] and has done a public service announcement for PETA.^[46]

His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife.^[45] Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as "chihuahuas," some are not pure-bred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life,"^[45] was a chihuahua-terrier mix.^[47][48] So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.^[48]

Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me."^[49] The day of the 2009 Golden Globes show, he told Barbara Walters that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about fourteen years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:

“	Yeah, I didn't want to be here, but I didn't want to kill myself. I just wanted to push a button and disappear....I think I hadn't left the house for four or five months, and I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the closet for some reason, and I was in a bad place, and I just remember I was thinking, 'Oh, man, if I do this,' [and] then I looked at my dog, Lowjack, and he made a sound, like a little almost human sound. I don't have kids, the dogs became everything to me. The dog was looking at me going, 'Who's going to take care of me?'	”
—Mickey Rourke[50]

Despite being identified as "Lowjack" in the transcription above, the dog in the anecdote was apparently Beau Jack, who sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate.^[51] Beau Jack died in 2002, though Rourke gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.^[48][52] Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmerman.^[53] Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006.^[53] In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film "Man on Fire."^[46] He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005.^[52] At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca.^[48] About a month later, on February 18, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.^[54]

Filmography

List of Film Roles

Year	Title	Role	Director(s)
1979	1941	Pvt. Reese	Steven Spielberg
1980	Heaven's Gate	Nick Ray	Michael Cimino
	Fade to Black	Richie	Vernon Zimmerman
1981	Body Heat	Teddy Lewis	Lawrence Kasdan
1982	Diner	Robert 'Boogie' Sheftell	Barry Levinson
1983	Rumble Fish	The Motorcycle Boy	Francis Ford Coppola
1984	The Pope of Greenwich Village	Charlie Moran	Stuart Rosenberg
	Eureka	Aurelio D'Amato	Nicolas Roeg
1985	Year of the Dragon	Captain Stanley White	Michael Cimino
1986	9½ Weeks	John Gray	Adrian Lyne
1987	Angel Heart	Harold R. "Harry" Angel	Alan Parker
	Barfly	Henry Chinaski	Barbet Schroeder
	A Prayer for the Dying	Martin Fallon	Mike Hodges
1988	Homeboy	Johnny Walker	Michael Seresin
1989	Francesco	Francesco	Liliana Cavani
	Johnny Handsome	John Sedley a.k.a. Johnny Handsome/Johnny Mitchell	Walter Hill
1990	Wild Orchid	James Wheeler	Zalman King
	Desperate Hours	Michael Bosworth	Michael Cimino
1991	Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man	Harley Davidson	Simon Wincer
1992	White Sands	Gorman Lennox	Roger Donaldson
1994	F.T.W.	Frank T. Wells	Michael Karbelnikoff
1995	Fall Time	Florence	Paul W. Warner
1996	Bullet	Butch 'Bullet' Stein	Julien Temple
1997	Double Team	Stavros	Tsui Hark
	The Rainmaker	J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone	Francis Ford Coppola
1998	Buffalo ’66	The Bookie	Vincent Gallo
	Point Blank	Rudy Ray	Matt Earl Beesley
	Thursday	Kasarov	Skip Woods
1999	Out in Fifty	Jack Bracken	Bojesse Christopher, Scott Anthony Leet
	Shades	Paul S. Sullivan	Erik Van Looy
2000	Animal Factory	Jan the Actress	Steve Buscemi
	Get Carter	Cyrus Paice	Stephen Kay
2001	The Pledge	Jim Olstad	Sean Penn
	The Hire: The Follow	Husband (short film)	Kar Wai Wong
	Picture Claire	Eddie	Bruce McDonald
2002	Spun	The Cook	Jonas Åkerlund
2003	Masked and Anonymous	Edmund	Larry Charles
	Once Upon a Time in Mexico	Billy Chambers	Robert Rodriguez
2004	Man on Fire	Jordan Kalfus	Tony Scott
2005	Sin City	Marv	Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller
	Domino	Ed Mosbey	Tony Scott
2006	Stormbreaker	Darrius Sayle	Geoffrey Sax
2008	The Wrestler	Randy "Ram" Robinson	Darren Aronofsky
2009	Killshot	Armand "The Blackbird" Degas	John Madden
	The Informers	Peter	Gregor Jordan
2010	13	Jefferson	Géla Babluani
	Iron Man 2	Ivan Vanko/Whiplash	Jon Favreau
	The Expendables	Tool	Sylvester Stallone
	Passion Play	Nate Poole	Mitch Glazer
2011	Immortals	King Hyperion	Tarsem Singh

List of Television Roles

Year	Title	Role	Director
1980	City in Fear	Tony Pate	Alan Smithee Jud Taylor
	Act of Love	Joseph Cybulkowski	Jud Taylor
	Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case	John Rideout	Peter Levin
1981	Hardcase	Perk Dawson	Lee H. Katzin
1994	The Last Outlaw	Graff	Geoff Murphy
1998	Thicker Than Blood	Father Frank Larkin	Richard Pearce

List of direct-to-video film roles

Year	Title	Role	Director
1996	Exit in Red	Ed Altman	Yurek Bogayevicz
1997	Love in Paris: Another 9½ Weeks	John Gray	Anne Goursaud
1998	Point Blank	Rudy Ray	Matt Earl Beesley
1999	Out in Fifty	Jack Bracken	Scott Leet Christopher Bojesse
	Shergar	Gavin O'Rourke	Denis C. Lewiston
2001	They Crawl	Tiny Frakes	John Allardice

Non-acting film work

Year	Title	Credit	Other work
1988	Homeboy	screenplay
1994	F.T.W.	story
1995	Bullet	screenplay	music supervisor

Career Awards

List of awards

Year	Award	Nomination	Film	Result
1983	Boston Society of Film Critics Award	Best Supporting Actor	Diner	Won
	National Society of Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor
1988	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Actor	Barfly	Nominated
1991	Razzie Award	Worst Actor	Desperate Hours	Nominated
			Wild Orchid
2006	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actor	Sin City	Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor
	Irish Film and Television Awards	Best International Actor
	Online Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actor
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	Washington DC Area Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
	Critics' Choice Award	Best Ensemble		Nominated
	Total Film magazine	Man of the Year		Voted
2008	Moviefone	Sexiest Movie Couple	9½ Weeks	Voted
	Golden Orange Award	Honorary Award		Won
	Satellite Awards	Best Actor - Drama	The Wrestler	Nominated
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics	Best Actor		Won
	San Francisco Film Critics	Best Actor		Won
	Broadcast Film Critics	Best Actor		Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Actor		Won
	Toronto Film Critics Association	Best Actor		Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Actor		Won
	Florida Film Critics Circle	Best Actor		Won
	Detroit Film Critics Society	Best Actor		Won
2009	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor - Drama		Won
	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead		Won
	BAFTA Award	Best Actor		Won
	Academy Awards	Best Male Actor		Nominated
	Chlotrudis Awards	Best Actor		Nominated
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Best Male Actor		Nominated
	Santa Barbara International Film Festival	Riviera Award		Awarded
2010	Scream Awards	Best Villain	Iron Man 2	Won
2011	MTV Movie Awards	Best Villain	Iron Man 2	Nominated

Critical Acclaim

Only two films of Mickey Rourke’s are in the IMDb Top 250. Sin City is #85 and The Wrestler is #78. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Mickey’s most “fresh” film is The Wrestler and most "rotten" film is Wild Orchid.

Rotten Tomatoes

Mickey Rourke films which rated as "fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rank Title % 1 The Wrestler 98% 2 Body Heat 97% 3 Diner 96% 4 The Pope of Greenwich Village 89% 5 The Rainmaker 88% 6 Animal Factory 83% 7 Barfly 80% 8 Sin City 77%

Rank Title % 9 Buffalo '66 77% 10 The Pledge 77% 11 Angel Heart 76% 12 Iron Man 2 74% 13 Once Upon a Time in Mexico 69% 14 Rumble Fish 68% 15 A Prayer for the Dying 63% 16 9½ Weeks 62% 17 Year of the Dragon 60%

Metacritic

Mickey Rourke films which rate "fresh" on Metacritic.

Rank	Title	%
1	Diner	86%
2	The Wrestler	81%
3	Body Heat	78%
4	The Rainmaker	72%
5	The Pledge	71%
6	Buffalo '66	68%
7	The Animal Factory	65%
8	Rumble Fish	63%

Previous collaborations

During his career, Rourke worked with directors including Steven Spielberg, Lawrence Kasdan, Francis Ford Coppola, Barry Levinson, Stuart Rosenberg, Nicolas Roeg, Michael Cimino, Adrian Lyne, Alan Parker, Mike Hodges, Barbet Schroeder, Walter Hill, Tsui Hark, Jonas Åkerlund, Wong Kar-wai, Tony Scott, Robert Rodriguez and John Madden, as well as actors-turned-directors Sean Penn, Vincent Gallo and Steve Buscemi. Rourke also starred in the films which also stars popular actors including Kim Basinger, Jean Claude Van Damme, Helena Bonham Carter, Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Tupac Shakur, Bruce Willis, Benicio del Toro, Alicia Silverstone, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Robert De Niro and so on. Rourke worked with actor Christopher Walken 5 times. They starred together in the films Heaven's Gate, Homeboy, Man on Fire, Domino and voice acting in video game True Crime: New York City (2005).

Christopher Walken stated to the Film Comment on August, 1992 that destiny to make Homeboy with Mickey Rourke:

“

Mickey Rourke and I were in Heaven's Gate together; he had this tiny part and I was playing whatsisname. We were sitting up there in the mountains talking about...dinosaurs. And I told him about this thing I had read in some science magazine, that there's a theory that dinosaurs really never disappeared at all. That in fact all they did was get smaller and smaller, their scales turned into feathers and they flew away-and that in fact dinosaurs are still with us, they're just birds. And Mickey said, ‘That's interesting,’ and he started telling me about this movie that he was going to do someday about a boxer and it was called Homeboy. You know, I remember also he told me at the time, ‘There's this guy, the fighters manager, and you're gonna play this part.’ I said, ‘Okay Mickey, let's go.’ So almost ten years went by and there we were making it. And I said to him, ‘Why don’t I tell that story about the birds and dinosaurs?’ He said. ‘Right.’ And there is that scene at the beach with all the seagulls, talking about dinosaurs. It's completely disconnected from anything going on in the movie, but I think it's one of the things in the movie...It's real. Here are these two guys who are really kind of victims, talking about the origin and destiny of dinosaurs.[55]

”

Other works

Mickey Rourke made his stage debut in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge". Rourke also lent his voice to the video games Driv3r (2004) as Jericho and True Crime: New York City (2005) as Terrence "Terry" Higgins, which was the his fifth and last work with actor Christopher Walken. He also appeared in a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory Reserve (early 90s) and a commercial for Daihatsu and Lark (cigarette). More recently, in 2009, Rourke voiced the character of Dick Marcinko for the biographical video game Rogue Warrior, which was released on December 1, 2009.^[56] Ironically, Rourke's portrayal of Marcinko was a source of humorous praise from a few critics (although many others criticized Rourke's role to the same degree that they did every other aspect of the game).

Rourke starred in a music video, Hero. He played a gangster in this Enrique Iglesias music video. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt also made an appearance in this clip. Rourke also provided the mid-song rap on the David Bowie song "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" on his album Never Let Me Down (1987).

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Rourke's arrest report for November 17, 2007". TMZ. http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/1217_mickey_rourke_wm.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Rourke mania: Darren Aronofsky directs portrait of aging wrestler". Filmjournal.com. 2008-11-25. http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/content_display/news-and-features/filmmakers/e3ifcb7b0c6e00764408fab87945d105104. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
3. ^ Wloszczyna, Susan (2008-12-16). "'Wrestler' role puts Rourke back in awards ring". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-12-15-wrestler-side_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
4. ^ Reed, Jebediah (October 20, 2006). "Living in Oblivion". Radar Online. http://www.radaronline.com/features/2006/10/humble_fish.php. Retrieved 2009-01-13. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Actor Mickey Rourke "saved" by his Catholic faith". CathNews. 2005-10-07. http://cathnews.acu.edu.au/510/32.php. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
6. ^ "Mickey Rourke Saved By Priest". FemaleFirst. 2009-10-07. http://www.femalefirst.co.uk/celebrity/Mickey+Rourke-28942.html. Retrieved 2010-05-08. 
7. ^ "'Saved By Priest and his catholic faith' says Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke". CNA. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/saved_by_priest_and_his_catholic_faith_says_hollywood_actor_mickey_rourke/. Retrieved 2010-05-08. 
8. ^ Leve, Ariel (2005-04-10). "The Rourke's progress". Times Online (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article441301.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
9. ^ "Archives - New York Post Online Edition". Pqasb.pqarchiver.com. 2002-02-26. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nypost/access/109742228.html?dids=109742228:109742228&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+26%2C+2002&author=&pub=New+York+Post&desc=ROURKE'S+MOB+CONNECTION&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2011-10-30. 
10. ^ Santiago, Roberto (2006-08-04). "The Importance (and Roller-Coaster Ride) of Being Mickey Rourke". The Miami Herald. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8812771_ITM. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Cadwalladr, Carole (2008-11-23). "'I've been to hell. I'm not going back there'". The Observer (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/23/mickey-rourke-interview. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
12. ^ Mickey Rourke Boxed Irish Man Conor Scullion and Got Knockout in the 2nd round Pop Culture Florida - Google Book Search. books.google.co.uk. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OVEk7QcEEKEC&pg=PA57&dq=Mickey+Rourke+boxing+record#PPA57,M1. Retrieved 2009-02-22. 
13. ^ Biography for Mickey Rourke at the Internet Movie Database
14. ^ VinCy Thomas. "Ecran Noir - Mickey Rourke". Ecrannoir.fr. http://www.ecrannoir.fr/stars/stars.php?s=692. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
15. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092563/awards.
16. ^ ^{a b} "Mickey Rourke Biography". Yahoo. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800010853/bio. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
17. ^ (Posted: Apr 18, 2001) (2001-04-18). "White Sands : Review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948289/review/5948290/white_sands. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
18. ^ "White Sands". Deseret News. 1992-05-01. http://www.deseretnews.com/movies/review/1,5208,2012,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
19. ^ Mickey Rourke - Rotten Tomatoes Celebrity Profile.
20. ^ BoxRec Professional Record.
21. ^ ^{a b c} Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20.
22. ^ Interview: Mickey Rourke, The Scotsman, 2009-01-10.
23. ^ Cinergy AG. "Entertainfo - Mickey Rourke". Cineman.ch. http://www.cineman.ch/fr/entertainfo/mickey-rourke.html. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
24. ^ "Pacquiao Hatton HBO 24/7 Episode 2 3/4 @ 6:40". HBO channel @ youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjHO9uHOKbo. Retrieved 2009-04-18. ^{[dead link]}
25. ^ "Amy's Robot: Mickey Rourke at the Golden Globes". Amysrobot.com. 2009-01-12. http://amysrobot.com/archives/2009/01/mickey_rourke_at_the_golden_gl.php. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
26. ^ Interview with Christopher Heard in The Gate.
27. ^ ^{a b} Rourke triumphs over demons in "The Wrestler" , CNN.com, 2008-09-24.
28. ^ "Mickey Rourke's career boxing record". Boxrec.com. http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=29155&cat=boxer. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
29. ^ "Rourke Is Back, But For How Long? - The 81st Annual Academy Awards on Yahoo! Movies". Oscars.movies.yahoo.com. http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/blog/19-rourke-is-back-but-for-how-long?nc. Retrieved 2009-07-05. ^{[dead link]}
30. ^ "Mickey Rourke". Imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000620/. Retrieved 2009-07-05. 
31. ^ Article in The Gate.
32. ^ YouTube clip.
33. ^ Article in The Gate^{[volume & issue needed]}
34. ^ "Rourke didn't 'care for' 'Wrestler' script". Upi.com. http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/12/08/Rourke-didnt-care-for-Wrestler-script/UPI-68981228764682. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
35. ^ "Rourke didn't 'care for' 'Wrestler' script". UPI.com. http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2008/12/08/Rourke-didnt-care-for-Wrestler-script/UPI-68981228764682/. Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
36. ^ INTERVIEW: Mickey Rourke Talks Iron Man 2 - Rip It Up Magazine retrieved 15-09-2010
37. ^ "Rourke Confirms Gareth Thomas Biopic". The Advocate. December 28, 2010. http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/12/28/Rourke_Confirms_Gareth_Thomas_Biopic/. Retrieved February 14, 2011. 
38. ^ "Rourke begins research for Thomas biopic". ESPN Scrum. February 14, 2011. http://www.espnscrum.com/wales/rugby/story/134544.html. Retrieved February 14, 2011. 
39. ^ "Tio to star alongside Mickey Rourke". October 28, 2011. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/28/tio-star-alongside-mickey-rourke.html. 
40. ^ Rajan, Amol (2008-09-12). "Fury as actress tells film festival 'I would have joined the IRA'". The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/fury-as-actress-tells-film-festival-i-would-have-joined-the-ira-927097.html. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
41. ^ Hind, John (2009-02-15). "Mickey Rourke: Did I say that?". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/feb/15/mickey-rourke-did-i-say-that. Retrieved 2009-02-15. 
42. ^ "Mickey Rourke: 'He was a shy mummy's boy.. fame drove him to drink, drugs & too much plastic surgery. But now he's back on top'". The Daily Mirror. 2009-01-18. http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/01/18/mickey-rourke-he-was-a-shy-mummy-s-boy-fame-drove-him-to-drink-drugs-too-much-plastic-surgery-but-now-he-s-back-on-top-115875-21049704/. 
43. ^ "Mickey Rourke Arrested for DUI – on a Vespa". People. 2007-11-08. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20159158,00.html. Retrieved 2009-01-13. 
44. ^ "Mickey Rourke wohnt jetzt in Wiesbaden (German)". FAZ. 2011-05-06. http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/immobilien-mickey-rourke-wohnt-jetzt-in-wiesbaden-1637977.html. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 
45. ^ ^{a b c} Slideshow: Mickey Rourke and His Family of Little Dogs, at PeoplePets.Com, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
46. ^ ^{a b} Mickey Rourke Says Don't Get Your Dogs Knocked Up, 2009-01-15 at PeoplePets.Com. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
47. ^ Lyman, Rick. FILM: Mickey Rourke Is Sorry. Very, Very, Very Sorry., April 13, 2003, New York Times.'.' Retrieved 2009-02-18.
48. ^ ^{a b c d} Coren, Stanley. Dogs as Therapists: The Case of Mickey Rourke, 2009-01-16, Psychology Today. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
49. ^ Comeback King Mickey Rourke Thanks His Dogs, 2009-01-12, at PeoplePets.Com. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
50. ^ Mickey Rourke: My Dogs Saved My Life, 2009-02-17. People Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-17.
51. ^ Mickey Rourke's Dog Saved His Life?, 2008-11-29. StarPulse. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
52. ^ ^{a b} Rourke still grieving over dogs's death, 2005-03-26, ContactMusic.Com. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
53. ^ ^{a b} Little, Brown Memorializes Chihuahua Chucked by Sozzled Actor Mickey Rourke—That Punk!. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
54. ^ Finn, Natalie. Mickey Rourke Loses a Prized Pooch, 2009-02-17. E! News Online. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
55. ^ Walken, Christopher (August 1992). Interview. Film Comment. 
56. ^ Crecente, Brian (April 27, 2009). "Rogue Warrior Carpet F-Bombs With Rourke". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5227415/rogue-warrior-carpet-f+bombs. Retrieved 2009-07-20. 

External links

• Mickey Rourke at the Internet Movie Database
• Mickey Rourke at Rotten Tomatoes
• Professional boxing record for Mickey Rourke from BoxRec
• Ebert, Roger (1987-02-10). "A day on location with Rourke's "Barfly"". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19870210/PEOPLE/812229998. 
• Pierce, Rabin, and Tobias, Leonard, Nathan, and Scott (2009-02-20). "Primer: Mickey Rourke". The Onion A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/primer-mickey-rourke,24108/. 
• Dialogus.net

Persondata
Name	Rourke, Mickey
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1952-09-16
Place of birth	Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death