Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke (real name - Philip André Rourke Jr.; genus. Winner of many prestigious awards including the Golden Globe and BAFTA. Oscar nominee (2009). An avid supporter and promoter of the Stanislavsky system.

There are many interesting facts in the biography of Mickey Rourke, which we will talk about in this article.

So, before you is a short biography of Mickey Rourke.

Biography of Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke was born on September 16, 1952 in Schenectady (New York). He grew up and was raised in a Catholic family.

His father, Philippe Andre, was an amateur bodybuilder, and his mother, Anna, was raising three children: Mickey, Joseph and Patricia.

Childhood and youth

Although Rourke Jr.'s real name is Philip, his father called him Mickey all the time, because that was the name of his favorite baseball player Mickey Mantle. The first tragedy in the biography of the future actor occurred at the age of 6, when his parents decided to leave.

Soon, Mickey's mother remarried a policeman who had five children. The man was distinguished by severity and exactingness, therefore he demanded unquestioning obedience from his own and other people's children.

For this reason, a terrible relationship developed between Mickey Rourke and his stepfather. The teenager did not want to live in subjection and not have his own opinion.

At that time, he was already friends with many questionable personalities, including pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers.

According to the artist, the stepfather, for no reason, could let go of his head. Possessing great strength, he repeatedly insulted and raised his hand to his mother. At that time, Rourke felt a particular disgust for him, dreaming in the future to take revenge on his stepfather for all the humiliations.

Soon Mickey started going to boxing, showing no interest in school. He received high marks exclusively in physical education. At the same time, the young man was fond of baseball and attended the drama club.

Boxing fights resulted in Rourke's concussion, as well as numerous injuries to the face, hands and poor coordination. In the future, he will have to resort to plastic more than once in order to improve his appearance. However, as time will tell, surgical intervention will negatively affect its appearance.

Mickey's love for acting arose after participating in the play High Supervision, which was staged at the University of Miami.

Films

Before becoming a famous actor, Mickey Rourke had to go through many trials. For a long time, he did various dirty work, suffering from a lack of money.

When the guy got tired of all this, he decided to connect his life with criminal activity, starting to sell drugs. During the next deal, a shootout broke out, in which he miraculously managed to survive. After that, he decided to quit the drug trade.

Rourke borrowed $ 400 from his sister and went to New York to become a famous artist. He managed on the first attempt to enter the prestigious Lee Strasberg Acting Studio. At the time of his biography, he moonlighted as a bouncer in a bar, selling chips and cleaning swimming pools.

Living from hand to mouth, Mickey spent all his money on acting training. In 1978 he settled in Los Angeles, but none of the directors offered him roles. He was first noticed by Steven Spielberg, who the following year offered the guy a cameo role in the film "1941".

After that, Rourke got a minor role in the film "The Gate of Heaven". His performance was noticed by various directors, as a result of which he was entrusted to play the key characters in the films "The City in Fear", "The Power of Love", "Blackout" and "Violence and Marriage". An interesting fact is that all these works were published in 1980.

Mickey Rourke got his first iconic role in 1983, when he was transformed into a motorcyclist in the drama "Rumble Fish". After 3 years, viewers saw him in the melodrama "Nine and a half weeks", which brought him worldwide popularity. Rourke was awarded the title of sex symbol and recognized as one of the best actors in Hollywood.

In 1987, Mickey starred in the horror film Angel Heart. He played a war veteran who, after service, got a job as a private detective.

After that, he played the main characters in such films as "Drunk", "Simpleton", "Johnny Handsome", "Wild Orchid" and many others.

In the 90s, the actor's popularity declined. In 2000, Sylvester Stallone helped Rourke remind him of himself by inviting him to the shooting of the crime thriller "Remove Carter". A few years later, Mickey took part in the filming of the drama The Wrestler.

The artist brilliantly played a wrestler, in whose life there was a crisis on the personal front. Film critics called Mickey Rourke's play the pinnacle of acting. For this role, he was nominated for an Oscar, and was also awarded a Golden Globe and BAFTA in the Best Actor category.

Over the next decade, Rourke was remembered for works such as The Expendables, Thirteen, Ashby and Iron Man.

Plastic surgery

After practicing professional boxing, Mickey Rourke received a large number of injuries. As a result, he decided to seek help from a plastic surgeon, wanting to improve his appearance.

However, after a series of unsuccessful operations, the actor's face began to look even worse. An interesting fact is that to restore the nose, he received cartilage from the ear. According to Mickey, he is greatly disappointed by what he has to see in the mirror.

In 2012, Rourke underwent a circular plastic surgery of the face, during which previous mistakes of the surgeons were corrected. Three years later, he underwent another operation, which radically changed his appearance.

Personal life

Over the years of his personal biography, Mickey Rourke was twice married and divorced the same number of times. His first wife was the actress Debroa Foyer, with whom he lived for about 8 years.

In 1992, model and film actress Carrie Otis became Rourke's new wife. However, this time too, the marriage was unsuccessful. The artists often quarreled, as a result of which the man repeatedly raised his hand to his beloved. After 6 years, the couple divorced.

In 2009, Mickey began an affair with model Anastasia Makarenko, whom he was 35 years older. He even began to learn Russian, but after 5 years, the lovers broke up.

Rourke also had a short relationship with dancer Irina Koryakovtseva and actress Natalia Lapina. He is a fan of small dogs - Spitz and Chihuahua. According to Mickey, it was the pets that once kept him from suicide.

Mickey Rourke today

Now the actor is much less popular than before. In 2019, the premiere of the part of the City of Love franchise dedicated to Berlin took place. Then the shooting of the thriller "MR-9" began.

When Mickey Rourke was in Russia, he participated in the entertainment program "Evening Urgant". On the program, he joked a lot, thanks to which he often caused a storm of applause.