Mickey Rooney, famous actor known for National Velvet (1944) with Elizabeth Taylor, The Bridges at Toko-Ri (as a Navy fighter pilot) (1954), Black Stallion (1979) and most recently Night at the Museum (2006), is appearing at the San Diego Air & Space Museum’s “Hollywood Studs & Starlets” fundraising event on May 7. All proceeds from the event benefit the museum’s youth educational programs.
Rooney is a famed Hollywood star whose appearances on film, stage and television span almost 90 years. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award. Working as a performer since childhood, he rose to stardom as a teenager, and he has had one of the longest careers of any actor.
Hollywood Studs & Starlets takes off at 5:30 p.m. Cost ranges from $250-$300. The evening includes dancing, special dance performances, live entertainment (The Jazz Project Big Band with special guest Dave Scott), red carpet and paparazzi, celebrity impersonators, silent and live auctions and more, according to museum officials.
For more information: SanDiegoAirAndSpace.org
Mickey Rooney did not portray a fighter pilot in Bridges At Toko-Ri, he played a truly courageous roll as the helicopter pilot, who wore a Top Hat, and rescued downed pilots in the combat zone. The helicopter was a Sikorsky HOS3-1, the first helicopter used widely in the armed services. Great movie to see rare footage of a Grumman Panther flying off of carriers and the HOS3 which was soon displaced by more capable helicopters. I believe that is the only movie a HOS3 helicopter appears in.