In 1957. at age ten, he was stricken with polio. He was paralyzed for two years, and spent two more years in rehabilitative therapy before he became well enough to walk and have a normal life again.
He died on his father Mickey Rooney's 86th birthday.
Was selected to be one of Walt Disney's Original Mouseketeers in 1955 but
was fired before the show aired after getting into mischief at the
Disney studio paint shop.