Santa Anita Mourns Passing of Mickey Rooney

Santa Anita Park mourned the passing of 5-3 entertainment giant Mickey Rooney this past Sunday at the age of 93. In what may’ve been his final public appearance, Rooney spent the day at The Great Race Place on March 30, and posed for a publicity photo with fellow show biz icons Dick Van Patten and Mel Brooks.

“Mickey was fine,” said Van Patten when interviewed by People Magazine.com earlier this week.  “He seemed terrific.  But I guess when you’re 93 . . . He was my idol. He could do everything. He was a wonderful actor. He could sing. He could dance. He could play instruments. Unbelievable.”

America’s top box office movie star in 1938, ’39 and ’40, Rooney loved horseracing and was a frequent attendee dating back to the 1930s at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park and Del Mar. 

Rooney’s love of and association with horses was underscored by two very prominent film roles—in 1944’s National Velvet, in which he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor, and in 1979’s The Black Stallion, in which he is depicted in one memorable scene atop a bale of hay giving instructions to a would-be jockey. Rooney would later be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work on The Black Stallion.

Santa Anita will honor Rooney with a moment of silence this Saturday.