Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke (born Philip Andre 'Mickey' Rourke, 16.9.1952)

Mickey Rourke is an American actor and screenwriter. In 2009, he won an Oscar for his lead role in The Wrestler.

Mickey Rourke: Childhood

Mickey Rourke was born to Philip Andre Rourke Sr. and Ann Addis (who remarried a police officer, Eugene Addis) in Schenectady, New York. He later moved with his mother and her new husband to Miami Beach. Florida.

Rourke graduated from Miami Beach High School in 1971. As a teenager, he showed great talent as a boxer.

Mickey Rourke: Acting Career

Whilst at Miami Beach High School, Mickey Rourke had a role in the school's production of The Serpent. He also landed a role in a play, Deathwatch, via a friend and soon got hooked on acting. He borrowed money so that he could take acting lessons in New York.

Mickey Rourke then landed his debut film role in Steven Spielberg's 1941, which starred John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. He followed this by mainly appearing in television movies, such as Diner, with Kevin Bacon and Steve Guttenberg. He also appeared in Francis Ford Coppola's highly acclaimed Rumble Fish, which also starred Matt Dillon, Diane Lane and Nicolas Cage.

At this stage of his career, many of Rourke's performances garnered critical attention, if not commercial success, such as his performance in The Pope of Greenwich Village, along with Daryl Hannah and Eric Roberts.

The 1980s were a time when Mickey Rourke began landing himself lucrative leading roles, such as his role alongside Kim Basinger in 9 ½ Weeks, which also earned him his status as a sex symbol. In Barfly, he starred opposite Faye Dunaway, playing Henry Chinaski, the literary alter-ego of the writer Charles Bukowski. He also appeared in Year of the Dragon, the screenplay for which was co-written by Oliver Stone.

1987 saw Mickey Rourke starring in Angel Heart, a film seen by many as a source of controversy, as Lisa Bonet (best known for appearing in the family-friendly Cosby Show) filmed explicit sex scenes for the movie. Around this time, Rourke also performed with David Bowie, on Bowie's Never Let Me Down album and also wrote his first screenplay, Homeboy, as well as appearing in Francesco with Helena Bonham Carter.

His 1989 film Wild Orchid bombed with the critics, as did Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. Before he returned to the boxing ring, he joined Wilem Dafoe and Samuel L. Jackson in the film noir, White Sands.

His acting career then took something of a downward spiral, down to poor decisions in both his career and his personal life. He is reported to have turned down Tom Cruise's role in Rain Man, Nick Nolte's role in 48 Hrs and Christopher Lambert's part in Highlander. He took a break from acting and returned to acting in the 1990s.

Rourke was offered the role of Bruce Coolidge in Pulp Fiction, but turned it down. It became the role that lent Bruce Willis' career a newfound credibility. Rourke, however, found his own credibility, appearing in John Grisham's The Rainmaker with Matt Damon, Claire Danes and Jon Voigt, as well as Vincent Gallo's Buffalo 66, with Gallo and Christina Ricci. He also appeared in Steve Buscemi's Animal Factory, Sean Penn's The Pledge and Sylvester Stallone's remake of Get Carter, which originally starred Michael Caine.

Mickey Rourke has also used the pen name Sir Eddie Cook to write a number of films, including Bullet, in which he co-starred with the late rap artist Tupac Shakur.

In 1997, Mickey Rourke co-starred with Jean-Claude Van Damme in Double Team, followed by an appearance in Another 9 ½ Weeks.

The turn of the century saw Mickey Rourke playing a villain in Enrique Englesias's video for 'Hero', opposite Jennifer Love Hewitt. He teamed up with the directors Robert Rodriguez and Tony Scott for Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire, He then worked with Rodriguez again on an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel series Sin City. The film also starred Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood and Brittany Murphy. Mickey Rourke followed this performance with a role in Domino, with Keira Knightley, as well as appearing in Sin City 2.

In 2008, Mickey Rourke won a great deal of critical acclaim for his performance in The Wrestler, which also starred Marisa Tomei. He was nominated for an Oscar, but lost out to Sean Penn for his performance in Milk.

Mickey Rourke: Personal Life

Mickey Rourke has been romantically linked to a number of celebrities, including Terry Farrell, Debra Feuer (to whom he was married) and another wife, Carre Otis.