Mickey Rourke is an American film actor and professional boxer. Popularity in cinematography came to him in the mid-1980s of the last century with the release of the film "Rattling Fish". Rourke gained worldwide fame by playing the main roles in the films: "Nine and a half weeks", "Angel Heart", "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Cowboy."
At the height of his popularity, Rourke disappeared from the screens for several years. Only in 2008 he returned to filming, playing in the film "The Wrestler". Many film critics considered this work to be the pinnacle of his work. Reincarnated as a boxer Randy, Rourke demonstrated the highest acting skills. This role made it possible to talk about him again and literally resurrect his creative career.
Rourke was one of the highest paid representatives of show business at the height of his film career in the 1980s and 1990s. But he could not save a fortune, having spent all the money he earned on a riotous life, women and dogs. Now Mickey has practically nothing but huge debts. But they say that he is not particularly upset about this.
Biography facts
The real name of the actor is Philip André. Mickey was called his father, who was a big fan of baseball. His favorite player was named Mickey Mantle. He also began to call his son Mickey, hoping that he would someday reach great heights in sports.
The boy really started playing baseball. During his school years, he even played in the national team, but he never became a professional in this sport, being carried away by boxing.
Parents divorced when Mickey was six years old. Mom married a second time to a police officer, and the whole family moved to Miami Beach. There, Mickey began going to a teenage club, where he studied self-defense, and soon began to practice boxing.
During his school years, he also began to take part in theatrical performances and more than once received the main roles in performances. Many teachers advised Mickey to continue to practice acting, but at that time he had completely different plans for life.
Relations with parents were not developing in the best way. The stepfather tried to instill discipline in the boy and made him obey in everything that absolutely did not suit Mickey.
After leaving school, he went to work and actually ran away from home, and soon found himself in a criminal environment. Once he got into a shootout and miraculously survived. After that, Mickey decided it was time to change something. He moved to New York, where he enrolled in drama school. From that moment on, the creative career of the future Hollywood star began. But Rourke did not give up his passion for sports either.
Sports career
When Mickey was twelve years old, he first became a boxing champion by winning a fight against Javier Villanueva. Then the fans of this sport knew him under the name André Rourke.
Mickey continued his boxing studies at a sports school for police officers, where his stepfather sent him. There, for the first time in training, he received a serious injury and a concussion. His opponent in the ring was Luis Rodriguez, a former world welterweight champion.
Two years later, Rourke again suffered a serious concussion. Doctors recommended that he take a break for at least a year.
After biding his time, Rourke returned to the ring and knocked out Ron Robinson and John Carver in a few seconds. Over the next year, Mickey competed in many competitions and almost invariably became the winner. After another quick victory, he decided to retire from amateur boxing.
For nine years of performances in the ring, Rourke won twenty-seven victories, seventeen of them by knockout. He lost only three times. His return to professional boxing took place in 1991. Rourke was helped in this by his old friend Tommy Torino, and Freddie Roach became the coach.
For his first fight since returning, Rourke earned only $ 250. After two years of his professional boxing career, he has already made a million dollars. World champions have become his opponents more than once: James Toney, John David Jackson, Tommy Morrison. In 1994, Rourke's photograph appeared on the cover of World Boxing Magazine.
Mickey was going to fight sixteen professional fights and fight for the world title. But he was able to participate only in eight, and in 1994 he decided to leave professional sports.
A career in boxing has led to numerous injuries. The face was especially affected. Mickey had to undergo a large number of surgeries to recover.
According to the actor himself, he was very worried that he had lost his visual appeal. After all, he was once considered a sex symbol, many women literally went crazy over him.
After a long treatment and rehabilitation, Rourke again tried to return to the acting profession.
Actor career
Rourke first appeared on the screen in 1978. He played a small role in the film by S. Spielberg, but did not become popular. This was followed by work on several minor projects.
Fame came to him in 1983. Rourke played in the picture of the famous Francis Ford Coppola "Rattling Fish". After the release of the picture on the screens, Coppola said more than once that Rourke has some amazing charisma, magnetism, secret and the highest acting professionalism.
A few years later, Rourke starred in the famous film "Nine and a half weeks" and received well-deserved recognition in the world of cinema. After this role, he already became more choosy in the choice of proposals and starred only in those films for which he liked the scripts.
The last work at the peak of his creative career was the role in the film "Bullet". Then Rourke starred in several little-known films and disappeared from the screens for several years.
In the 2000s, he again tried to regain his success and fame by agreeing to shoot in the films "Sin City" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". But these roles did not become something outstanding for the actor. Only in 2008 he was able to declare himself in the film by D. Aranofsky "The Wrestler". The film was nominated for an Oscar, and the actor himself received a Golden Globe.
Two years later, Rourke got one of the central roles in the movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe "Iron Man". Then he starred in the films: "The Expendables", "Sin City 2", "Thirteen", "War of the Gods: Immortals." The actor hopes that he will be able to surprise the audience more than once and will definitely get a role that will return him to his former glory.
Fees
At the height of his career, Rourke was one of the highest paid actors. He did not take on roles with a fee of less than one million dollars. He was offered a role in the famous film "Rain Man", which eventually won four Oscars. But it was precisely because of the low fee that Rourke refused to participate in the film, which he then very much regretted.
The highest fees Rourke received for his roles in the films "Nine and a half weeks" - 500 thousand dollars, "Angel Heart" - 1 million 250 thousand dollars, "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro cowboy" - 2 million 750 thousand dollars, "Iron Man 2" - 400 thousand dollars.
