Mickey Rourke
Encyclopedia
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. (born September 16, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man
in action, drama, and thriller films.
During the 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner
, Rumble Fish
, and the erotic drama 9½ Weeks
, and received critical praise for his work in Barfly
and Angel Heart. In 1991, Rourke, who had trained as a boxer
in his early years, left acting and became a professional boxer for a period. He had supporting roles in several later films, including The Rainmaker
, Buffalo '66, The Pledge
, Get Carter
, Once Upon a Time in Mexico
and Man on Fire
.
In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role in Sin City
, for which he won awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
, the Irish Film and Television Awards
and the Online Film Critics Society. In the 2008 film The Wrestler, Rourke portrayed a past-his-prime wrestler, and garnered a 2009 Golden Globe award, a BAFTA award, and a nomination for an Academy Award.
In 2010, he appeared in the blockbusters Iron Man 2
and The Expendables
. He is rumored to be playing Lemmy of Motörhead fame in an unannounced Werner Herzog
project.
, New York
, to a family of Irish and French
descent. He was raised Roman Catholic and still practices his faith. His father, Philip Andre Rourke, Sr., an amateur body builder, left the family when Mickey was six years old. After his parents divorced, his mother, Annette, married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer with five sons, and moved Rourke, his younger brother, and their sister to southern Florida
. There, he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1971.
During his teenage years, Rourke focused his attention mainly on sports. He took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami. It was there that he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career. At age 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as a 118-pound bantamweight
(53.5 kg), fighting some of his early matches under the name Andre Rourke. He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym, in Miami Beach, Florida
, where Muhammad Ali
began his career. In 1969, Rourke, then weighing 140 lbs. (63.5 kg), sparred with former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodríguez. Rodriguez was the number one-rated middleweight
boxer in the world and was training for his match with world champion Nino Benvenuti. Rourke boxed Rodriguez and claims to have received a concussion in this sparring match.
At the 1971 Florida
Golden Gloves
, Rourke suffered another concussion in a boxing match. After being told by doctors to take a year off and rest, Rourke temporarily retired from the ring. From 1964 to 1972, he compiled an amateur record of 20 wins (17 by knockout) and 6 defeats, which included wins over Ron Carter, Charles Gathers and Joe Riles.
-directed school play, The Serpent. However, Rourke's interests were geared to boxing, and he never appeared in any other school productions. Soon after he temporarily gave up boxing, a friend at the University of Miami
told Rourke about a play he was directing, Deathwatch, and how the man playing the role of Green Eyes had quit. Rourke got the part and immediately became enamored with acting. Borrowing 400 dollars from his sister, he went to New York in order to take private lessons with an acting teacher from the Actors Studio
, Sandra Seacat
. It is she who actually motivated Rourke to go and find his father, whom he had been separated from for more than 20 years and had no idea as to what or whom he was looking for. During his visit as a guest to the Actor's Studio, after the release of The Wrestler (2008 film), while Rourke was talking to James Lipton
, Lipton disclosed the fact that Rourke had been selected to the Actor's Studio in his first audition, which Elia Kazan
is reported to have said that it was the "best audition in 30 years". Similarly, later director Adrian Lyne
would go on to say that had Mickey passed away after the release of Angel Heart, he would have become a bigger phenomenon than James Dean
.
Rourke's film debut was a small role in Steven Spielberg
's film 1941
. However, it was his portrayal of an arson
ist in Body Heat
that garnered significant attention, despite his modest time on screen. He mostly appeared in television films in his early career. During the early 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner
, alongside Paul Reiser
, Daniel Stern
, Steve Guttenberg
, Tim Daly and Kevin Bacon
, and yet again drew further critical notices for his portrayal as the suave compulsive gambler "Boogie" Sheftell; The National Society of Film Critics
named him "Best Supporting Actor" that year. Soon thereafter, Rourke starred in Rumble Fish
, Francis Ford Coppola
's follow-up to The Outsiders
.
Rourke's performance in the film The Pope of Greenwich Village
alongside Daryl Hannah
and Eric Roberts
also caught the attention of critics, although the film was not financially successful. In the mid-1980s, Rourke earned himself additional leading roles. His role alongside Kim Basinger
in the erotic drama 9½ Weeks
helped him gain "sex symbol
" status. He received critical praise for his work in Barfly
as the alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski
(the literary alter ego
of Charles Bukowski
) and in Year of the Dragon
. In 1987, Rourke appeared in Angel Heart. The film was nominated for several awards. It was seen as controversial by some owing to a sex scene involving Cosby Show cast member Lisa Bonet
, who won an award for her part in the film. Although some of Rourke's work was viewed as controversial in the U.S., he was well-received by Europe
an, and especially French
, audiences, who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid ... rebel persona" that he projected in Year of the Dragon, 9½ Weeks, Angel Heart, and Desperate Hours.
In the late 1980s, Rourke performed with David Bowie
on the Never Let Me Down
album. Around the same time he also wrote his first screenplay, Homeboy
, a boxing tale in which he starred. In 1989, Rourke starred in the docu-drama Francesco
, portraying St. Francis of Assisi. This was followed by Wild Orchid, another critically panned film, which gained him a nomination for a Razzie
award (also for Desperate Hours). In 1991, he starred in the box office bomb Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
as Harley Davidson, a biker whose best friend, Marlboro, was played by Don Johnson
. In his last role before departing for the boxing ring, Rourke played an arms dealer chased by Willem Dafoe
and Samuel Jackson in White Sands
, a film noir
which reviewers found to be stylish but incoherent.
Rourke's acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and career decisions. Directors such as Alan Parker
found it difficult to work with him. Parker stated that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do." In a documentary on the special edition DVD
of Tombstone
, actor Michael Biehn
, who plays the part of Johnny Ringo
, mentions that his role was first offered to Rourke.
, Japan
and Germany
.
During his boxing career, Rourke suffered a number of injuries, including a broken nose, toe, ribs, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone.Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20. He also suffered from short term memory loss.
His trainer during most of his boxing career was Hells Angels
member, actor and celebrity bodyguard Chuck Zito
. Freddie Roach also trained Rourke for seven fights.
Rourke's entrance song into the ring was often Guns N' Roses
' "Sweet Child o' Mine
."
Boxing promoters said that Rourke was too old to succeed against top-level fighters. Indeed, Rourke himself admits that entering the ring was a sort of personal test: "[I] just wanted to give it a shot, test myself that way physically, while I still had time." In 1995, Rourke retired from boxing and returned to acting.
Rourke's boxing career resulted in a notable physical change in the 1990s, as his face needed reconstructive surgery
in order to mend his injuries. His face was later called "appallingly disfigured." In 2009, the actor told The Daily Mail that he had gone to "the wrong guy" for his surgery, and that his plastic surgeon had left his features "a mess."Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|Boxing record
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|6 Wins (4 knockouts, 2 decisions), 0 Losses, 2 Draws
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw || 6-0-2 || align=left|
Andrew Banks
|MD || 4 || September 8, 1994 || align=left| Davie, Florida
, USA
|align=left|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 6-0-1 || align=left| Thomas
|TKO || 3 || November 20, 1993 || align=left|
Hamburg
, Germany
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 5-0-1 || align=left| Bubba Stotts
|TKO || 3 || July 24, 1993 || align=left| Joplin, Missouri
, USA ||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 4-0-1 || align=left| Tom Bentley
|KO || 1 || March 30, 1993 || align=left| Kansas City, Missouri
, USA ||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 3-0-1 || align=left|
Terry Jesmer
|PTS || 4 || December 12, 1992 || align=left|
Oviedo
, Spain
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw || 2-0-1 || align=left| Francisco Harris
|MD || 4 || April 25, 1992 || align=left| Miami Beach, Florida
, USA
|align=left|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 2–0 || align=left| Darrell Miller
|KO || 1 , 2:14 || June 23, 1991 || align=left|
Tokyo
, Japan
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 1–0 || align=left| Steve Powell
|UD || 4 || May 23, 1991 || align=left| Fort Lauderdale, Florida
, USA
|align=left|
' role in Pulp Fiction
. After his retirement from boxing, Rourke did accept supporting roles in several 1990s films, including Francis Ford Coppola
's adaptation
of John Grisham
's The Rainmaker
, Vincent Gallo
's Buffalo '66, Steve Buscemi
's Animal Factory
, Sean Penn
's The Pledge
and Sylvester Stallone
's remake of Get Carter
. Rourke also has written several films under the name "Sir Eddie Cook", including Bullet, in which he co-starred with close friend Tupac Shakur
.
While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in Terrence Malick
's The Thin Red Line
; his part ended up on the editing room floor
. Rourke also played a small part in the film Thursday
, in which he plays a crooked cop. He also had a lead role in 1997's Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme
. It was Rourke's first over-the-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain. During that same year, he filmed Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to 9½ Weeks
, which only received limited distribution. He ended the 1990s with the direct-to-video
films Out in Fifty
, Shades
and television film Shergar
, about the kidnapping of Epsom Derby-winning thoroughbred racehorse Shergar
. Rourke has expressed his bitterness over that period of his career, stating that he came to consider himself a "has-been" and lived for a time in "a state of shame."
's music video for "Hero
," which also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt
. In 2002, Rourke took the role of The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund
's Spun
, teaming up once again with Eric Roberts
. His first collaborations with directors Robert Rodriguez
and Tony Scott
in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire
, were for smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films.
In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role (Marv) in Robert Rodriguez
's adaptation of Frank Miller
's Sin City
. Rourke received awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
, the IFTA and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as "Man of the Year" from Total Film
magazine that year. Rourke followed Sin City with a supporting role in Tony Scott
's Domino
alongside Keira Knightley
, in which he played a bounty hunter
.
Rourke played the role of "The Blackbird" in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard
's Killshot
, and appeared as Darrius Sayle in the adaptation of the Alex Rider
novel Stormbreaker
.
In addition, in 2004, Rourke provided the voice for "Jericho" in the third installment of the Driver video game series
. Rourke also recently appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams
for Berlin's Zoo Magazine
. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising", Christopher Heard stated that actors/musicians Tupac Shakur
, Johnny Depp
, Sean Penn
and Brad Pitt
have "...animated praise for Rourke and his work." During a roundtable session of Oscar-nominated actors held by Newsweek, Brad Pitt cited Rourke as one of his early acting heroes along with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman
.
Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sell-out" (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
), Rourke has stated that "...all that I have been through...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor." Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "... my best work is still ahead of me."
Rourke had a role in the film version of The Informers
, playing Peter, an amoral former studio security guard who plots to kidnap a small child.
In 2008, Rourke played the lead in The Wrestler, winner of the Golden Lion
Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival
, about washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. In regards to first reading the screenplay
, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it."
He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and pre-choreographed
." However, as he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring:
He trained under former WWE wrestler Afa the Wild Samoan
for the part, and has received a British Academy (BAFTA) award, a Golden Globe award, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke was pessimistic about his chances to win the Oscar, as he had burned many bridges in Hollywood due to his past behavior.Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20. Rourke lost the Oscar to Sean Penn
, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech.
Rourke has written or co-written six scripts: Homeboy
, The Last Ride
, Bullet, Killer Moon, Penance and the latest, Pain. Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996.
In early 2009, Rourke developed a small feud with WWE Superstar Chris Jericho
, as part of a storyline. The storyline climaxed at WrestleMania XXV
, when Rourke knocked out Jericho with a left hook after Jericho won his match against Jimmy Snuka
, Ricky Steamboat
, and Roddy Piper
, with Ric Flair
in their corner.
In 2009, Rourke starred in John Rich
's music video for Shuttin' Detroit Down
alongside Kris Kristofferson
.
In 2009, Rourke voiced protagonist U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko
in the video game Rogue Warrior. The game received very poor reviews from critics.
In 2010, Rourke played the role of the main villain Whiplash in the film Iron Man 2
, in an interview with Rip It Up Magazine
he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates. He also had a supporting role playing 'Tool' in Sylvester Stallone
's The Expendables
.
Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play Gareth Thomas
in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who came out
as gay the previous year. As of February 2011, he had begun research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months."
In 2011, Rourke was cast in the film Java Heat as an American citizen shadowing terrorists group in Java
, Indonesia
. The film will be released in 2013.
. He later retracted the statement, although he has an IRA symbol tattoo.
and Sasha Volkova. He has been married twice. In 1981, he married Debra Feuer
, whom he met on the set of Hardcase (1981) and who co-starred with him in Homeboy (1990) as his love interest. The marriage ended in 1989, with Rourke subsequently commenting that making the film 9½ Weeks
"was not particularly considerate to my wife's needs." The two have remained good friends, according to an interview Feuer gave in 2009.
Wild Orchid co-star Carré Otis
was briefly a cause célèbre
following the release of the film owing to rumors that she and then-lover Rourke filmed an unsimulated sex scene
. Otis married Rourke on June 26, 1992. In 1994, Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. The couple reconciled and also starred together in Exit in Red, but their marriage ended in December 1998. In November 2007, Rourke was arrested again, this time on DUI
charges in Miami Beach.
In numerous TV and print interviews, he attributes his comeback after fourteen years to weekly meetings with a psychiatrist, "Steve," and to a Catholic priest he identified as "Father Pete."
Since 2009, Rourke has been dating the Russian model Anastassija Makarenko. In mid-2011, he bought an apartment in Wiesbaden
, Germany which is close to his girlfriend's parents' place of residence.
Rourke is also a motorcycle enthusiast and uses motorcycles in some of his films.
advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside of a pet shop in 2007 and has done a public service announcement for PETA
.
His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife. Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as "chihuahua
s," some are not pure-bred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life," was a chihuahua-terrier mix. So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.
Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me." The day of the 2009 Golden Globes show, he told Barbara Walters
that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about fourteen years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:
Despite being identified as "Lowjack" in the transcription above, the dog in the anecdote was apparently Beau Jack, who sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate. Beau Jack died in 2002, though Rourke gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmerman. Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006. In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film "Man on Fire." He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005. At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca. About a month later, on February 18, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.
is #85 and The Wrestler is #78. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Mickey’s most “fresh” film is The Wrestler and most "rotten" film is Wild Orchid.
.
, Lawrence Kasdan
, Francis Ford Coppola
, Barry Levinson
, Stuart Rosenberg
, Nicolas Roeg
, Michael Cimino
, Adrian Lyne
, Alan Parker
, Mike Hodges
, Barbet Schroeder
, Walter Hill, Tsui Hark
, Jonas Åkerlund
, Wong Kar-wai
, Tony Scott
, Robert Rodriguez
and John Madden
, as well as actors-turned-directors Sean Penn
, Vincent Gallo
and Steve Buscemi
. Rourke also starred in the films which also stars popular actors including Kim Basinger
, Jean Claude Van Damme, Helena Bonham Carter
, Matt Damon
, Danny DeVito
, Tupac Shakur
, Bruce Willis
, Benicio del Toro
, Alicia Silverstone
, Anthony Hopkins
, Jack Nicholson
, Willem Dafoe
, Johnny Depp
, Denzel Washington
, Antonio Banderas
, Salma Hayek
, Robert De Niro
and so on. Rourke worked with actor Christopher Walken
5 times. They starred together in the films Heaven's Gate
, Homeboy
, Man on Fire
, Domino
and voice acting in video game True Crime: New York City
(2005).
Christopher Walken
stated to the Film Comment
on August, 1992 that destiny to make Homeboy with Mickey Rourke:
's "A View From the Bridge". Rourke also lent his voice to the video games Driv3r
(2004) as Jericho and True Crime: New York City
(2005) as Terrence "Terry" Higgins, which was the his fifth and last work with actor Christopher Walken
. He also appeared in a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory
Reserve (early 90s) and a commercial for Daihatsu and Lark (cigarette)
. More recently, in 2009, Rourke voiced the character of Dick Marcinko for the biographical video game Rogue Warrior, which was released on December 1, 2009. Ironically, Rourke's portrayal of Marcinko was a source of humorous praise from a few critics (although many others criticized Rourke's role to the same degree that they did every other aspect of the game).
Rourke starred in a music video, Hero
. He played a gangster in this Enrique Iglesias
music video. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt
also made an appearance in this clip. Rourke also provided the mid-song rap on the David Bowie
song "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" on his album Never Let Me Down (1987).
Leading man
Leading man or leading gentleman is an informal term for the actor who plays a love interest to the leading actress in a film or play. A leading man is usually an all rounder; capable of singing, dancing, and acting at a professional level, but never outshining his female co-star...
in action, drama, and thriller films.
During the 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner
Diner (film)
Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...
, Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish is a 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the novel Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay....
, and the erotic drama 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
, and received critical praise for his work in Barfly
Barfly (film)
Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in...
and Angel Heart. In 1991, Rourke, who had trained as a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
in his early years, left acting and became a professional boxer for a period. He had supporting roles in several later films, including The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker (1997 film)
The Rainmaker is a 1997 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon. Coppola wrote the script, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham....
, Buffalo '66, The Pledge
The Pledge (film)
The Pledge is a 2001 American mystery film directed by Sean Penn. It is based on the 1958 novella Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman , by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt...
, Get Carter
Get Carter (2000 film)
Get Carter is the 2000 remake of the 1971 crime film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The film also features Miranda Richardson, Rachel Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, and Rhona Mitra. Michael Caine, who starred in the original, plays a supporting role...
, Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a 2003 action film written, edited and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the final film in the "Mariachi Trilogy", which also includes El Mariachi and Desperado. Antonio Banderas reprises his role as El Mariachi...
and Man on Fire
Man on Fire (2004 film)
Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was also filmed in 1987....
.
In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role in Sin City
Sin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
, for which he won awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong...
, the Irish Film and Television Awards
Irish Film and Television Awards
The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community...
and the Online Film Critics Society. In the 2008 film The Wrestler, Rourke portrayed a past-his-prime wrestler, and garnered a 2009 Golden Globe award, a BAFTA award, and a nomination for an Academy Award.
In 2010, he appeared in the blockbusters Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
and The Expendables
The Expendables (2010 film)
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is...
. He is rumored to be playing Lemmy of Motörhead fame in an unannounced Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
project.
Early life
Rourke was born not this name, but Philip Andre Rourke, Jr., in SchenectadySchenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, to a family of Irish and French
French American
French Americans or Franco-Americans are Americans of French or French Canadian descent. About 11.8 million U.S. residents are of this descent, and about 1.6 million speak French at home.An additional 450,000 U.S...
descent. He was raised Roman Catholic and still practices his faith. His father, Philip Andre Rourke, Sr., an amateur body builder, left the family when Mickey was six years old. After his parents divorced, his mother, Annette, married Eugene Addis, a Miami Beach police officer with five sons, and moved Rourke, his younger brother, and their sister to southern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. There, he graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School in 1971.
During his teenage years, Rourke focused his attention mainly on sports. He took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami. It was there that he learned boxing skills and decided on an amateur career. At age 12, Rourke won his first boxing match as a 118-pound bantamweight
Bantamweight
Bantamweight is usually a class in boxing for boxers who weigh above 115 pounds and up to 118 pounds . However, in Mixed Martial Arts it is 134-136 pounds . Wrestling also has similar weight classes including bantamweight...
(53.5 kg), fighting some of his early matches under the name Andre Rourke. He continued his boxing training at the famed 5th Street Gym, in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, where Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
began his career. In 1969, Rourke, then weighing 140 lbs. (63.5 kg), sparred with former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodríguez. Rodriguez was the number one-rated middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
boxer in the world and was training for his match with world champion Nino Benvenuti. Rourke boxed Rodriguez and claims to have received a concussion in this sparring match.
At the 1971 Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
, Rourke suffered another concussion in a boxing match. After being told by doctors to take a year off and rest, Rourke temporarily retired from the ring. From 1964 to 1972, he compiled an amateur record of 20 wins (17 by knockout) and 6 defeats, which included wins over Ron Carter, Charles Gathers and Joe Riles.
Early acting roles
In 1971, as a senior at Miami Beach Senior High School, Rourke had a small acting role in the Jay W. JensenJay W. Jensen
Jay W. Jensen was a Miami Beach, Florida drama teacher known as "The Teacher to the Stars". Jensen is credited with inspiring the acting talents of such well known actors as Andy García and Mickey Rourke.-Early years:...
-directed school play, The Serpent. However, Rourke's interests were geared to boxing, and he never appeared in any other school productions. Soon after he temporarily gave up boxing, a friend at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
told Rourke about a play he was directing, Deathwatch, and how the man playing the role of Green Eyes had quit. Rourke got the part and immediately became enamored with acting. Borrowing 400 dollars from his sister, he went to New York in order to take private lessons with an acting teacher from the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
, Sandra Seacat
Sandra Seacat
Sandra Seacat is an American actor, director and acting teacher, whose students include Jessica Lange, Lance Henriksen, Laura Dern, Mickey Rourke, Meg Ryan and Steve Railsback...
. It is she who actually motivated Rourke to go and find his father, whom he had been separated from for more than 20 years and had no idea as to what or whom he was looking for. During his visit as a guest to the Actor's Studio, after the release of The Wrestler (2008 film), while Rourke was talking to James Lipton
James Lipton
James Lipton is an American writer, poet, composer, actor and dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University in New York City. He is the executive producer, writer and host of the Bravo cable television series Inside the Actors Studio, which debuted in 1994...
, Lipton disclosed the fact that Rourke had been selected to the Actor's Studio in his first audition, which Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan was an American director and actor, described by the New York Times as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated...
is reported to have said that it was the "best audition in 30 years". Similarly, later director Adrian Lyne
Adrian Lyne
Adrian Lyne is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for directing films that focus on sexually charged characters and often uses natural light, a fog machine and other effects to create eroticized atmospheres...
would go on to say that had Mickey passed away after the release of Angel Heart, he would have become a bigger phenomenon than James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...
.
Rourke's film debut was a small role in Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
's film 1941
1941 (film)
1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd...
. However, it was his portrayal of an arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
ist in Body Heat
Body Heat
Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, and Mickey Rourke. The film is inspired by Double Indemnity....
that garnered significant attention, despite his modest time on screen. He mostly appeared in television films in his early career. During the early 1980s, Rourke starred in Diner
Diner (film)
Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:...
, alongside Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser is an American stand-up comedian, actor, television personality, author, screenwriter and musician. He is most widely known for his role on the long-running television sitcom Mad About You.-Early life:...
, Daniel Stern
Daniel Stern (actor)
Daniel Jacob Stern is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Hollywood films C.H.U.D., Diner, City Slickers and the first two Home Alone films, and as the narrator for the television series The Wonder Years.-Early life:Stern was born in Bethesda, Maryland to a...
, Steve Guttenberg
Steve Guttenberg
Steven Robert "Steve" Guttenberg is an American actor and comedian. He became well known during the 1980s, after a series of starring roles in major Hollywood films, including Cocoon, Three Men and a Baby, Police Academy, and Short Circuit.-Early life:Guttenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, the...
, Tim Daly and Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....
, and yet again drew further critical notices for his portrayal as the suave compulsive gambler "Boogie" Sheftell; The National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
named him "Best Supporting Actor" that year. Soon thereafter, Rourke starred in Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish
Rumble Fish is a 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the novel Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay....
, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's follow-up to The Outsiders
The Outsiders (film)
The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The film was released in March 1983...
.
Rourke's performance in the film The Pope of Greenwich Village
The Pope of Greenwich Village
The Pope of Greenwich Village is a 1984 American film starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. Page earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her two-scene role. The film was adapted by screenwriter Vincent Patrick...
alongside Daryl Hannah
Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah is an American film actress. After making her screen debut in 1978, Hannah starred in a number of Hollywood films throughout the 1980s, notably Blade Runner, Splash, Wall Street and Roxanne and Kill Bill.-Early life:Hannah was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Susan...
and Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
also caught the attention of critics, although the film was not financially successful. In the mid-1980s, Rourke earned himself additional leading roles. His role alongside Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
in the erotic drama 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
helped him gain "sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
" status. He received critical praise for his work in Barfly
Barfly (film)
Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in...
as the alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski
Henry Chinaski
Henry Charles "Hank" Chinaski is the semi-autobiographical protagonist of several works by the American writer Charles Bukowski. He appears in five of Bukowski's novels, a number of his short stories and poems, and the 1987 film Barfly. An author character, Chinaski's biography is largely based on...
(the literary alter ego
Alter ego
An alter ego is a second self, which is believe to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists...
of Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
) and in Year of the Dragon
Year of the Dragon (film)
Year of the Dragon is a 1985 film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Mickey Rourke, Ariane Koizumi and John Lone. The screenplay was written by Cimino and Oliver Stone and adapted from the novel by Robert Daley....
. In 1987, Rourke appeared in Angel Heart. The film was nominated for several awards. It was seen as controversial by some owing to a sex scene involving Cosby Show cast member Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet
Lisa Bonet , also known as Lilakoi Moon, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Denise Huxtable Kendall on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, and originally starring in its spinoff A Different World.-Early life:Bonet was born in San Francisco, California...
, who won an award for her part in the film. Although some of Rourke's work was viewed as controversial in the U.S., he was well-received by Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an, and especially French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, audiences, who loved the "rumpled, slightly dirty, sordid ... rebel persona" that he projected in Year of the Dragon, 9½ Weeks, Angel Heart, and Desperate Hours.
In the late 1980s, Rourke performed with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on the Never Let Me Down
Never Let Me Down
Never Let Me Down is an album by David Bowie, released in April 1987. Written over a 3-month period and recorded in Switzerland, Bowie regarded the album at the time as a "move back to rock 'n roll music...
album. Around the same time he also wrote his first screenplay, Homeboy
Homeboy (film)
Homeboy is a 1988 drama film, directed by Michael Seresin. It was written by and stars Mickey Rourke in the role of self-destructive cowboy/boxer Johnny Walker...
, a boxing tale in which he starred. In 1989, Rourke starred in the docu-drama Francesco
Francesco (film)
Francesco is a 1989 docu-drama relating in flashback St. Francis of Assisi's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian and finally to full-fledged saint. The film was based on Herman Hesse's Francis of Assisi, which director Liliana Cavani had previously filmed in 1966. It stars...
, portraying St. Francis of Assisi. This was followed by Wild Orchid, another critically panned film, which gained him a nomination for a Razzie
Razzie Award for Worst Actor
The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated....
award (also for Desperate Hours). In 1991, he starred in the box office bomb Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*...
as Harley Davidson, a biker whose best friend, Marlboro, was played by Don Johnson
Don Johnson
Donnie Wayne "Don" Johnson is an American actor known for his work in television and film. He played the lead role of James "Sonny" Crockett in the 1980s TV cop series, Miami Vice, which led him to huge success. He also played the lead role in the 1990s cop series, Nash Bridges...
. In his last role before departing for the boxing ring, Rourke played an arms dealer chased by Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
and Samuel Jackson in White Sands
White Sands (film)
White Sands is a 1992 motion picture directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Daniel Pyne for Warner Bros. The movie is about a U.S. southwestern small-town sheriff who finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation...
, a film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
which reviewers found to be stylish but incoherent.
Rourke's acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and career decisions. Directors such as Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
found it difficult to work with him. Parker stated that "working with Mickey is a nightmare. He is very dangerous on the set because you never know what he is going to do." In a documentary on the special edition DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Tombstone
Tombstone (film)
Tombstone is a 1993 American action film set in the Old West directed by George P. Cosmatos, along with uncredited directorial efforts by actor Kurt Russell and writer Kevin Jarre. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jarre....
, actor Michael Biehn
Michael Biehn
Michael Connell Biehn is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in James Cameron's science fiction action films The Terminator as Kyle Reese, Aliens as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, and The Abyss as Lt. Coffey. He has also acted in such films as Tombstone, The Rock, and Planet Terror...
, who plays the part of Johnny Ringo
Johnny Ringo
John Peters "Johnny" Ringo was an outlaw Cowboy of the American Old West who was affiliated with Ike Clanton and Frank Stilwell in Cochise County, Arizona Territory during 1881-1882.-Early life:...
, mentions that his role was first offered to Rourke.
Boxing career
In 1991, Rourke decided that he "had to go back to boxing" because he felt that he "was self-destructing ... (and) had no respect for (himself as) an actor." Rourke was undefeated in eight fights, with six wins (four by knockout) and two draws. He fought internationally in countries including SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
During his boxing career, Rourke suffered a number of injuries, including a broken nose, toe, ribs, a split tongue, and a compressed cheekbone.Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20. He also suffered from short term memory loss.
His trainer during most of his boxing career was Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
member, actor and celebrity bodyguard Chuck Zito
Chuck Zito
-External links:* *...
. Freddie Roach also trained Rourke for seven fights.
Rourke's entrance song into the ring was often Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
' "Sweet Child o' Mine
Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S...
."
Boxing promoters said that Rourke was too old to succeed against top-level fighters. Indeed, Rourke himself admits that entering the ring was a sort of personal test: "[I] just wanted to give it a shot, test myself that way physically, while I still had time." In 1995, Rourke retired from boxing and returned to acting.
Rourke's boxing career resulted in a notable physical change in the 1990s, as his face needed reconstructive surgery
Reconstructive surgery
Reconstructive surgery is, in its broadest sense, the use of surgery to restore the form and function of the body, although Maxillo-Facial Surgeons, Plastic Surgeons and Otolaryngologists do reconstructive surgery on faces after trauma and to reconstruct the head and neck after cancer.Other...
in order to mend his injuries. His face was later called "appallingly disfigured." In 2009, the actor told The Daily Mail that he had gone to "the wrong guy" for his surgery, and that his plastic surgeon had left his features "a mess."Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20.
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|Boxing record
|-
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|6 Wins (4 knockouts, 2 decisions), 0 Losses, 2 Draws
|- style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Result
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Record
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Opponent
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Type
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Rd., Time
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Date
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Location
| style="border-style:none none solid solid; "|Notes
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw || 6-0-2 || align=left|
Andrew Banks|MD || 4 || September 8, 1994 || align=left|
Davie, FloridaDavie, Florida
Davie is a town in Broward County, Florida, United States. The town's population was 91,992 at the 2010 census.- History :Davie was founded by Jake Tannebaum and Tamara Toussaint. The original name of the town was Zona. In 1909 R.P. Davie assisted then Governor Broward by draining the swamplands...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|align=left|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 6-0-1 || align=left|
Thomas|TKO || 3 || November 20, 1993 || align=left|
HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 5-0-1 || align=left|
Bubba Stotts|TKO || 3 || July 24, 1993 || align=left|
Joplin, MissouriJoplin, Missouri
Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the US state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150...
, USA ||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 4-0-1 || align=left|
Tom Bentley|KO || 1 || March 30, 1993 || align=left|
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, USA ||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 3-0-1 || align=left|
Terry Jesmer|PTS || 4 || December 12, 1992 || align=left|
OviedoOviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|style="background:#abcdef;"|Draw || 2-0-1 || align=left|
Francisco Harris|MD || 4 || April 25, 1992 || align=left|
Miami Beach, FloridaMiami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
, USA
|align=left|
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 2–0 || align=left|
Darrell Miller|KO || 1 , 2:14 || June 23, 1991 || align=left|
TokyoTokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
||
|- style="text-align:center;"
|Win || 1–0 || align=left|
Steve Powell|UD || 4 || May 23, 1991 || align=left|
Fort Lauderdale, FloridaFort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, USA
|align=left|
1990s: return to acting
In the early 1990s, Rourke was offered and declined the role of Butch Coolidge, which later became Bruce WillisBruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
' role in Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction (film)
Pulp Fiction is a 1994 American crime film directed by Quentin Tarantino, who co-wrote its screenplay with Roger Avary. The film is known for its rich, eclectic dialogue, ironic mix of humor and violence, nonlinear storyline, and host of cinematic allusions and pop culture references...
. After his retirement from boxing, Rourke did accept supporting roles in several 1990s films, including Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's adaptation
The Rainmaker (1997 film)
The Rainmaker is a 1997 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon. Coppola wrote the script, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham....
of John Grisham
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham, Jr. is an American lawyer and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.John Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University before attending the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about a decade...
's The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker (John Grisham)
The Rainmaker is a 1995 novel by John Grisham. It differs from most of his other novels in that it is written almost completely in the simple present tense.-Plot summary:...
, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
's Buffalo '66, Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
's Animal Factory
Animal Factory
Animal Factory is a 2000 American film about life in prison, set in San Quentin and directed by Steve Buscemi.-Plot:Edward Furlong plays a young man named Ron Decker, who is sent to prison for drug possession, and Willem Dafoe is veteran con Earl Copen who takes Decker under his wing and introduces...
, Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
's The Pledge
The Pledge (film)
The Pledge is a 2001 American mystery film directed by Sean Penn. It is based on the 1958 novella Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman , by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt...
and Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
's remake of Get Carter
Get Carter (2000 film)
Get Carter is the 2000 remake of the 1971 crime film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The film also features Miranda Richardson, Rachel Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, and Rhona Mitra. Michael Caine, who starred in the original, plays a supporting role...
. Rourke also has written several films under the name "Sir Eddie Cook", including Bullet, in which he co-starred with close friend Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
.
While Rourke was also selected for a significant role in Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
's The Thin Red Line
The Thin Red Line (1998 film)
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American war film which tells a fictional story of United States forces during the Battle of Mount Austen in World War II. It portrays men in: C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division; in particular those soldiers played by Sean Penn, Jim...
; his part ended up on the editing room floor
Cutting room floor
The term cutting room floor is used in the film industry as a figure of speech referring to unused footage not included in the finished film. In fact offcuts of film are retained in a special cutting room bin and numbered during the editing process in case they are required later...
. Rourke also played a small part in the film Thursday
Thursday (1998 film)
Thursday is a 1998 American crime/thriller/black comedy movie written and directed by Skip Woods.-Plot:Casey Wells has cleaned up his life. He is now a married architect and is looking to adopt a child with his wife when Nick , an old partner from his days as a drug dealer in Los Angeles, shows up...
, in which he plays a crooked cop. He also had a lead role in 1997's Double Team, which co-starred martial arts actor Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
. It was Rourke's first over-the-top action film role, in which he played the lead villain. During that same year, he filmed Another 9½ Weeks, a sequel to 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
, which only received limited distribution. He ended the 1990s with the direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
films Out in Fifty
Out in Fifty
Out in Fifty is a 1999 independent film directed and written by Bojesse Christopher and Scott Leet, which also stars in this film together with actor Mickey Rourke. Film also stars Peter Greene, Ed Lauter, Balthazar Getty, James Avery and Christina Applegate as Lilah...
, Shades
Shades (film)
Shades is a 1999 Belgian film directed by Erik Van Looy and written by Looy, Paul Breuls and Guy Lee Thys. The story is loosely inspired on the Belgian murderer Freddy Horion and his escape from prison in 1982....
and television film Shergar
Shergar
Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
, about the kidnapping of Epsom Derby-winning thoroughbred racehorse Shergar
Shergar
Shergar was an acclaimed Irish racehorse, and winner of the 1981 Epsom Derby by a record 10 lengths, the longest winning margin in the race's 226-year history. This victory earned him a spot in The Observer newspaper's 100 Most Memorable Sporting Moments of the Twentieth Century...
. Rourke has expressed his bitterness over that period of his career, stating that he came to consider himself a "has-been" and lived for a time in "a state of shame."
2000s
In 2001, he appeared as the villain in Enrique IglesiasEnrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
's music video for "Hero
Hero (Enrique Iglesias song)
"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception...
," which also featured Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
. In 2002, Rourke took the role of The Cook in Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films...
's Spun
Spun
Spun is a 2002 American crime dramedy directed by Jonas Åkerlund, and starring Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo, Patrick Fugit, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, and Debbie Harry. It is Åkerlund's début as a feature-film director, having already become known...
, teaming up once again with Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts
Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut. He starred as the protagonist in the 1980 dramatisation of Willa Cather's 1905 short story, Paul's Case...
. His first collaborations with directors Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
and Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
in Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Man on Fire
Man on Fire (2004 film)
Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was also filmed in 1987....
, were for smaller roles. Nonetheless, these directors subsequently decided to cast Rourke in lead roles in their next films.
In 2005, Rourke made his comeback in mainstream Hollywood circles with a lead role (Marv) in Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
's adaptation of Frank Miller
Frank Miller (comics)
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's Sin City
Sin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
. Rourke received awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association
Chicago Film Critics Association
The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong...
, the IFTA and the Online Film Critics Society, as well as "Man of the Year" from Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
magazine that year. Rourke followed Sin City with a supporting role in Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
's Domino
Domino (film)
Domino is a 2005 American action film directed by Tony Scott and written by Richard Kelly. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who became a bounty hunter working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley as Domino and...
alongside Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Knightley born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham...
, in which he played a bounty hunter
Bounty hunter
A bounty hunter captures fugitives for a monetary reward . Other names, mainly used in the United States, include bail enforcement agent and fugitive recovery agent.-Laws in the U.S.:...
.
Rourke played the role of "The Blackbird" in an adaptation of Elmore Leonard
Elmore Leonard
Elmore John Leonard Jr. , better known as Elmore Leonard, is an American novelist and screenwriter. His earliest published novels in the 1950s were westerns, but Leonard went on to specialize in crime fiction and suspense thrillers, many of which have been adapted into motion pictures.Among his...
's Killshot
Killshot (film)
Killshot is a 2009 thriller film based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. The film is directed by John Madden and stars Diane Lane and Thomas Jane as a couple who, despite being in a witness protection program, are confronted by the criminal they outed, portrayed by Mickey...
, and appeared as Darrius Sayle in the adaptation of the Alex Rider
Alex Rider
Alex Rider is a series of spy novels by British author Anthony Horowitz about a 14-15 year old spy named Alex Rider. The series is aimed primarily at young adults. Nine novels have been published to date, as well as three graphic novels, three short stories and a supplementary book...
novel Stormbreaker
Stormbreaker (film)
Stormbreaker is a 2006 British spy film based on Anthony Horowitz's novel of the same name, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside actors Mickey Rourke and Bill Nighy...
.
Driver (series)
Driver is a series of mission-based driving video games developed by Reflections Interactive , and originally published by GT Interactive and later by Atari. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, driving, and third-person shooting in open world environments...
. Rourke also recently appeared in a 40-page story by photographer Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
for Berlin's Zoo Magazine
Zoo Magazine
Zoo Magazine was also the name of a magazine formerly produced by the Zoological Society of London for its Young Zoologists' Club.Zoo Magazine is a magazine based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that was first created on 25 September 2003. It focuses on fashion, art, literature and architecture and is...
. In an article about Rourke's return to steady acting roles, entitled "Mickey Rourke Rising", Christopher Heard stated that actors/musicians Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
and Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
have "...animated praise for Rourke and his work." During a roundtable session of Oscar-nominated actors held by Newsweek, Brad Pitt cited Rourke as one of his early acting heroes along with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
.
Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made films that he now sees as a creative "sell-out" (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*...
), Rourke has stated that "...all that I have been through...[has] made me a better, more interesting actor." Rourke's renewed interest in pursuing acting can be seen in his statement that "... my best work is still ahead of me."
Rourke had a role in the film version of The Informers
The Informers
The Informers is a collection of short stories, seemingly linked by the same continuity, authored by American author Bret Easton Ellis. It was first published as a whole in 1994. Chapters 6 and 7, "Water from the Sun" and "Discovering Japan", were published separately in the UK by Picador in 2007...
, playing Peter, an amoral former studio security guard who plots to kidnap a small child.
In 2008, Rourke played the lead in The Wrestler, winner of the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
Award for Best Film at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, about washed-up professional wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. In regards to first reading the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, he stated that he originally "didn't care for it."
He also spoke on personal concern and hesitance of being in a film about wrestling, for he perceived it as being "pre-arranged and pre-choreographed
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
." However, as he trained for the film, he developed an appreciation and respect for what real-life pro wrestlers do to prepare for the ring:
He trained under former WWE wrestler Afa the Wild Samoan
Afa Anoa'i
Arthur "Afa" Anoa'i, Sr. is a Samoan American retired professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager. Since retiring in the 1990s, he has operated the World Xtreme Wrestling promotion and trained wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Facility.-Early life:Anoa'i was born in Samoa, but...
for the part, and has received a British Academy (BAFTA) award, a Golden Globe award, an Independent Spirit Award, and an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Rourke was pessimistic about his chances to win the Oscar, as he had burned many bridges in Hollywood due to his past behavior.Mickey Rourke: I've hacked off so many people in Hollywood, who the hell would give me an Oscar?, The Daily Mail, 2009-02-20. Rourke lost the Oscar to Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, while Penn did acknowledge Rourke in his acceptance speech.
Rourke has written or co-written six scripts: Homeboy
Homeboy (film)
Homeboy is a 1988 drama film, directed by Michael Seresin. It was written by and stars Mickey Rourke in the role of self-destructive cowboy/boxer Johnny Walker...
, The Last Ride
F.T.W. (film)
F.T.W. is a 1994 film about Frank T. Wells, an ex-con rodeo rider who becomes involved with a woman who's a bank robber on the run.- Plot :...
, Bullet, Killer Moon, Penance and the latest, Pain. Of these, the first three were produced as films between 1988 and 1996.
In early 2009, Rourke developed a small feud with WWE Superstar Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
, as part of a storyline. The storyline climaxed at WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas...
, when Rourke knocked out Jericho with a left hook after Jericho won his match against Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
, Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
, and Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, with Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
in their corner.
In 2009, Rourke starred in John Rich
John Rich (musician)
John Rich is an American country music singer-songwriter. From 1992 to 1998, he was a member of the country music band Lonestar, in which he played bass guitar and alternated with Richie McDonald as lead vocalist...
's music video for Shuttin' Detroit Down
Shuttin' Detroit Down
"Shuttin' Detroit Down" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer John Rich, one half of the duo Big & Rich. The song addresses the issue of the government bailouts of financial institutions, and has received heavy rotation on Michigan radio stations, as well...
alongside Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
.
In 2009, Rourke voiced protagonist U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Marcinko
Richard Marcinko
Richard "Dick" Marcinko , is a retired Commander in the United States Navy and a former Navy SEAL. He was the first Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Six and Red Cell...
in the video game Rogue Warrior. The game received very poor reviews from critics.
In 2010, Rourke played the role of the main villain Whiplash in the film Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2
Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon...
, in an interview with Rip It Up Magazine
Rip It Up (magazine)
Rip It Up is a bi-monthly New Zealand music magazine. Started in June 1977 as a free monthly giveaway, it grew rapidly, with its monthly print run reaching 30,000 copies by the mid 1980s...
he revealed that he prepared for the role by visiting Russian jail inmates. He also had a supporting role playing 'Tool' in Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
's The Expendables
The Expendables (2010 film)
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is...
.
Just before the end of the year, he confirmed on a British TV talk show that he would play Gareth Thomas
Gareth Thomas (rugby player)
Gareth Thomas , known as Alfie, is a retired Welsh professional rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Crusaders RL in the Super League. He also previously played rugby union for the Cardiff Blues and as a fullback, wing or centre.On 26 May 2007, Thomas surpassed Gareth Llewellyn as the...
in an upcoming film about the Welsh rugby star who came out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as gay the previous year. As of February 2011, he had begun research on the film, but noted, "We're not going to make this movie until we've done all the proper research. We need to do our homework and I need to train for from nine to eleven months."
In 2011, Rourke was cast in the film Java Heat as an American citizen shadowing terrorists group in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The film will be released in 2013.
Political views
Rourke's political views came under fire when he claimed to have donated part of his salary from the 1989 film Francesco to the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. He later retracted the statement, although he has an IRA symbol tattoo.
Personal life
Rourke has dated several celebrities, including Terry FarrellTerry Farrell (actress)
Theresa Lee "Terry" Farrell is an American actress and former fashion model. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Becker.-Early life:...
and Sasha Volkova. He has been married twice. In 1981, he married Debra Feuer
Debra Feuer
Debra Feuer is an American actress. She starred in the movies Moment by Moment, The Hollywood Knights, To Live and Die in L.A., MacGruder and Loud, and in the italian movie Il burbero, as well as Homeboy, in which she starred with her then husband Mickey Rourke.Feuer played a minor role in the TV...
, whom he met on the set of Hardcase (1981) and who co-starred with him in Homeboy (1990) as his love interest. The marriage ended in 1989, with Rourke subsequently commenting that making the film 9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks
9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill....
"was not particularly considerate to my wife's needs." The two have remained good friends, according to an interview Feuer gave in 2009.
Carré Otis
Carré Otis is an American model and actress.-Early life:Carré Otis was born in San Francisco, and raised in Marin County, California along with her older sister Chrisse and her younger brother Jordan...
was briefly a cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
following the release of the film owing to rumors that she and then-lover Rourke filmed an unsimulated sex scene
Unsimulated sex in film
Unsimulated sex in mainstream cinema was at one time restricted by law and self-imposed industry standards such as the Motion Picture Production Code. Films showing explicit sexual activity were confined to privately distributed underground films, such as stag films or "porn loops"...
. Otis married Rourke on June 26, 1992. In 1994, Rourke was arrested for spousal abuse. The charges were later dropped. The couple reconciled and also starred together in Exit in Red, but their marriage ended in December 1998. In November 2007, Rourke was arrested again, this time on DUI
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
charges in Miami Beach.
In numerous TV and print interviews, he attributes his comeback after fourteen years to weekly meetings with a psychiatrist, "Steve," and to a Catholic priest he identified as "Father Pete."
Since 2009, Rourke has been dating the Russian model Anastassija Makarenko. In mid-2011, he bought an apartment in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Germany which is close to his girlfriend's parents' place of residence.
Rourke is also a motorcycle enthusiast and uses motorcycles in some of his films.
Dogs
In addition to his faith and his psychiatric treatment, Rourke has publicly attributed his comeback to his dogs. He is well-known as a pet fancier, particularly fond of small-breed dogs. A spay/neuterNeutering
Neutering, from the Latin neuter , is the removal of an animal's reproductive organ, either all of it or a considerably large part. The process is often used in reference to males whereas spaying is often reserved for females. Colloquially, both terms are often referred to as fixing...
advocate, Rourke participated in a protest outside of a pet shop in 2007 and has done a public service announcement for PETA
Peta
Peta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
.
His first little dog was reportedly a gift from his second wife. Though Rourke's dogs are generally referred to as "chihuahua
Chihuahua (dog)
The ' is the smallest breed of dog and is so named for the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. Chihuahuas come in a wide variety of sizes, head shapes, colors and coat lengths.-History:...
s," some are not pure-bred. Loki, his most-publicized dog whom he described as "the love of my life," was a chihuahua-terrier mix. So reliant was Rourke on Loki's companionship, he spent US$5,400 to have her flown to England while he was on the set of the film Stormbreaker.
Rourke gave his dogs credit during his Golden Globe Best Actor acceptance speech January 11, 2009: "I'd like to thank all my dogs. The ones that are here, the ones that aren't here anymore because sometimes when a man's alone, that's all you got is your dog. And they've meant the world to me." The day of the 2009 Golden Globes show, he told Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
that "I sort of self-destructed and everything came out about fourteen years ago or so ... the wife had left, the career was over, the money was not an ounce. The dogs were there when no one else was there." Asked by Walters if he had considered suicide, he responded:
Despite being identified as "Lowjack" in the transcription above, the dog in the anecdote was apparently Beau Jack, who sired two of Rourke's later pets, Loki and her littermate Chocolate. Beau Jack died in 2002, though Rourke gave him 45 minutes of mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Chocolate was the subject of a children's book, Chocolate at the Four Seasons, about his temporary stay with producer Bonnie Timmerman. Chocolate returned to Rourke and died in 2006. In addition to those dogs and several other past pets, Rourke currently owns a chihuahua named Jaws who appeared with him in his 2009 PETA ad, as well as in the film "Man on Fire." He has had as many as seven dogs at one time, back in 2005. At the time of his Golden Globes tribute to his pets, Rourke owned five chihuahuas: Loki, Jaws, Ruby Baby, La Negra and Bella Loca. About a month later, on February 18, 2009, Loki died in Rourke's arms at the age of 18.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1941 1941 (film) 1941 is a 1979 period comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and featuring an ensemble cast including John Belushi, Ned Beatty, John Candy, Toshiro Mifune, Christopher Lee and Dan Aykroyd... |
Pvt. Reese | Steven Spielberg Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an... |
| 1980 | Heaven's Gate Heaven's Gate (film) Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s... |
Nick Ray | Michael Cimino Michael Cimino Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject... |
| Fade to Black | Richie | Vernon Zimmerman | |
| 1981 | Body Heat Body Heat Body Heat is a 1981 American neo-noir film written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan. It stars William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna, Ted Danson, J.A. Preston, and Mickey Rourke. The film is inspired by Double Indemnity.... |
Teddy Lewis | Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Edward "Larry" Kasdan is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Kasdan was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sylvia Sarah , an employment counselor, and Clarence Norman Kasdan, who managed retail electronics stores.His Brother is the writer/producer Mark... |
| 1982 | Diner Diner (film) Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:... |
Robert 'Boogie' Sheftell | Barry Levinson Barry Levinson Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:... |
| 1983 | Rumble Fish Rumble Fish Rumble Fish is a 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the novel Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay.... |
The Motorcycle Boy | Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors... |
| 1984 | The Pope of Greenwich Village The Pope of Greenwich Village The Pope of Greenwich Village is a 1984 American film starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. Page earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her two-scene role. The film was adapted by screenwriter Vincent Patrick... |
Charlie Moran | Stuart Rosenberg Stuart Rosenberg Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose notable works included the movies Cool Hand Luke , Voyage of the Damned , The Amityville Horror , and The Pope of Greenwich Village .-Early life and career:Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Rosenberg studied Irish... |
| Eureka Eureka (1984 film) Eureka is a 1983 film, directed by Nicolas Roeg. It is the story of a Klondike prospector, Jack McCann who strikes it rich, yet ends up fearing that his daughter Tracy and his son-in-law are scheming to take his wealth and his soul; moreover, greedy investors are also hunting McCann's... |
Aurelio D'Amato | Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg... |
|
| 1985 | Year of the Dragon Year of the Dragon (film) Year of the Dragon is a 1985 film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Mickey Rourke, Ariane Koizumi and John Lone. The screenplay was written by Cimino and Oliver Stone and adapted from the novel by Robert Daley.... |
Captain Stanley White | Michael Cimino Michael Cimino Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject... |
| 1986 | 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill.... |
John Gray | Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for directing films that focus on sexually charged characters and often uses natural light, a fog machine and other effects to create eroticized atmospheres... |
| 1987 | Angel Heart Angel Heart Angel Heart is a 1987 North American/British mystery-thriller film written and directed by Alan Parker, and starring Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet... |
Harold R. "Harry" Angel | Alan Parker Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:... |
| Barfly Barfly (film) Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in... |
Henry Chinaski Henry Chinaski Henry Charles "Hank" Chinaski is the semi-autobiographical protagonist of several works by the American writer Charles Bukowski. He appears in five of Bukowski's novels, a number of his short stories and poems, and the 1987 film Barfly. An author character, Chinaski's biography is largely based on... |
Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder is a Franco-Swiss movie director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette.-Life and career:... |
|
| A Prayer for the Dying A Prayer for the Dying A Prayer for the Dying is a 1987 thriller film about a former IRA member trying to escape his past. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and stars Mickey Rourke, Liam Neeson, Bob Hoskins, and Alan Bates... |
Martin Fallon | Mike Hodges Mike Hodges Mike Hodges is an English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man and Black Rainbow; as director his films include Flash Gordon, Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead... |
|
| 1988 | Homeboy Homeboy (film) Homeboy is a 1988 drama film, directed by Michael Seresin. It was written by and stars Mickey Rourke in the role of self-destructive cowboy/boxer Johnny Walker... |
Johnny Walker | Michael Seresin Michael Seresin Michael Stephen Seresin, ONZM, is a New Zealand cinematographer, best known for several collaborations with the British director Alan Parker... |
| 1989 | Francesco Francesco (film) Francesco is a 1989 docu-drama relating in flashback St. Francis of Assisi's evolution from rich man's son to religious humanitarian and finally to full-fledged saint. The film was based on Herman Hesse's Francis of Assisi, which director Liliana Cavani had previously filmed in 1966. It stars... |
Francesco Francis of Assisi Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St... |
Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani is an Italian film director and screenwriter. She belongs to a generation of Italian filmmakers that came into prominence in the 1970s and includes Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marco Bellochio. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature... |
| Johnny Handsome Johnny Handsome Johnny Handsome is an 1989 American crime-drama film directed by Walter Hill and starring Mickey Rourke, Ellen Barkin and Morgan Freeman. The film was written by Ken Friedman, from the novel by John Godey. The music for the film was written, produced and performed by Ry Cooder, and Jim Keltner... |
John Sedley a.k.a. Johnny Handsome/Johnny Mitchell | Walter Hill | |
| 1990 | Wild Orchid | James Wheeler | Zalman King Zalman King Zalman King is an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His directing and writing productions are known for incorporating erotica as a centerpiece to plots which are nevertheless about greater issues.-Acting:As a young man in 1963 he played a gang member on Alfred Hitchcock Presents... |
| Desperate Hours Desperate Hours Desperate Hours is a 1990 remake of the 1955 William Wyler crime drama of the same title. Both films are based on the novel by Joseph Hayes, who also co-wrote the script for this movie with Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal... |
Michael Bosworth | Michael Cimino Michael Cimino Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject... |
|
| 1991 | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*... |
Harley Davidson | Simon Wincer Simon Wincer Simon Wincer is an Australian film director and film producer. He attended Cranbrook School, Bellevue Hill, Sydney from 1950 to 1961. On leaving school he worked as a stage hand at TV Station Channel 7. By the 1980s he directed over 200 hours of television. In 1986 he directed the made for TV... |
| 1992 | White Sands White Sands (film) White Sands is a 1992 motion picture directed by Roger Donaldson and written by Daniel Pyne for Warner Bros. The movie is about a U.S. southwestern small-town sheriff who finds a body in the desert with a suitcase and $500,000. He impersonates the man and stumbles into an FBI investigation... |
Gorman Lennox | Roger Donaldson Roger Donaldson Roger Donaldson is an Australian-born New Zealand film producer, director and writer who has made numerous successful movies. He was a co-founder of the New Zealand Film Commission.-Life and career:... |
| 1994 | F.T.W. F.T.W. (film) F.T.W. is a 1994 film about Frank T. Wells, an ex-con rodeo rider who becomes involved with a woman who's a bank robber on the run.- Plot :... |
Frank T. Wells | Michael Karbelnikoff |
| 1995 | Fall Time Fall time In electronics, fall time \scriptstyle t_f\, is the time required for the amplitude of a pulse to decrease from a specified value to another specified value... |
Florence | Paul W. Warner |
| 1996 | Bullet | Butch 'Bullet' Stein | Julien Temple Julien Temple Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple... |
| 1997 | Double Team | Stavros | Tsui Hark Tsui Hark Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:... |
| The Rainmaker The Rainmaker (1997 film) The Rainmaker is a 1997 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon. Coppola wrote the script, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham.... |
J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone | Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors... |
|
| 1998 | Buffalo ’66 Buffalo ’66 Buffalo ’66 is a 1998 comedy-drama film that is writer/director Vincent Gallo's semi-autobiographical full-length motion picture debut. Gallo and Christina Ricci star in the lead roles and the supporting cast includes Mickey Rourke, Rosanna Arquette, Ben Gazzara, and Anjelica Huston... |
The Bookie | Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also... |
| Point Blank Point Blank (1998 film) Point Blank is a direct-to-video film directed by Matt Earl Beesley and starring Mickey Rourke. The film was shot on location in Fort Worth, Texas.-Plot:... |
Rudy Ray | Matt Earl Beesley Matt Earl Beesley Matthew Earl "Matt" Beesley is an American television director. He has directed episodes of television series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Prison Break, Lost, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds, The Closer and CSI: Miami. He directed the 1998 Mickey Rourke film Point... |
|
| Thursday Thursday (1998 film) Thursday is a 1998 American crime/thriller/black comedy movie written and directed by Skip Woods.-Plot:Casey Wells has cleaned up his life. He is now a married architect and is looking to adopt a child with his wife when Nick , an old partner from his days as a drug dealer in Los Angeles, shows up... |
Kasarov | Skip Woods Skip Woods Skip Woods, is an American screenwriter, producer and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for Swordfish and the film adaptation of the Hitman video game series... |
|
| 1999 | Out in Fifty Out in Fifty Out in Fifty is a 1999 independent film directed and written by Bojesse Christopher and Scott Leet, which also stars in this film together with actor Mickey Rourke. Film also stars Peter Greene, Ed Lauter, Balthazar Getty, James Avery and Christina Applegate as Lilah... |
Jack Bracken | Bojesse Christopher, Scott Anthony Leet |
| Shades Shades (film) Shades is a 1999 Belgian film directed by Erik Van Looy and written by Looy, Paul Breuls and Guy Lee Thys. The story is loosely inspired on the Belgian murderer Freddy Horion and his escape from prison in 1982.... |
Paul S. Sullivan | Erik Van Looy Erik Van Looy Erik Ludovicus Maria Van Looy is a Belgian film director.In Flanders he is also known as a television presenter .His most famous movies are:*Ad Fundum *Shades... |
|
| 2000 | Animal Factory Animal Factory Animal Factory is a 2000 American film about life in prison, set in San Quentin and directed by Steve Buscemi.-Plot:Edward Furlong plays a young man named Ron Decker, who is sent to prison for drug possession, and Willem Dafoe is veteran con Earl Copen who takes Decker under his wing and introduces... |
Jan the Actress | Steve Buscemi Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,... |
| Get Carter Get Carter (2000 film) Get Carter is the 2000 remake of the 1971 crime film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone in the title role. The film also features Miranda Richardson, Rachel Leigh Cook, Alan Cumming, Mickey Rourke, and Rhona Mitra. Michael Caine, who starred in the original, plays a supporting role... |
Cyrus Paice | Stephen Kay Stephen Kay -Career:He has directed the films Get Carter and Boogeyman. As well as directing episodes of Saved, The Shield, Friday Night Lights and Sons of Anarchy. Beginning his career as actor, his acting credits include Quantum Leap, Murder, She Wrote, Party of Five and regular roles in Deadly Games and... |
|
| 2001 | The Pledge The Pledge (film) The Pledge is a 2001 American mystery film directed by Sean Penn. It is based on the 1958 novella Das Versprechen: Requiem auf den Kriminalroman , by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt... |
Jim Olstad | Sean Penn Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism... |
| The Hire: The Follow The Hire: The Follow The Hire: The Follow is the fourth installment in the The Hire series by BMW films, written by Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It stars Clive Owen, Forest Whitaker, Adriana Lima and Mickey Rourke... |
Husband (short film) | Kar Wai Wong | |
| Picture Claire Picture Claire Picture Claire is a 2001 thriller film directed by Bruce McDonald of a screenplay by Semi Chellas. The film stars Juliette Lewis, Gina Gershon, Callum Keith Rennie, Kelly Harms, Camilla Rutherford, Peter Stebbings, and Mickey Rourke... |
Eddie | Bruce McDonald | |
| 2002 | Spun Spun Spun is a 2002 American crime dramedy directed by Jonas Åkerlund, and starring Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo, Patrick Fugit, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, and Debbie Harry. It is Åkerlund's début as a feature-film director, having already become known... |
The Cook | Jonas Åkerlund Jonas Åkerlund Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films... |
| 2003 | Masked and Anonymous Masked and Anonymous Masked and Anonymous is a 2003 comedy-drama film directed by Larry Charles, who is better known for his writing on successful TV sitcoms, Seinfeld and Mad About You and for executive producing episodes of The Tick and Dilbert. The film was written by Larry Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter under... |
Edmund | Larry Charles Larry Charles Larry Charles is an American writer, director, and producer. He is best known as a staff writer for the American sitcom Seinfeld for its first 5 seasons, contributing some of the show's darkest and most absurd storylines... |
| Once Upon a Time in Mexico Once Upon a Time in Mexico Once Upon a Time in Mexico is a 2003 action film written, edited and directed by Robert Rodriguez. It is the final film in the "Mariachi Trilogy", which also includes El Mariachi and Desperado. Antonio Banderas reprises his role as El Mariachi... |
Billy Chambers | Robert Rodriguez Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet... |
|
| 2004 | Man on Fire Man on Fire (2004 film) Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was also filmed in 1987.... |
Jordan Kalfus | Tony Scott Tony Scott Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable... |
| 2005 | Sin City Sin City (film) Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez... |
Marv | Robert Rodriguez Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet... & Frank Miller Frank Miller (comics) Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300... |
| Domino Domino (film) Domino is a 2005 American action film directed by Tony Scott and written by Richard Kelly. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who became a bounty hunter working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley as Domino and... |
Ed Mosbey | Tony Scott Tony Scott Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable... |
|
| 2006 | Stormbreaker Stormbreaker (film) Stormbreaker is a 2006 British spy film based on Anthony Horowitz's novel of the same name, the first novel in the Alex Rider series. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside actors Mickey Rourke and Bill Nighy... |
Darrius Sayle | Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of critically acclaimed and popular drama productions in both the UK and the United States.... |
| 2008 | The Wrestler | Randy "Ram" Robinson Randy Robinson Robin Ramzinski, is a fictional professional wrestler portrayed by Mickey Rourke in the film The Wrestler. He is better known by his ring name, Randy "The Ram" Robinson... |
Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. He attended Harvard University to study film theory and the American Film Institute to study both live-action and animation filmmaking... |
| 2009 | Killshot Killshot (film) Killshot is a 2009 thriller film based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard. The film is directed by John Madden and stars Diane Lane and Thomas Jane as a couple who, despite being in a witness protection program, are confronted by the criminal they outed, portrayed by Mickey... |
Armand "The Blackbird" Degas | John Madden John Madden (director) John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of... |
| The Informers | Peter | Gregor Jordan Gregor Jordan Gregor Jordan is an Australian film director.Jordan's films include Two Hands , Buffalo Soldiers , and Ned Kelly . He has also directed the concert video These Days: Live in Concert by Australian rock band Powderfinger.His film Two Hands won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Direction... |
|
| 2010 | 13 13 (film) 13 is an English-language remake of the 2005 French film 13 Tzameti. The film is directed and written by Géla Babluani, who directed and wrote the original film. A trailer was released in August 2010.-Plot:... |
Jefferson | Géla Babluani Géla Babluani Géla Babluani is a Georgian-French film director.Babluani was born in Tbilisi, son of prominent director Temur Babluani. At 17 years of age, he and his three siblings were sent to study in France. His first short film, A Fleur de Peau , received critical appraise... |
| Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon... |
Ivan Vanko/Whiplash Whiplash (comics) Whiplash is the name of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Each Whiplash is a minor supervillain in the Marvel Universe, with the first and latest appearing as prominent members of Iron Man's rogues gallery.-Mark Scarlotti:... |
Jon Favreau Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreau is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and comedian. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in Rudy, Swingers , Very Bad Things, and The Break-Up. His notable directorial efforts include Elf, Iron Man and its sequel, and Cowboys & Aliens... |
|
| The Expendables The Expendables (2010 film) The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is... |
Tool | Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Stallone Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed... |
|
| Passion Play | Nate Poole | Mitch Glazer Mitch Glazer Mitchell A. Glazer is an American movie producer, writer, and actor.-Biography:Glazer was born in Key Biscayne, Florida and was raised in Miami, the son of Leonard and Zelda Glazer, an English teacher. Glazer is a relative of Sidney Glazier and Tom Glazer. He attended Miami Beach High School. He... |
|
| 2011 | Immortals | King Hyperion | Tarsem Singh Tarsem Singh Tarsem Dhandwar Singh , known professionally as Tarsem, is an Indian director who has worked on films, music videos, and commercials.- Life and career :... |
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | City in Fear City in Fear (film) City in Fear is a 1980 Edgar Allan Poe Awarded television drama film. It was directed by Alan Smithee and Jud Taylor and written by Peter Masterson and Albert Ruben. The film stars David Janssen , Robert Vaughn, Mickey Rourke, Perry King, William Prince, Lane Smith, Mary Stuart Masterson and cameo... |
Tony Pate | Alan Smithee Alan Smithee Alan Smithee was an official pseudonym used by film directors who wish to disown a project, coined in 1968. Until its use was formally discontinued in 2000, it was the sole pseudonym used by members of the Directors Guild of America when a director dissatisfied with the final product proved to... Jud Taylor Jud Taylor Judson Taylor was an American actor, television director and television producer. He sometimes used the pseudonym Alan Smithee.... |
| Act of Love | Joseph Cybulkowski | Jud Taylor | |
| Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case | John Rideout | Peter Levin Peter Levin -Career:Since 1967, Levin has amassed a large number of credits directing episodic television and television films. Some of his television series credits include Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, James at 15, The Paper Chase, Family, Starsky & Hutch, Lou Grant, Fame, Cagney & Lacey, Law & Order and... |
|
| 1981 | Hardcase | Perk Dawson | Lee H. Katzin Lee H. Katzin Lee H. Katzin was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States, and became a TV director in the late 1960s, including episodes for Bonanza, Mission: Impossible and Police Story. He also directed the 1971 movie, Le Mans.... |
| 1994 | The Last Outlaw The Last Outlaw (TV) The Last Outlaw was a western released in 1994 starring Mickey Rourke, Dermot Mulroney, Ted Levine, Daniel Quinn, Gavan O'Herlihy, Keith David, John C. McGinley, and Steve Buscemi, along with a variety of other known actors, which has since become a cult classic among western genre fans... |
Graff | Geoff Murphy Geoff Murphy Geoff Murphy is a successful New Zealand filmmaker best known for his work during the renaissance of New Zealand cinema that began in the last half of the 1970s.... |
| 1998 | Thicker Than Blood | Father Frank Larkin | Richard Pearce |
| Year | Title | Role | Director |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Exit in Red | Ed Altman | Yurek Bogayevicz Yurek Bogayevicz Yurek Bogajevicz is a Polish film director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He directed, among others, Anna , Three of Hearts and Exit in Red .-Director:* Anna... |
| 1997 | Love in Paris: Another 9½ Weeks Love in Paris Love in Paris is a romance/drama film released in 1997, a sequel to 1986's 9½ Weeks. In the United States, it was released as Another 9½ Weeks.Mickey Rourke stars, reprising his original role as John Gray. Angie Everhart co-stars... |
John Gray | Anne Goursaud |
| 1998 | Point Blank Point Blank (1998 film) Point Blank is a direct-to-video film directed by Matt Earl Beesley and starring Mickey Rourke. The film was shot on location in Fort Worth, Texas.-Plot:... |
Rudy Ray | Matt Earl Beesley Matt Earl Beesley Matthew Earl "Matt" Beesley is an American television director. He has directed episodes of television series such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Prison Break, Lost, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Criminal Minds, The Closer and CSI: Miami. He directed the 1998 Mickey Rourke film Point... |
| 1999 | Out in Fifty Out in Fifty Out in Fifty is a 1999 independent film directed and written by Bojesse Christopher and Scott Leet, which also stars in this film together with actor Mickey Rourke. Film also stars Peter Greene, Ed Lauter, Balthazar Getty, James Avery and Christina Applegate as Lilah... |
Jack Bracken | Scott Leet Christopher Bojesse |
| Shergar | Gavin O'Rourke | Denis C. Lewiston | |
| 2001 | They Crawl | Tiny Frakes | John Allardice |
| Year | Title | Credit | Other work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Homeboy Homeboy (film) Homeboy is a 1988 drama film, directed by Michael Seresin. It was written by and stars Mickey Rourke in the role of self-destructive cowboy/boxer Johnny Walker... |
screenplay | |
| 1994 | F.T.W. F.T.W. (film) F.T.W. is a 1994 film about Frank T. Wells, an ex-con rodeo rider who becomes involved with a woman who's a bank robber on the run.- Plot :... |
story | |
| 1995 | Bullet | screenplay | music supervisor |
Career Awards
| Year | Award | Nomination | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award | Best Supporting Actor Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor -1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... |
Diner Diner (film) Diner is a 1982 comedy-drama film written and directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson's screen directing debut, Diner is the first in his "Baltimore films", which also include the subsequent Tin Men, Avalon and Liberty Heights.-Plot:... |
Won |
| National Society of Film Critics National Society of Film Critics The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:... |
Best Supporting Actor National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the National Society of Film Critics.The awards was given for the first time in 1968 .-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:... |
|||
| 1988 | Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... |
Best Actor Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Male Lead is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-External links:*... |
Barfly Barfly (film) Barfly is a 1987 American film which is a semi-autobiography of poet/author Charles Bukowski during the time he spent drinking heavily in Los Angeles. The screenplay by Bukowski was commissioned by the French film director Barbet Schroeder – it was published, with illustrations by the author, in... |
Nominated |
| 1991 | Razzie Award | Worst Actor Razzie Award for Worst Actor The Razzie Award for Worst Actor is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actor of the previous year. The following is a list of nominees and recipients of that award, along with the film for which they were nominated.... |
Desperate Hours Desperate Hours Desperate Hours is a 1990 remake of the 1955 William Wyler crime drama of the same title. Both films are based on the novel by Joseph Hayes, who also co-wrote the script for this movie with Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal... |
Nominated |
| Wild Orchid | ||||
| 2006 | Saturn Award Saturn Award The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within... |
Best Supporting Actor Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor (Film) The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Supporting Actor :... |
Sin City Sin City (film) Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez... |
Won |
| Chicago Film Critics Association Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong... |
Best Supporting Actor | |||
| Irish Film and Television Awards Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film and Television Awards were first awarded in 2003. Its sole aim is to celebrate Ireland's notably talented film and television community... |
Best International Actor | |||
| Online Film Critics Society Online Film Critics Society The Online Film Critics Society is a professional association for film critics who publish their reviews, interviews, and essays on the Internet.The OFCS was founded in 1997... |
Best Supporting Actor Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best supporting actor of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... |
|||
| Satellite Award | Best Supporting Actor Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor is one of the annual Satellite Awards given by the International Press Academy.-Drama :2000: Bruce Greenwood – Thirteen Days*Jeff Bridges – The Contender as Jackson Evans... |
Nominated | ||
| Washington DC Area Film Critics Association | Best Ensemble | Nominated | ||
| Critics' Choice Award | Best Ensemble | Nominated | ||
| Total Film magazine Total Film Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features... |
Man of the Year | Voted | ||
| 2008 | Moviefone Moviefone Moviefone is an American-based movie listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, theatre information, film reviews, or advance tickets... |
Sexiest Movie Couple | 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks 9½ Weeks is a 1986 erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. It is based on the novel of the same name by Elizabeth McNeill.... |
Voted |
| Golden Orange Award Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival The Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is a film festival, held annually since 1963 in Antalya, is the most important national film festival in Turkey... |
Honorary Award | Won | ||
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Actor - Drama | The Wrestler | Nominated | |
| Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards 2008 The 7th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards 2008 were given in December 2008.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler*Best Actress:**Meryl Streep - Doubt*Best Animated Film:**WALL•E... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| San Francisco Film Critics San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 The 7th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2008, were given on 15 December 2008.-Winners:*Best Picture:**Milk*Best Director:**Gus Van Sant - Milk*Best Original Screenplay:... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| Broadcast Film Critics Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2008 The 14th Critics' Choice Awards were presented on Thursday, January 8, 2009 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium to honor the finest achievements in 2008 filmmaking.Nominees were announced on December 9, 2008.-Best Film:Slumdog Millionaire... |
Best Actor | Nominated | ||
| San Diego Film Critics Society San Diego Film Critics Society The San Diego Film Critics Society is an organization of film reviewers from San Diego-based publications.Each year the SDFCS meets to vote on their San Diego Film Critics Society Awards for films released in the same calendar year.... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| Toronto Film Critics Association Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association is an organization of film reviewers from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is member of FIPRESCI.-History:... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| Chicago Film Critics Association Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2008 The 21st Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 18, 2008, honored the best in film for 2008. Disney/Pixar's WALL-E became the most successful film on this years' ceremony, won four awards, including Best Film, out of five nominations... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| Florida Film Critics Circle Florida Film Critics Circle Awards 2008 -Winners:*Best Actor:**Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler*Best Actress:**Melissa Leo - Frozen River*Best Animated Film:**WALL•E*Best Cinematography:**The Dark Knight*Best Director:**Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire*Best Documentary Film:... |
Best Actor | Won | ||
| Detroit Film Critics Society | Best Actor | Won | ||
| 2009 | Golden Globe Award Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign... |
Best Actor - Drama | Won | |
| Independent Spirit Award | Best Male Lead | Won | ||
| BAFTA Award | Best Actor | Won | ||
| Academy Awards Academy Awards An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers... |
Best Male Actor | Nominated | ||
| Chlotrudis Awards | Best Actor Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor The Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actor or actors whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and international... |
Nominated | ||
| Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"... |
Best Male Actor | Nominated | ||
| Santa Barbara International Film Festival Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival... |
Riviera Award | Awarded | ||
| 2010 | Scream Awards Scream Awards The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films. Originally only having Scream Queen and Heroic Performance awards for actors, the personnel awards have expanded to include actors and actresses of all three recognized genres. In addition,... |
Best Villain | Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon... |
Won |
| 2011 | MTV Movie Awards MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general... |
Best Villain MTV Movie Award for Best Villain This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:... |
Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 Iron Man 2 is a 2010 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the sequel to 2008's Iron Man, the second film in a planned trilogy and is a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Directed by Jon... |
Nominated |
Critical Acclaim
Only two films of Mickey Rourke’s are in the IMDb Top 250. Sin CitySin City (film)
Sin City, also known as Frank Miller's Sin City, is a 2005 crime thriller film written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez...
is #85 and The Wrestler is #78. According to Rotten Tomatoes, Mickey’s most “fresh” film is The Wrestler and most "rotten" film is Wild Orchid.
Rotten Tomatoes
Mickey Rourke films which rated as "fresh" on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
| Rank | Title | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Wrestler | 98% |
| 2 | Body Heat | 97% |
| 3 | Diner | 96% |
| 4 | The Pope of Greenwich Village | 89% |
| 5 | The Rainmaker | 88% |
| 6 | Animal Factory | 83% |
| 7 | Barfly | 80% |
| 8 | Sin City | 77% |
| Rank | Title | % |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Buffalo '66 | 77% |
| 10 | The Pledge | 77% |
| 11 | Angel Heart | 76% |
| 12 | Iron Man 2 | 74% |
| 13 | Once Upon a Time in Mexico | 69% |
| 14 | Rumble Fish | 68% |
| 15 | A Prayer for the Dying | 63% |
| 16 | 9½ Weeks | 62% |
| 17 | Year of the Dragon | 60% |
Metacritic
Mickey Rourke films which rate "fresh" on Metacritic.| Rank | Title | % |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diner | 86% |
| 2 | The Wrestler | 81% |
| 3 | Body Heat | 78% |
| 4 | The Rainmaker | 72% |
| 5 | The Pledge | 71% |
| 6 | Buffalo '66 | 68% |
| 7 | The Animal Factory | 65% |
| 8 | Rumble Fish | 63% |
Previous collaborations
During his career, Rourke worked with directors including Steven SpielbergSteven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Edward "Larry" Kasdan is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Kasdan was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sylvia Sarah , an employment counselor, and Clarence Norman Kasdan, who managed retail electronics stores.His Brother is the writer/producer Mark...
, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson
Barry Levinson is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, and producer of film and television. His films include Good Morning, Vietnam, Sleepers and Rain Man.-Early life:...
, Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg
Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose notable works included the movies Cool Hand Luke , Voyage of the Damned , The Amityville Horror , and The Pope of Greenwich Village .-Early life and career:Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Rosenberg studied Irish...
, Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg...
, Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino
Michael Cimino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and author. He is best known for writing and directing Academy Award-winning The Deer Hunter and the infamous Heaven's Gate. His films are characterized by their striking visual style and controversial subject...
, Adrian Lyne
Adrian Lyne
Adrian Lyne is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for directing films that focus on sexually charged characters and often uses natural light, a fog machine and other effects to create eroticized atmospheres...
, Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
, Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges
Mike Hodges is an English screenwriter, film director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include Get Carter, Pulp, The Terminal Man and Black Rainbow; as director his films include Flash Gordon, Croupier and I'll Sleep When I'm Dead...
, Barbet Schroeder
Barbet Schroeder
Barbet Schroeder is a Franco-Swiss movie director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working together with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette.-Life and career:...
, Walter Hill, Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark
Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...
, Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund
Jonas Åkerlund is a Swedish film and music video director, and drummer. He is best known for directing music videos, which are often mock forms of movie trailers and short films...
, Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai BBS is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized, emotionally resonant work, including Days of Being Wild , Ashes of Time , Chungking Express , Fallen Angels , Happy Together and 2046...
, Tony Scott
Tony Scott
Anthony D. L. "Tony" Scott is an English film director. His films include Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, The Last Boy Scout, True Romance, Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, Déjà Vu, The Taking of Pelham 123, and Unstoppable...
, Robert Rodriguez
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet...
and John Madden
John Madden (director)
John Philip Madden is an English director of theatre, film, television, and radio.- Biography :Madden was educated at Clifton College. He was in the same house as friend and fellow director Roger Michell. He began his career in British independent films, and graduated from the University of...
, as well as actors-turned-directors Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
and Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
. Rourke also starred in the films which also stars popular actors including Kim Basinger
Kim Basinger
Kimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
, Jean Claude Van Damme, Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
, Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
, Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
, Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
, Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone
Alicia Silverstone is an American actress, author, and former fashion model. She first came to widespread attention in music videos for Aerosmith, and is perhaps best known for her roles in Hollywood films such as Clueless and her portrayal of Batgirl in Batman & Robin .-Early life:Silverstone...
, Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
, Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and so on. Rourke worked with actor Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
5 times. They starred together in the films Heaven's Gate
Heaven's Gate (film)
Heaven's Gate is a 1980 American epic Western film based on the Johnson County War, a dispute between land barons and European immigrants in Wyoming in the 1890s...
, Homeboy
Homeboy (film)
Homeboy is a 1988 drama film, directed by Michael Seresin. It was written by and stars Mickey Rourke in the role of self-destructive cowboy/boxer Johnny Walker...
, Man on Fire
Man on Fire (2004 film)
Man on Fire is a 2004 American thriller film, based on the 1980 novel of the same name by A. J. Quinnell. Another film based on the same novel was also filmed in 1987....
, Domino
Domino (film)
Domino is a 2005 American action film directed by Tony Scott and written by Richard Kelly. It is inspired by the story of Domino Harvey, the English daughter of stage and screen actor Laurence Harvey, who became a bounty hunter working in Los Angeles. The film stars Keira Knightley as Domino and...
and voice acting in video game True Crime: New York City
True Crime: New York City
True Crime: New York City is an urban sandbox-style action-adventure videogame published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube consoles and Windows based computers. It is the second game of the True Crime series, released after True Crime: Streets of LA...
(2005).
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
stated to the Film Comment
Film Comment
Film Comment is an arts and culture magazine published by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, of which it is the official publication. Film Comment features critical reviews and in-depth analysis of mainstream, art-house, and avant-garde filmmaking from around the world...
on August, 1992 that destiny to make Homeboy with Mickey Rourke:
Other works
Mickey Rourke made his stage debut in a revival of Arthur MillerArthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's "A View From the Bridge". Rourke also lent his voice to the video games Driv3r
Driv3r
Driv3r, more commonly known as Driver 3 , is a racing, shooting, and adventure video game. It is the third installment in the popular Driver series and was developed by Reflections Interactive and published by Atari. Driv3r was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on June 21, 2004...
(2004) as Jericho and True Crime: New York City
True Crime: New York City
True Crime: New York City is an urban sandbox-style action-adventure videogame published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube consoles and Windows based computers. It is the second game of the True Crime series, released after True Crime: Streets of LA...
(2005) as Terrence "Terry" Higgins, which was the his fifth and last work with actor Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
. He also appeared in a Japanese TV commercial for Suntory
Suntory
is a Japanese brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan. Its business has expanded to other fields, and the company now offers everything from soft drinks to sandwich chains...
Reserve (early 90s) and a commercial for Daihatsu and Lark (cigarette)
Lark (cigarette)
Lark is a brand of cigarettes introduced in 1963 by Liggett & Myers and notable for its charcoal filter and past advertising campaigns, among which was one featuring people on the street being asked to "Show us your Lark pack".-Brand history and ownership:...
. More recently, in 2009, Rourke voiced the character of Dick Marcinko for the biographical video game Rogue Warrior, which was released on December 1, 2009. Ironically, Rourke's portrayal of Marcinko was a source of humorous praise from a few critics (although many others criticized Rourke's role to the same degree that they did every other aspect of the game).
Rourke starred in a music video, Hero
Hero (Enrique Iglesias song)
"Hero" is a single released by Enrique Iglesias from his second English album Escape and was written for his good friend Simon Baxendale, by Iglesias, Paul Barry and Mark Taylor. Enrique first released the song to radio in early September 2001 to a positive critical and commercial reception...
. He played a gangster in this Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
music video. Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...
also made an appearance in this clip. Rourke also provided the mid-song rap on the David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
song "Shining Star (Makin' My Love)" on his album Never Let Me Down (1987).