Pat Rooney

Background

Pat Rooney was born on 4 July 1880 in New York City, the son of Patrick James Rooney, a popular singer of Irish character songs, and of Josie Granger, an actress.

Career

After Rooney's father died in 1892, Pat Rooney went on the stage with his sister Mattie. Although he occasionally branched into other areas of entertainment, the variety stage dominated his lifelong show business career. Rooney began in musical comedy in In Atlantic City, a show that toured the East in 1897 and 1898. He continued performing in vaudeville and nightclubs as well. He was a song-and-dance man and dance director for numerous Rogers Brothers productions, successful vaudeville farces performed between 1901 and 1907.

Following a tour in a popular melodrama, Daughters of the Poor, in 1903, he met Marion Bent while dancing in an English pantomime entitled Mother Goose. Rooney and Bent formed a memorable vaudeville dance team. They were frequent performers at the Palace Theater and on many other variety entertainment stages throughout the United States.

In 1919 Rooney introduced a waltz clog to the tune of "The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady" that identified him throughout his career.

In addition to vaudeville, Rooney and Bent continued performing in musical comedy.

In 1925 Rooney and Bent starred in The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, a musical developed around the song and already famous Rooney waltz clog; it played in Washington, D. C. , Philadelphia, and Baltimore.

In 1932 after Bent's retirement, Rooney returned to the Palace Theater to team with Herman Timberg, forming one of the popular Jewish-Irish pairs of vaudeville.

Rooney also performed at the Capitol Theatre and Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, assisted on many occasions by his son, Pat Rooney III.

Marion Bent died in 1940.

In February 1941, Rooney was forced to declare bankruptcy. His creditors included George M. Cohan, a friend from Rooney's youth, and Bob Hope.

In 1929 Rooney performed a dance routine in Night Club, one of the first sound films made in the Astoria Studios, and later appeared in Variety Time (1948).

He wrote several popular songs, including "You Are the O'Reilly" and "You Be My Ootsie, I'll Be Your Tootsie. "

In the stage production of Guys and Dolls (1950) Rooney created the role of Arvide Abernathy, the drum-beating missionary whose daughter falls in love with an underworld character. Although a waltz clog was originally planned for Rooney, it seemed out of character and was never performed. Instead Rooney sang "More I Cannot Wish You, " which turned into a memorable moment in this landmark musical.

Rooney performed occasional banquet, fundraising, television, and nightclub dates right up to his death, in New York City. [

Personality

Critics frequently commented on Rooney's youthful appearance and vigor throughout his lifetime.

Quotes from others about the person

• Alexander Woollcott wrote of Rooney's performance in Love Birds (1921), "Pat Rooney is an amazing phenomenon.
  
  But as a permanent youngster.
  
  He looks (and behaves) now like one of the younger sophomores at Rutgers.
  
  Yet this is set down by one who quite definitely recalls having seen him and Marion Bent in vaudeville fully sixteen years ago.
  
  That interval has not altered him in any way at all.
  
  Very likely he is ninety and has ten grandchildren in the army. "

Connections

In 1903 he met Marion Bent while dancing in an English pantomime entitled Mother Goose. They were married on April 10, 1904, and had one son, Pat Rooney III. Marion Bent died in 1940.

On July 21, 1942, he married Helen Rubon Rooney, a dancer and the divorced wife of his son. She died in 1943, and Rooney married Carmen Schaffer on January 21, 1944.

Father:

Patrick James Rooney

Mother:

Josie Granger

Sister:

Mattie

Stage partner:

Herman Timberg

Wife:

Helen

On July 21, 1942, he married Helen Rubon Rooney, a dancer and the divorced wife of his son.

Wife:

Marion Bent

Wife:

Carment

She died in 1943, and Rooney married Carmen Schaffer on January 21, 1944.

Son:

Pat Rooney III