Biography
Mickey Rourke originally aspired to careers as a pro baseball player and - later - a championship boxer, but did a 180 away from the ring and cut his chops as an actor instead. Rourke launched his career with small roles in
1941 (1979) and
Heaven's Gate (1981) before gaining broader notice as a pyro expert in
Body Heat (1981) and one of the raunchier leads in
Barry Levinson's
Diner (1982). He followed with admirable work in
Rumble Fish (1983) and
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), and gave a bravura performance as fanatically determined police captain Stanley White in
Year of the Dragon (1985). When the film was slammed by critics, Rourke defended director
Michael Cimino and snubbed all interview requests. He immediately gained a reputation as a perfectionist, agreeing only to work with directors and on projects that met with his high standards. His 1987 performances in
Angel Heart,
A Prayer for the Dying, and
Barfly attest to this, but starring roles in
Adrian Lyne's infamous 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) and
Zalman King's
Wild Orchid (1990) gave him a "Eurotrash" taint, only enhanced by his hot temper and maverick nature. These qualities, however, while career poison in the U.S., did nothing to hurt Rourke's reputation in France, where filmgoers adored him.
From the late '80s through the early '90s, the career of this disillusioned actor with the potential of
Robert De Niro spiraled down, down, down, with his co-starring appearance in
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991) just one nadir. He wrote, produced, and starred in
Homeboy (1988), a film about a near brain-dead prize fighter. It skipped theatrical release and went straight to home video. The masochistic connection between this film and Rourke's subsequent resumption of his boxing career (from 1991-1994) was undeniable, though he continued to appear sporadically in small films and supporting roles. In 1997, Rourke reprised his role as an s&m fetishist in Another 9 1/2 Weeks, a virtual remake of the original, only sans the redeeming presence of
Kim Basinger.
Although Rourke's career consisted primarily of direct-to-video titles for several years, he had enough friends and respect among his contemporaries that he hung on to his rebound potential, and his small role in
Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 adaptation of
John Grisham's
The Rainmaker marked something of a comeback. The following year,
Vincent Gallo, an unapologetic fan of Rourke's, cast him as the antagonist in Gallo's directorial debut,
Buffalo '66; the long-dormant
Terrence Malick also cast Rourke in his critically-worshipped
Thin Red Line (1998), but Malick excised the actor's scenes from the final cut, probably to reduce the film's whopping length. Rourke showed flashes of his former brilliance in
Steve Buscemi's
Animal Factory (2000), joined the cast of the Sly Stallone-headlined
Get Carter remake that same year, and gave an impressive supporting performance in
Sean Penn's police procedural-cum-harrowing study of obsession,
The Pledge (2001).
Rourke also signed on with director
Robert Rodriguez for the third of that helmer's
Mariachi films,
Once Upon a Time in Mexico, in 2003. As a harbinger of things to come, a powerful creative bond formed between the weathered, iconic Rourke and the tireless director on the
Mexico set. In 2005 the duo again teamed for Rodriguez's and Frank Miller's eagerly anticipated big screen adaptation of
Miller's
Sin City comics. Cast as lovelorn brute Marv, Rourke delivered an impressive performance as an imposing beast of a fellow bent on avenging the death of an angelic prostitute in this stylish noir comic book come to life, which gave him cult status among a new generation of fans. In 2004, Rourke delivered a memorable supporting performance in
Tony Scott's
Man on Fire alongside
Denzel Washington; it marked the first film in a two-picture creative partnership between Scott and Rourke, the second half of which came to fruition with 2005's
Domino.
2006 saw Rourke appearing in Stormbreaker (co-starring
Bill Nighy and
Ewan McGregor) with Rourke as the nasty villain opposite
Alex Pettyfer's "teen spy" Alex Ryder.
Killshot, with Rourke as the hitman who attempts to rub out married Federal Witnesses
Diane Lane and
Thomas Jane, ended up being delayed significantly. The film marked Rourke's first collaboration with Lane since Francis Coppola's critically-championed 1983 cult film
Rumble Fish.
At about the same time, Rourke official enlisted in the
Quentin Tarantino-
Robert Rodriguez horror compilation Grind House (two horror featurettes with mock movie previews sandwiched in-between);
Henry and
Mad Dog helmer
John McNaughton's The Night Job, alongside
Ray Liotta and
Marisa Tomei; and
Sin City 2, Rodriguez's much-anticipated follow-up to the earlier smash.
Rourke was married to Debra Feuer from 1981-89 and
Wild Orchid co-star Carre Otis from 1992-1998. Both marriages ended in divorce. ~ All Movie Guide