Editing Mickey Rooney (section)

=== Final years ===
[[File:Uso-show-mickey-rooney.jpg|thumb|Mickey Rooney speaks at [[the Pentagon]] in 2000 during a ceremony honoring the [[United Service Organizations|USO]]]]

Rooney wrote a memoir titled ''Life Is too Short'', published by [[Villard Books]] in 1991. A ''[[Library Journal]]'' review said, "From title to the last line, 'I'll have a short bier', Rooney's self-deprecating humor powers this book." He wrote a novel about a child star, published in 1994, ''The Search for Sonny Skies''.<ref name="NPR-AP-4-7-14">{{cite news |title=Iconic Hollywood actor Mickey Rooney dies at 93 |publisher=NPR |date=April 7, 2014 |agency=Associated Press |type=obituary |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=300098513 |access-date=April 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413142323/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=300098513 |archive-date=April 13, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 10, 2000, he starred in the Disney Channel original movie ''[[Phantom of the Megaplex]]''.

Despite the millions of dollars that he earned over the years, such as his $65,000-a-week earnings from ''Sugar Babies'', Rooney was plagued by financial problems late in life. His longtime gambling habit caused him to "gamble away his fortune again and again". He declared bankruptcy for the second time in 1996 and described himself as "broke" in 2005. He kept performing on stage and in the movies, but his personal property was valued at only $18,000 when he died in 2014.<ref>{{cite news |author=Duke, Alan |date=May 9, 2014 |title=Mickey Rooney's widow contests late actor's will |publisher=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/08/showbiz/mickey-rooney-will/index.html}}</ref>

Rooney and his wife Jan toured the country in 2005 through 2011 in a musical [[revue]] called ''Let's Put on a Show''. ''Vanity Fair'' called it "a homespun affair full of dog-eared jokes" that featured Rooney singing [[George Gershwin]] songs.<ref name="Vanity Fair – April 7, 2014"/>

In 2006, Rooney played Gus in ''[[Night at the Museum]]''.<ref name="USA Today - 17 Dec 2014"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-films-of-mickey-rooney/33/ |title=The films of Mickey Rooney ''Night at the Museum'' |work=[[CBS News Sunday Morning]] |access-date=June 18, 2017}}</ref> He returned to play the role again in the sequel ''[[Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian]]'' in 2009, in a scene that was deleted from the final film.<ref name="USA Today - 17 Dec 2014"/>

[[File:คุณ โรเจอร์ สไตน์แมนน์ เป็นผู้กำกับภาพยนตร์เรื่อง Mickey Rooney ใน lllusion Infinity (2004).jpg|thumb|Rooney on the set of ''[[Illusion Infinity]]'' (2003) with director [[Roger Steinmann]]]]

On May 26, 2007, Rooney was grand marshal at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival. He made his British [[pantomime]] debut, playing Baron Hardup in ''[[Cinderella]]'', at the [[Sunderland Empire Theatre]] over the 2007 Christmas period,<ref name="Panto">{{cite news |title=Mickey Rooney makes panto debut |website=Channel&nbsp;4 News |place=UK |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/mickey+rooney+makes+panto+debut/1154447 |access-date=September 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mickey Rooney: The Mickey show |date=December 14, 2008 |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |place=London, UK |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mickey-rooney-the-mickey-show-1063838.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=January 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/mickey-rooney-the-mickey-show-1063838.html |archive-date=May 14, 2022}}</ref> a role he reprised at Bristol Hippodrome in 2008 and at the Milton Keynes theater in 2009.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Cinderella'' with Mickey Rooney, Milton Keynes Theatre |date=December 6, 2009 |type=review |website=West-End Whingers |via=wordpress.com |url=http://westendwhingers.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/review-cinderella-with-mickey-rooney-milton-keynes-theatre |access-date=January 16, 2012}}</ref>

In 2011, Rooney made a cameo appearance in ''[[The Muppets (2011 film)|The Muppets]]'', and in 2014, at age 93, six weeks before his death, he reprised his role as Gus in ''[[Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb]]'', which was dedicated to [[Robin Williams]], who also died that year, and to him.<ref>{{cite web | title=''Night at the Museum'' Mickey Rooney's highest paying job | website=2paragraphs | date=December 21, 2014 | url=https://2paragraphs.com/2014/12/night-at-the-museum-mickey-rooneys-highest-paying-job/ | access-date=September 3, 2019}}</ref> Although reliant on a wheelchair, he was described by director [[Shawn Levy]] as "energetic and so pleased to be there. He was just happy to be invited to the party."<ref name="USA Today - 17 Dec 2014">{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Bryan |date=December 17, 2014 |title=Mickey Rooney gives one final ''Museum'' moment |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2014/12/17/mickey-rooney-night-at-the-museum/20522953/ |access-date=January 10, 2015}}</ref>

An October 2015 article in ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' maintained that Rooney was frequently abused and financially depleted by his closest relatives in the last years of his life. The article said that it was clear that "one of the biggest stars of all time, who remained aloft longer than anyone in Hollywood history, was in the end brought down by those closest to him. He died humiliated and betrayed, nearly broke, and often broken."<ref name=THR/>