HOLLYWOOD

Mickey Rooney

HOLLYWOOD — Mickey Rooney, who died April 6 at age 93, was one of the last stars from Hollywood’s Golden Era. He and Judy Garland won special Oscars for their work in the films they made at MGM. I shot photos of Mickey when he filmed a commercial for Liberty Mutual and spent an entire day with him. He was charming, funny, told great stories and was easy to work with.

It was sad to hear that after 87 years of making top-notch films, doing Broadway shows and making appearances, his estate was valued at only $20,000. The law is checking into alleged financial hanky-panky by one of his step-children, who may have made off with the family fortune, taking advantage of his advanced age. To think, he had eight wives, the first of which was screen-legend Ava Gardner.

Last month we lost Shirley Temple, and now Mickey Rooney. Who’s left besides “Gone With the Wind’s” Olivia de Havilland (97 years old) and Luise Rainer, who won Oscar’s for “The Good Earth” and “The Great Ziegfeld,” who is 104?

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More trouble in paradise, this time for Jennifer Lopez’s 27-year-old boyfriend, Casper Smart (of 2010’s “Step Up 3D”). Even though his film “Restored Me” had a $1 million budget, it didn’t stretch far enough to pay the actors. Randall Wulff, a supporting actor in the film said, “Actors were informed by production manager Michele Turner via email that they weren’t going to be paid because investors had pulled out. She added, ‘I’m putting it into God’s hands, and if we all pray, we will all get paid for our hard work.'” Wulff, who was featured in films such as “Mulholland Drive” and TV shows such as “iCarly” and “The Bold and The Beautiful,” added, “In all my years acting, I’ve never had this happen before. This film was Screen Actors Guild sanctioned; The Guild won’t take this lying down!”

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Ryan Gosling will star and direct a biopic of Warner Bros. choreographer/director Busby Berkeley, famous for those overhead shots of beautiful showgirls in films such as the “Gold Diggers” and “42nd Street.”

Even though ratings have soared for the four remaining soaps on daytime TV, as of now, the Daytime Emmy Awards can’t find a TV network to air this year’s award show.

TVLand is reviving the first and most famous reality show, “Candid Camera.” Peter Funt, son of show creator Allen Funt, will produce 10 episodes to air this summer. The show began on radio in 1947 as “Candid Microphone.” If you look up from your paper right now, someone might say to you, “Smile, you’re on ‘Candid Camera’!”