Barfly

18/10/8

While checking out grumpy Ringo, Parishioners, I recently ran across this:

Mickey Rourke has always been Our Favourite Barfly

Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.

Philip Andre “Mickey” Rourke, Jr. (born September 16, 1952 in Schenectady, New York) is an American actor, who has appeared primarily in action, drama and thriller films. Trained as a boxer in his early years, Rourke had a short stint as a pro fighter in the 1990s.

Rourke’s acting career eventually became overshadowed by his personal life and seemingly eccentric 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”. He is alleged to have turned down a number of high-profile acting roles, including Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop, Jack Crawford in The Silence of the Lambs, Tom Cruise’s role in Rain Man, Nick Nolte’s part in 48 Hrs., Christopher Lambert’s part in Highlander and a part in Platoon. 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.　 In the early 1990s, Quentin Tarantino offered Rourke the part of Butch Coolidge in Pulp Fiction. Rourke declined.

Despite having withdrawn from acting at various points, and having made movies that he now sees as a creative “sell-out” (the action film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man), Rourke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“.

In November 2006, during an interview, he called Tom Cruise “a cunt” for his attacks on Brooke Shields and psychiatry.

In February 2007 he was in South Beach, Florida, protesting against a puppy store he claims sells dogs with parvo. (spread, Parishioners, by contact with an infected dog’s faeces. Symptoms include lethargy, severe diarrhea, fever, vomiting, loss of appetite, and dehydration)

Dr. Who?
By 2002, Mickey Rourke had begun to look like a surgically revised version of his old self. Rumors spread of face-lifts and drug and alcohol use.

Wanda: I hate people…do you hate them?
Henry: No…but I seem to feel better when they’re not around

Mane event
Who did your hair, Edward Scissorhands? In 2003, a dark, wild-haired Mickey Rourke looked a lot like director Tim Burton.

Old Fart: Now look. Twenty bucks for that kind of head is outrageous.
Grandma Moses: I did ya good, old fart. I did ya good. I oughta bit your champagne cork off.
Old Fart: I’m givin’ ya fifteen bucks.
Grandma Moses: Twenty bucks. Nobody in this neighborhood can swallow paste like I can.

Bang up job
In the mid-1990s, at Johnny Depp’s New York birthday party, Depp was dating Kate Moss and Mickey Rourke was trying to get back with his estranged girlfriend, Carre Otis. Both volatile relationships were destined not to last. Thankfully, neither did Rourke’s piece-y fringe bangs.

He will also appear alongside Ray Liotta in John McNaughton’s The Night Job.

Here’s another guy who’s not lookan so good…