Mickey Rooney Refused To Share The Remainder Of His Net Worth With His Disinherited Kids Before He D
Highlights
- Despite being a Hollywood legend, Mickey Rooney was not as rich as modern movie stars and lost almost all of his money before his death.
- Rooney's stepson, Christopher Aber, and his wife allegedly financially and verbally abused him, taking control of his accounts and withholding necessities.
- Rooney's estate was left to his stepson, Mark Aber, who was accused of neglecting Rooney in his final days, causing his death.
Over the last several years, it has become increasingly common for stars like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis to announce they aren't leaving money to their children. In some cases, that has led to problems like Tori Spelling struggling financially despite how much money her father left to others.
After decades of working in Hollywood, the legendary actor Mickey Rooney passed away in 2014. After Rooney took his final breath, it was revealed to the public that he left nothing to the many children he fathered during his 93 years of living.
How Did Mickey Rooney Go Broke?
At the height of Mickey Rooney's career, he accomplished something that very few people have in the history of Hollywood. For three years straight in 1939, 1949, and 1941, Rooney was the biggest box office attraction in the movie industry.
Back when Rooney was at the top of Hollywood, he reportedly was the highest-paid performer in the business. Even when his career started to go downhill, the actor continued to act throughout the rest of his life.
Looking back at Rooney's career, it certainly seems like he should have been rich throughout his life. On top of that, most people likely assume that Rooney left behind a massive fortune when he passed away.
In reality, however, Rooney lost almost all of his money in a truly tragic and shocking turn of events. Before getting to that, there is another thing that anyone wanting to understand Rooney's finances has to learn first.
These days, it is pretty common for the biggest movie stars to be paid $20 million or more for a single performance. In some cases, there have been some actors that have been paid tens of millions more than that for a single project if they have the clout to demand a share of the profits.
Back when Rooney was the biggest movie star in the world, figures like that were completely unfathomable. According to Celebrity Net Worth, when Rooney was the highest-paid actor in the world, he was only being paid $25,000 per movie.
Of course, since a lot has changed since the '30s and '40s, that figure has to be adjusted for inflation. Celebrity Net Worth reports that Rooney would have been paid roughly $275,000 per movie in today's dollars. Since Rooney worked a lot those days, they also report that he made roughly $2.5 million in today's dollars annually when he was at the height of his career.
All things considered, even though Rooney is a legend with many stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he was never even close to as rich as today's biggest stars. That said, he still should have been able to live comfortably until the day he died.
Tragically for Rooney, it appears that someone he should have been able to trust was most responsible for his financial losses. After Rooney got a court-appointed conservator named Michael R. Augustine, they sued the actor's stepson Christopher Aber.
Similar to other stars like Kate Gosselin who've become estranged from their children, Rooney didn't have a relationship with his biological children. As a result, when Rooney got older and needed assistance in his day-to-day life, he began leaning on his stepson Christopher Aber.
According to the lawsuit that was filed on Rooney's behalf, Christopher Aber and his wife Christina Aber "financially and verbally abused" the famous actor. Further, the lawsuit alleged that the Abers went to great lengths to have near-complete control over Rooney for a decade.
In the legal filing that was presented on Rooney's behalf, they alleged that the Abers went through the following process, so they could take advantage of the actor.
The first step of that process was that Christopher Aber had himself named an account owner who had control over Rooney's banking. Secondly, the Abers set up a P.O. Box and had all of Rooney's mail sent there.
The lawsuit alleges that once the Abers had control over Rooney's accounts and the information going to him, they took control over his life. In some cases, that allegedly meant withholding food and medication which would leave Rooney feeling depressed.
More notably for this article, the Abers allegedly used the money in Rooney's account to pay their personal expenses. If that wasn't bad enough, the Abers also simply transferred money to their account according to the lawsuit.
Ultimately, the Abers settled the lawsuit that was filed on Rooney's behalf and agreed to pay back $2.8 million as well as undisclosed punitive damages. Of course, many lawsuits end and the people involved don't pay what they agreed to. Sadly, the Abers don't seem to have paid up since Rooney's estate upon his passing was reportedly worth just $18,000.
Who Inherited Mickey Rooney's Estate?
After Mickey Rooney passed away, The Hollywood Reporter published an article about the actor's "disturbing final years". In that piece, Gary Baum and Scott Feinberg wrote about Rooney's relationship with his biological children.
"Left in the wake of this were 10 children with whom Rooney elected to have little contact; indeed, in his 1991 autobiography, he devoted more words to his pets than his kids."
Because Rooney was estranged from his biological children to the point that they weren't part of his life, it isn't surprising they weren't left anything. It could also be argued that Rooney leaving nothing to his widow is understandable since they were separated before he passed even though they never divorced.
What is bound to get some people questioning things, however, is what happened to Rooney's estate. According to reports, Rooney altered his will three weeks before his passing to leave everything to his stepson, Mark Aber.
For anyone who recognizes that name, Aber, that is because Christopher able got sued by Rooney, and he isn't the one who got his estate. No, it was his brother, Mark Aber.
After getting the estate, Mark Aber was accused of holding Rooney hostage in his final days and neglecting him which allegedly led to the actor's passing. In a surprising twist, it was Christopher Aber who accused Mark Aber of mistreating Rooney even though he was sued for the same thing.
After Rooney passed away, there was a fight over his remains and the legendary actor's estate. Ultimately, those fights were dropped and Mark Aber walked away with the estate.
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