Mickey Rooney on a 1994 episode of ‘Full House’.Photo:ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
Sometimes meeting a Hollywood legend can go a little differently than expected.
On the Jan. 10 episode of his rewatch podcastFull House Rewind,Dave Coulieranswered a listener question about working with guest starMickey Rooneyon the ’90s series. Rooney,who died in 2014at the age of 93, appeared in theFull Houseseason 8 episode, “Arrest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” as Mr. Dreghorn, a Scrooge-like man whom the family helps connect with his daughter.
“I’m not sure how much of our audience will remember Mickey Rooney,” Coulier, 65, said. “But at one point, during his career, he was the biggest star on the planet.” From age 15 to 25, Rooney made 43 movies, and he continued to act up to his death.
From left: John Stamos, Ashley Olsen and Mickey Rooney on 1 994 episode of ‘Full House’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty
“He was a really interesting guy,” Coulier said, notinghe’d been married eight times. “He was really affable, and he knew the show. He knewFull House. And I thought, ‘Wow, that’s amazing that Mickey Rooney knows our show.’ I don’t know whether he really did or not.”
But soon, Coulier and his costarsJohn StamosandBob Sagetnoticed something odd. “Every conversation we would start, Mickey Rooney would become an expert at it,” he said. “We would talk about something and John would go, ‘I’m drumming with the Beach Boys’ and Mickey was like, ‘Oh man, the Beach Boys, I hung out with them.’ ”
“Every time we mentioned a subject, Mickey Rooney had a topper story,” he said. “So we started calling him ‘Topper.’ "
Once the trio caught on, they would bait Rooney into conversation. Coulier purposely mentioned playing hockey. “[He said], Oh man. I was the fastest skater growing up,’ and this and that. He said, ‘I played semi-pro.’ ” Coulier said that as a hockey player, he knows when someone says they played “semi-pro,” they didn’t, because someone who actually did would specify the league.
“I remember, I called him out. I go, ‘Do you shoot right or left?’ And he goes, ‘It doesn’t matter.' And I go, ‘Yes, it does,’ ” Coulier said.
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The cast of ‘Full House’ with Mickey Rooney (center) in 1994.American Broadcasting Companies/Getty
American Broadcasting Companies/Getty
Back at 90s Con in September 2024,Coulier reflected on what madeFull Housework. Initially, he said, the cast “didn’t know which direction the show was going to go,” or “if we were going to be a hit.”
“To have that much excitement and to be working with incredible funny actors … I’m always about how do we make people laugh, and when I saw Jodie [Sweetin] and Candace [Cameron Bure] and how funny they were, I thought, we’re good, these kids are really funny,” he said.
source: people.com