Mickey shows his mettle

SURELY I can't be the only person wondering how 87-year-old film legend Mickey Rooney is going to manage 52 performances as Baron Hardup in Sunderland Empire's version of Cinderella? My first glimpse of the man making his panto debut is in a chair in the corridor outside the dressing room - I discover later that Mickey is finding the dressing room too hot - where he swats aside my cheery 'happy birthday' for the day before with a wave of his hand and the response "we all have birthdays, even you have a birthday".

So I go to join the queue of regional media for "ten minutes" with the star of the show, reflecting that Mickey's mood seems little better than when I chatted to him on the phone in Los Angeles last year after he'd announced a one-night show at Darlington's Civic Theatre.

Then, he preferred questions limited to his Let's Put On A Show tour with wife Jan Chamberlain Rooney rather than discuss an illustrious career spanning more than 200 movies and earning the title of "fifth greatest actor of all time". This time it's strictly panto with requests for information outside the box greeted with his two favourite responses "let's move on" and "let's not get into that". With Mickey and his eighth wife constantly talking at the same time, my ten minutes are far from dull even if the actor born in New York as Joseph Yule Jr won't even allow himself to be described as the last Hollywood superstar of his era.

"I don't think I'm the last of the Hollywood legends," he says, but then softens when I add "still performing" and he comments: "God is the answer to that. He's given me longevity and I still know what I'm doing." A look of stunned surprise greets my statement that if my 80-year-old father told me he was going to appear in two shows a day from December 8 until January 6 I'd have to ask him 'are you sure about this dad?'.

He replies: "What do you want me to say to you? I'll tell you why (he keeps touring), you meet new friends and the audience feedback means so much to us. If they were hissing and booing I don't think we'd be doing this."

Jan chips in: "He's used to it because we're travelling constantly with our show and he is used to the inertia. He doesn't like to sit around. No grass grows under Mickey's feet. I find it a bit hard to keep up with this man."

Mickey adds: "I always say 'don't retire, inspire' because what happens to you when you retire?" and he breaks off to pull a ga-ga expression. "You know what that means?

"I think that when you're a business like Jan and I are then you never get bored and you never take anything for granted. A lot of people do take things for granted these days."

When invited by Jan to enlarge on that point Mickey responds: "I don't want to get philosophic but people don't think that time is going and they're not having fun and you can't work for fun... but I don't want to get into that."

What the two do want is to make their panto roles a success. They're intrigued by the participation side of the show with Jan fulfilling a childhood dream of playing Fairy Godmother.

Talking about his role (as Baron Hardup), Mickey says: "I'll have to be natural and pleasant at times and unpleasant at other times," promising that the panto's ugly sisters aren't going to get an easy ride.

Last year saw Mickey appear in yet another Hollywood movie, Night At The Musem, and star Ben Stiller went on to recruit Mickey and Jan for another project.

"Mickey and I just did a cameo in a film directed by Ben Stiller, which will be out in July of 2008, and it's called Tropic Thunder in which we play a couple of old farmers," says Jan.

Our discussion touches on the role of tour manager Chris Aber, Mickey's stepson, who recently refused to be drawn into a row with other family members - Mickey was nine children and another stepson - over the extent of the actor's workload and earnings.

Jan says: "Our son Christopher works with us all the time and he's bringing the two little grandsons over, Harrison and Hunter, and they're both little entertainers and they both may be in the show. We're hoping that the three-year-old will be able to show his singing ability. He sang the Hallelujah Chorus yesterday and his mother had to calm him down."

The couple planned to return to Los Angeles for a few weeks after the Mickey and Jan UK tour ended at York on Monday.

Mickey reminds me that he and his wife of almost 30 years have their own star on Hollywood boulevard in addition to the three he's earned already for his Oscar-winning career in film, TV and radio.

"A good deal of the fans we meet after the show are saying 'we'll see you at the panto' so that's thrilling to us. Panto was something we'd never tried before and we're always good for a new challenge. I think that's what is keeping us young."

Then my ten minutes is up and with a "God bless" Mickey returns to his solitary seat in the corridor to recover from the increasing warmth of the dressing room.

Two things occur to me after an audience with an octogenarian superstar.

Firstly, the demand for tickets to see Mickey Rooney is going to be high.

Secondly, the demand for insurance for Mickey Rooney is going to be astronomical.

* Cinderella is at the Sunderland Empire from Saturday December 8 until Sunday January 6. Tickets: £7.50-£20.50. Box Office: 0870 602 1130.