Former child actor Teddy Rooney dead

Los Angeles, July 6 (IANS) Teddy Rooney, a former child actor, musician and son of the late actor Mickey Rooney, has died. He was 66.

Teddy died last weekend in a convalescent home in Southern California after a long illness, his sister Kelly told hollywoodreporter.com.

His mother was model and actress Martha Vickers ("The Big Sleep"), the third of Mickey Rooney's eight wives. They were married from 1949-51.

Teddy appeared with his father in "Andy Hardy Comes Home" (1958) and on a 1960 instalment of "General Electric Theater". Earlier, he acted alongside his mother on a 1957 episode of anthology series, "Playhouse 90".

He also starred in films like "It Happened to Jane" (1959) with Doris Day and Jack Lemmon, and "Seven Ways From Sundown" (1960) with Audie Murphy and on TV shows including Shirley Temple's "Storybook", "Wagon Train", "The Rifleman", "Lassie" and "McHale's Navy".

Teddy left acting in the early 1960s to focus on a career as a musician. He played bass and sang with his brothers Mickey Jr and Tim in the Columbia Records act The Rooney Brothers, and he was a member of the garage band The Yellow Payges.

He also served in the Vietnam War. Survivors include his wife Carol and children Shannon and Dominique