Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The main film series was released from 1937 to 1946, with a final film made in 1958 in an unsuccessful attempt to continue the series. Hardy and other characters initially appeared in the 1928 play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol. Early films in the series were about the Hardy family as a whole, but later entries focused on the character of Andy Hardy. Rooney was the only member of the ensemble to appear in all 16 films. The Hardy films, which were enormously popular in their heyday, were sentimental comedies, celebrating ordinary American life.
Mickey Rooney (center) as Andy Hardy, with Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone) and Mrs. Hardy (Fay Holden), 1939
Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney in Love Finds Andy Hardy
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc., is an American media company specializing in film and television production and distribution. Founded on April 17, 1924, and based in Beverly Hills, California, since 2022 it is owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon.
Clark Gable
Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery in Min and Bill (1930)
Spencer Tracy in Fury (1936)
The MGM sign being dismantled once Lorimar took control of the Culver City lot in 1986