Mickey Rooney and wife Jan arrive for the 80th Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 24, 2008.
Source: UPI Photo/Phil McCarten
Mickey Rooney is an entertainment legend, whose career spans nearly his entire lifetime. He catapulted to superstardom in the late 1980s, and since then has been the recipient of an honorary Oscar, a Golden Globe, and an Emmy Award.
Despite his prestige in Hollywood, Rooney revealed in a heartbreaking testimony on Wednesday, March 2nd, that he was a victim of elder abuse, proving that no matter who you are, elder abuse can still happen to you.
The devastating reality is that elder abuse is a problem in the United States, where every year, as many as 2 million Americans 65 and older are mistreated, according to the National Center on Elder Abuse.
“When it happens, you feel scared, disappointed, yes, and angry,” Rooney said during a testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. “And you can’t believe that it’s happening to you. You feel overwhelmed.”
Rooney appeared at the hearing, entitled “Justice for All: Ending Elder Abuse, Neglect and Financial Exploitation,” to urge the Senate to push forward a law that will protect the elderly by making elder abuse a crime.
The committee chairman Senator Herb Kohl introduced the “Elder Abuse Victims Act,” legislation that establishes the Office of Elder Justice within the Department of Justice. The bill will empower law enforcement to fight against elder abuse.
“For years I suffered silently, I didn’t want to tell anybody. I couldn’t muster the courage,” Rooney said, emotional. “Even when I tried to speak up, I was told to shut up and be quiet […] It seemed that no one, no one wanted to believe me.”
Last month, Rooney was granted a temporary restraining order against his stepson, Christopher Aber, 52, the son of Rooney’s eighth wife Jan Chamberlin who he has been married to since 1978.
The actor alleged that Aber was verbally abusive towards him. According to court documents, Aber “threatens, intimidates, bullies and harasses” Rooney, who had become “a prisoner in his home.”
Aber also took away Rooney’s medication, food, passport and other forms of identification, as well as forcing him to sign financial documents without reading them and make personal appearances.
“And if it can happen to me, God-willing it and un-willing it, it can happen to anyone. I know what I’m talking about. And I’m not speaking just for myself or what I hope to be and what I was, what was taken from me,” Rooney continued.
“I’m asking you to stop this elderly abuse. I mean to stop it! Now! Not tomorrow, not next month, but now.”
The entire hearing can be seen at the Senate Special Committee on Aging website.
Watch segments of Rooney’s testimony in this video from CNN:
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