Rooney first performed in vaudeville as a child actor, and made his film debut at the age of 6 years. He played the title character in the popular "Mickey McGuire" series of 78 short films, from age 7 to 13. At 14 and 15, he played Puck in the play and subsequent film adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". At the age of 16 he began playing Andy Hardy, and gained first recognition at 17 as Whitey Marsh in "Boys Town." At only 19, Mickey Rooney became the second-youngest Best Actor in a Leading Role nominee and the first teenager to be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Mickey Moran in 1939 film adaptation of coming-of-age Broadway musical "Babes in Arms"; he was awarded a special Academy Juvenile Award in 1939. Rooney received his second Academy Award nomination in the same category for his role as Homer Macauley in "The Human Comedy". At 23, it also made him the third-youngest nominee in that very category before he was surpassed by 22-year-old Timothée Chalamet for his role as Elio Perlman in coming-of-age romantic drama film "Call Me by Your Name", in 2017, 74 years later.