Claim: Mickey Rooney was in a film based on a work.

Requiem for a Heavyweight was a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show Playhouse 90 on 11 October 1956 . Six years later , it was adapted as a 1962 feature film starring Anthony Quinn , Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney .   The teleplay won a Peabody Award , the first given to an individual script , and helped establish Serling 's reputation . The broadcast was directed by Ralph Nelson and is generally considered one of the finest examples of live television drama in the United States , as well as being Serling 's personal favorite of his own work . Nelson and Serling won Emmy Awards for their work .