Mickey Rooney has only been in television shows.
Boys Town is a 1938 biographical drama film based on Father Edward J. Flanagan 's work with a group of underprivileged and delinquent boys in a home that he founded and named `` Boys Town '' . It stars Spencer Tracy as Father Edward J. Flanagan , and Mickey Rooney with Henry Hull , Leslie Fenton , and Gene Reynolds Legendary MGM Studio head Louis B. Mayer , who was a Ukrainian-American Jew known for his respect for the Catholic Church , later called this his favorite film of his tenure at MGM . In 1941 , MGM made a sequel , Men of Boys Town , with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney reprising their roles from the earlier film . Mickey Rooney . In 1938 , he co-starred in Boys Town .