A former boxer, Rourke, 73, turned to acting with small roles in the 1980 film 'Heaven's Gate' and 'Body Heat' a year later, before earning acclaim for his role in 1982's 'Diner'. Photo: TNS
Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke faces eviction from his Los Angeles home after failing to pay rent.
Rourke, whose birth name is Philip Andre Rourke Jr., received a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate the premises on Dec 18 and had failed to comply, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday (Dec 29).
At the time of the notice, he owed $59,100(RM239,887) in unpaid rent.
A representative for Rourke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, Rourke signed a lease for the three-bedroom, 2.5-bath house for US$5,200 (RRM21,103) a month; it was subsequently raised to $7,000 (RM28,401) a month, states the court filings.
A Zillow listing describes the property as a "nicely upgraded Spanish bungalow" built in 1926. Raymond Chandler was said to have resided there for two years in the 1940s.
The property's owner, Eric Gold, is requesting compensation for attorney's fees and for damages. A lawyer for Gold was unavailable for comment.
A former boxer, Rourke, 73, turned to acting with small roles in the 1980 film Heaven's Gate and Body Heat a year later, before earning acclaim for his role in 1982's Diner.
After a slate of leading roles in a number of movies including The Pope Of Greenwich Village, 9 1/2 Weeks and Rumble Fish, Rourke's film career took a nosedive, with his off-screen antics frequently overshadowing his acting.
"I lost everything. My house, my wife, my credibility, my career," he told The LA Times in an interview in 2008.
"I just all had all this anger from my childhood, which was really shame, not anger, and used it as armour and machismo to cover up my wounds. Unfortunately, the way I acted really frightened people, although it was really just me who was scared. But I was like this person who was short-circuited and I didn't know how to fix myself."
In 2005 he reemerged with the neo-noir action thriller Sin City.
Three years later, Rourke's portrayal of ageing, washed up wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, in the Darren Aronofsky film The Wrestler, earned him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for lead actor.
Rourke's return to the big screen has not been an entirely smooth ride.
In April, he agreed to exit Celebrity Big Brother UK after producers warned him over the use of "inappropriate language and instances of unacceptable behaviour," according to a statement a spokesperson for the show released at the time.
His remarks allegedly included comments about JoJo Siwa's sexuality
Following his departure from the reality show, his manager announced that he was pursuing legal action over a pay dispute, claiming that the show had disrespected her client by "publicly embarrassing him" and declined to pay him, according to People. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
