Pat Rooney was actually three guys: Pat Rooneys Senior, Junior and III.
Pat Rooney Senior (1844-92) was an old time variety contemporary of Eddie Foy, Harrigan and Hart and Maggie Cline. He sang character songs, did jigs and played the stereotyped Irishman to the hilt – but apparently with a tad more gentility and subtlety than was the wont of most of his compatriots. Pat Rooney, Sr. was one of the major stars of his day, and a staple at Tony Pastor’s.
Pat Rooney, Jr. (1880-1962) formed a dance team with his wife Marion Bent. They were part of the generation that went from clog dancing to tap. Rooney Junior was apparently one of vaudeville’s most remarkable dancers. According to W.C. Fields, “If you didn’t hear the taps, you would think he was floating…”
When Bent retired in 1932, Pat Rooney III (1909-79) stepped into her shoes. According to historian Anthony Slide, the routine the father and son did “has never been successfully copied.” As Pat Rooney, Jr. slipped into retirement, number three continued to work solo for a number of years. He passed away in 1979.
To find out more about these variety artists and the history of vaudeville, consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever nutty books are sold.
(Travalanche) 
And don’t forget Julia Rooney, whom Pat III’s wife called the most talented of the bunch.
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I am writing the first book on 19th century rotunda panoramas.These were the biggest paintings in the world, 50 x 400=20,000 square feet, housed in their own rotundas which were 16-sided polygons. Chicago in 1893 had 6 panorama companies and 6 panorama rotundas. Am seeking background on Wendell Stanton Howard a.k.a. Winfield Scott Hewitt Roney
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Perhaps you know of the Cyclorama building in Boston?
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclorama_Building.
The building is still standing,
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very cool!
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Yes, I visited this with the International Panorama Committee several years ago. JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION stands at Ste Anne de Beaupre outside Qubec. This was made in New York City by Dr. Ernest Pierpont, who was associated with Reed & Gross of Chicago/Englewood. The rotunda, patented by Charles Henry Ritter–see GOOGLE PATENTS–was the original studio at Englewood. Reed & Gross produced units of BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG and JERUSALEM 1885-88 for cities from coast to coast and around the world: Australia, Canada,Europe. info to share
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[…] Vesta Victoria, Eddie Foy, Eva Tanguay, Ethyl Barrymore, Anna Held, Harry Lauder, Irene Franklin, Pat Rooney, Frank Tinny, George M. Cohan, Sarah Bernhardt, Nazimova, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice, Will […]
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[…] act that could never have been heard, let alone appreciated, in a concert saloon. Song and dance man Pat Rooney, while still dressed in the ridiculous Leprechaun-like outfit that was standard “Irish” attire […]
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