Mickey Rourke was once the up and coming leading man in Hollywood. Having his start with Spielberg in 1941 (the movie, not the year) and then starring in the Alan Parker cult classic Angelheart it seemed that nothing could go wrong….

Looks, a beautiful Goddess on his arm in Carre Otis, what could go wrong? Everything it seems. Carre and Mickey clashed like many young couples but it ended up with Mickey putting a gun to her head and various spousal abuse charges. Despite having matching Phoenix tattoos and huge careers in front of them they couldn’t reconcile and split soon after the charges.

Then it happened. Mickeys face went from boyish handsome to looking like he was an early face transplant recipient. Many strange reasons were given for this. An unsuccessful boxing career of only 6 fights (5 wins and 1 draw) and plastic surgery were held up as reasons for his ghastly face but neither were confirmed and his boxing career was too short. He took a few punches and he wasn’t particularly good at boxing but he looked like he had stuck his head into a nuclear reactor.

 

One of his ears seemed to have warped and his skin was basically sagging in a way that isn’t normal. This took him away from the mainstream and into director to video movies as a novelty item. It wasn’t until Kabbalist director Darren Aaronofsky resurected his career allowing an oscar nominated performance that drew huge parallels with his own life along with its Iran vs USA staged conflict in wrestling, The Wrestler that his face sorted itself.

It was almost like a curse had been lifted from him when he reemerged and he stands as one of the great comeback stories of Hollywood. Struck down by a terrible curse following his troubled relationship with Carre Otis, Rourke either found peace with demons or rid himself of them and got back up off the ring floor to a Rocky style oscar nomination.

It’s important to mention Carre Otis here because she left Hollywood for a modelling career after the spousal abuse and Mickeys curse landed on his face. She remains a dignified independent woman in Paris with a presence and looks that unlike Mickeys ruined chops, have hardly aged. Perhaps some Khama at play there or some Hollywood fairy godmother set that wrong right.

Edited 18/06/19

Keith Urban has that same Phoenix tattoo. With his wife, Owl Wicca Goddess Nicole Kidman you can be pretty sure that it’s membership and not just a nice bit o’ ink he chose!