Mickey Rourke to Wed
Mickey Rourke, star of 91/2 Weeks, Barfly and The Wrestler, is engaged. The lucky lady is 24-year-old Russian model Elena Kuletskaya, and the two are planning a traditional Russian wedding. Kuletskaya was his Russian instructor for his upcoming role in the movie Iron Man 2. She recently split from the Russian pop star Dima Bilan, 27.
Originally trained as a boxer from high school, the actor got his break starring in the Steven Spielberg movie 1941. Rourke returned to his boxing roots in 1991, when he felt that his life was falling apart after several personal setbacks. He’d then had reconstructive surgery to his face following years of boxing injuries, including a broken nose, split tongue, compressed cheekbone and other injuries to his body such as broken toe and ribs. The plastic surgery was not much of an improvement, leaving him nearly unrecognizable.
He made a comeback in the role of Marv, the lead character in Sin City. The movie was directed by Robert Rodriguez and based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller. In the 1987 movie Barfly, he played writer Charles Bukowski’s alter ego Henry Chinaski and Faye Dunaway as Wanda Wilcox. For 2009’s The Wrestler, Rourke won a Golden Globe award, a BAFTA award and received an Oscar nomination.
This will be Rourke’s third marriage and presumably Kuletskaya’s first. He was married to Debra Feuer from 1981-1989 and Carre Otis from 1992-1998. Feuer starred in the movie Homeboy with him, and Otis was an actress and model who starred in the movie Wild Orchid with Rourke.
Their marriage was chaotic, as Otis had been a long-time alcoholic, drinking since childhood, and had become a heroin addict. She was able to kick the drug with help from Rourke, but the two divorced after battling years of abuse and drugs. As late as this year, he still claims to love her, even holding out for eight years after their divorce to be reunited. She remarried in 2005.
Although he and blonde bombshell fiancee Elena Kuletskaya have only been dating a few months, they plan to wed in Russia in April of 2010. It’s also rumored that the two have been hunting for dogs. Rourke’s beloved pet, Loki, died just before the Oscars this past year.
This is bull! She’s mine! I love you, Elena!