Painter and teacher, born in Epsom, Surrey. He studied at Sutton School of Art, 1959–62, Wimbledon School of Art, 1962–4, and Royal College of Art, 1964–7. He won the Rome Scholarship, attending British School in Rome, 1967–8. From then until 1982 he taught at various art colleges, in 1983 being artist-in-residence at Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne. Among his prizes were Calouste Gulbenkian Printmakers’ Award, 1984; John Player Portrait Award, 1985; and Korn/Ferry International Premier Award at RA Summer Exhibition, 1989. The faded café scenes and brilliantly coloured crowd scenes led to Rooney’s work being described by one critic as “successive volumes of the Human Comedy”. Rooney took part in numerous group exhibitions from Young Contemporaries in the 1960s.