Director Hoover with actor Mickey Rooney in his office, 1940s. John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972) was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation - predecessor to the FBI - in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death. Mickey Rooney (September 23, 1920 - April 6, 2014) was an American actor of film, television, Broadway, radio, and vaudeville. In a career spanning nine decades and continuing until shortly before his death, he appeared in more than 300 films and was one of the last surviving stars of the silent film era.