Home> Facts and Trivia > Stars > Micky Dolenz
Micky Dolenz Facts
| Sign | Pisces |
| Born |
Mar 8, 1945 Los Angeles, CA |
| Age | 81 |
| Total Facts | 28 |
The Monkees were awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6675 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
After "The Point!" Dolenz found work in England producing television programs for the BBC (using "The Monkees" (1966) final episode, which he'd directed and co-written, as his demo reel). Aside from the occasional business or family trip back (and also a few celebrity tennis matches), Dolenz didn't return to the U.S. for the next 15 years.
Auditioned for the role of Fonzie on "Happy Days" (1974).
Born in the same hospital as Liza Minnelli, Natalie Cole, and Desi Arnaz Jr..
Continued singing on records after "The Monkees" (1966) ended, with a series of singles contracts for labels like MGM; many of the records were made at his own home studio. While they usually found critical praise, none became hits. Dolenz also found work doing voiceovers for cartoons, like "The Funky Phantom" (1971) and "Devlin" (1974).
Dolenz and first wife Samantha Juste became famous for their large, sometimes wild house parties with lots of celebrities attending; Dolenz' occasional excesses with alcohol and drugs (during his early '70s career slump) was a factor in their marriage breaking up, as she wanted their daughter Ami Dolenz to have a stable home life.
Dolenz's hair was naturally wavy. On "Circus Boy" (1956), his hair was chemically straightened and dyed blond. During the first season of "The Monkees" (1966), he would straighten his hair by brushing it while damp until dry, and would wear a hair net in between takes. By the second season, he let his hair go natural, and shortly into the second season filming, when the group adopted a hippie look, had a permanent to get a curly "Afro" look.
Enjoyed crafts, hobbies and building things - including a Gyrocopter (sold as a kit in the 1960s and 70s) in his living room, but had to have a wall torn out to take it outside.
Fared best of all The Monkees when it came to their royalty payments. While Peter Tork gave most of his money away, Davy Jones lost most of his in bad investments and Michael Nesmith spent his on family luxuries and artistic projects, Dolenz trusted his mother Janelle Johnson Dolenz to handle his money, which she invested carefully in "safe" stocks and holdings.
Father of Ami Dolenz.
Grew up playing guitar; had taken some lessons at the suggestion of "Circus Boy" (1956)'s producers in the 1950s. In his teens, Dolenz played guitar and sang in a series of cover bands, with names like "Micky and the One-Nighters" and "The Missing Links" (!). One of these bands was signed to a record company and made some demos, which were released as singles (under his own name) after The Monkees became popular.
He and Samantha Juste remain extremely close friends.
He appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."
He was released with all the other disc jockeys in June 2005 from New York City's WCBS-FM, due to a format change.
He was the morning radio deejay on New York City's Oldies Station WCBS FM.
In early pre-production of Batman Forever (1995), when Tim Burton was still attached to direct, Dolenz was considered to play the Riddler. The Monkee Business Fanzine headed up a petition drive to support the choice, and reported Dolenz had a screen test before Burton left the project.
Married Samantha Juste of Britain's "Top of the Pops" (1964) fame in the summer of 1968, after she became pregnant with their daughter Ami Dolenz. His stepfather, Dr. Robert Scott, a minister, conducted the ceremony at their Los Angeles home. Unlike Davy Jones, who had to keep his marriage a secret, he decided to share the news of his wedding with the public.
Member of The Monkees.
Owned the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold (the first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens); his performance on The Monkees song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) was the first use of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman.
Owns and rides a 1967 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle.
Played the drums using a left-handed setup (bass drum on the left, hi-hat and snare drum on the right) even though he is right-handed.
Quit the re-formed The Monkees briefly at the end of the 1980s, citing problems with clashing egos and ideas, but returned for their next tour.
Received his draft notice for the U.S. Army in 1967 (as did Davy Jones); despite medical grounds for deferment (trouble with Perthese disease since childhood left him with one leg shorter than the other), Dolenz was told, "Don't worry, we'll only make you fight on hillsides." He was eventually excused from military service for being underweight, when he went for his physical (Jones was also excused, as his family's only source of support).
Renewed his friendship with singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson, who'd written for The Monkees, in the mid-1970s; Dolenz occasionally joined Nilsson and John Lennon in their legendary "nights out" (which sometimes lasted several days). Later Dolenz and Davy Jones appeared on the London stage in an adaptation of Nilsson's The Point (1971) (TV).
Son of Janelle Johnson Dolenz.
Son of actor George Dolenz
The song "Hey Mickey" by Toni Basil in the '80s was about the only "Mickey" she knew--Dolenz. Toni choreographed The Monkees' movie Head (1968) and was in the movie dancing with Davy Jones in the harem scene. She went on to appear in Easy Rider (1969) (which involved Jack Nicholson and Bert Schneider, who were a big part of "Head").
When chosen for the role of The Monkees' drummer, he signed up for daily drum lessons in order to fake playing them well enough for the cameras. When being able to actually play became crucial to the Monkees project, he had gotten to the point where he could carry off a stage show, but playing drums and holding tempo proved difficult in the recording studio. He played drums on every track of their "Headquarters" album, but gladly relinquished the role to studio drummers for their later albums.