Orange County Register

The scarily transformed face of actor Mickey Rourke has often been cited as a prime example of bad plastic surgery, but Rourke says it shouldn’t be.

Rourke, 56, has never had plastic surgery, but he needed surgical help after repeated pummeling in the boxing ring, he told Entertainment Weekly. After describing his strange career-sabotaging decision to take up professional boxing in the early 1990s, the magazine quotes him in its Nov. 7 issue:

“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘You don’t look like you used to.’” He laughs. “But who does?” …

When I was boxing I had six nose operations, I had cartilage taken from behind my ear, I had short-term memory loss, I’ve got an equilibrium problem, I don’t have as many teeth in my head as I used to.”

Rourke is also under a doctor’s care, receiving intravenous treatment for mineral deficiencies, he says.

His latest role is in the independent film “The Wrestler,” due out next month.

Online speculation about Rourke’s plastic surgery has included:

• Mickey Rourke’s horrifying face after years of plastic surgery (Daily Mail)
• Has Mickey Rourke had a bad facelift? I think so. (Dr. Tony Youn)
• Another celebrity affected by bad plastic surgery (Women’s Mag)

Related links:

About men–

• Pacino, Nicholson and De Niro vs. old age
• Plastic surgery opponent Cate Blanchett says wrinkles can be sexy
• George Clooney likes his wrinkles, rules out Botox
• Harrison Ford is showing his age, but rejects plastic surgery
• Botox spared Gordon Ramsay’s trademark wrinkles, local doc says

About women –

• Priscilla’s face divides cosmetic docs; what about you?
• Sally Field is thinking of getting plastic surgery; what’s your advice?
• Anti-Botox star Sarah Jessica Parker rebuffs men’s scorn
• Buddhist sex kitten Mamie Van Doren vs. the signs of aging
• Victoria Principal said she wouldn’t reveal plastic surgery, but those photos …
• The world’s most powerful Botoxed celebrities

Slide shows:

• Top celebrity slide shows of all time
• Tara Reid’s career as she copes with bad breast surgery
• Cindy Crawford’s enduring appeal
• Many facets of Angelina Jolie
• Cindy McCain photos highlight cultural divide

For more on celebrities and cosmetic medicine, see links on the right side of this blog.

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