Comeback kids

From Rourke to Travolta, the best comebacks past and present

There are performances that announce the arrival of a major new star (think Eddie Murphy in “48 Hrs.” or Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman”). And then there are the tour de force turns that trumpet a former star’s thought-to-be-impossible comeback.

It’s the second kind that we’re feeling a need to celebrate, thanks to the Oscar buzz surrounding Mickey Rourke’s return from purgatory in “The Wrestler.” He’s one of several stars to re-emerge in a major way this year. We take a look at the others, plus a few of their predecessors from years past.  —S. James Snyder, Special to Metromix