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.