Matt Roloff: Difference between revisions
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==References== |
==References== |
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*Roloff, Matt & Tracy Summer (1999). ''Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World''. Multnomah Publishing. ISBN 1-57673-583-4. |
*Roloff, Matt & Tracy Summer (1999). ''Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World''. Multnomah Publishing. ISBN 1-57673-583-4. |
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*Roloff, Matt & Tracy Summer (2007). "Little Family, Big Values: Lessons in Love, Respect, and Understanding for Families of Any Size". Fireside. ISBN 1-41654-910-2 |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
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Revision as of 03:17, 23 February 2008
Matthew Roloff | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 7, 1961 |
| Occupation(s) | author, actor, farmer, inventor |
| Spouse | Amy Roloff |
| Children | Zachary Roloff, Jeremy Roloff, Molly Roloff, Jacob Roloff |
Matthew James Roloff (b. October 7, 1961 in California), is an author, actor, farmer, inventor, and businessman, best known for participating, with his family, in the reality television program Little People, Big World seen on TLC. The show features the Roloffs' daily life. Roloff is a little person, as is his wife Amy and one of their four children, Zachary.
Family
The Roloff family includes Matt, who was born with diastrophic dysplasia, his wife Amy, also a little person with achondroplasia, and four children: fraternal twins Jeremy and Zachary Roloff (born 1990), Molly (born 1993), and Jacob (born 1997). Zach, like his mother, has achondroplasia, while the other three children are average size. Matt and Amy met at a Little People of America convention in 1987. The couple were engaged very quickly and were married on September 12th, 1987.
Matt's parents, Ron and Peggy, also are featured in the show. They are of average height as is his older sister, Ruth. His younger brother Sam has diastrophic dysplasia and uses crutches to walk as well. His middle brother Joshua lived 34 years with a severe heart malformation.
In the episode taped in October 2006 and aired April 9, 2007, a misfire of the Roloff Farms trebuchet pumpkin launcher resulted in the injury of Matt's business partner, Mike Dietjen, and the Roloffs' youngest son, Jacob. Dietjen and Jacob were operating the launcher when a cement block on the bottom of the device caught Dietjen and swung him around three times, causing concussion and extensive facial contusions. At the same time, another part of the launcher hit Jacob in the head and forced a piece of his skull into his brain, necessitating emergency surgery. Both were released after three days in the hospital.[1]
Career
Matt appeared as an Ewok in the Star Wars TV movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.[2] Today, he is still well-known around the Hollywood scene because he is good friends with fellow little person and actor Martin Klebba, who appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise and is also a member of a leading athletic club for little people, the LA Breakers.
Matt worked as a computer programmer for Silicon Valley companies such as Altos Computer Systems in the late 1980's. A friend encouraged him to take a job with Pyramid Computer Systems, which was headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, in order to escape the long work hours and stress of Silicon Valley. Matt and his wife Amy relocated to the Portland area in 1990, while she was still pregnant with twins Jeremy and Zachary.
Matt has embarked on a number of business ventures in an effort to try to make a living from his investment in the farm. On Little People, Big World, he is shown running the business he co-founded, Direct Access Solutions, a company that provides accessibility products for dwarfs to the hospitality industry.
At the end of the first season of Little People, Big World, Roloff again took a job in computer sales for the software company Amdocs, for which he still works as a consultant. The family's 34-acre farm outside Portland, Oregon also serves the Roloffs as a business venture. It includes a farm, an Old West town, a pirate ship and other attractions, some of which are open to the public.[2]
In 1999, with the help of a ghostwriter, Roloff authored the book Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World.
Little People, Big World has been renewed for a second season. Episodes began airing on October 7, 2006. So far, Matt has arranged for cleanup crews, a new grill, a new deck for the new addition, a trip to Hawaii (3 episodes) and trips to Milwaukee (at least 2 episodes).
In April 2007 a second book, "Little Family, Big Values: Lessons in Love, Respect, and Understanding for Families of Any Size" was released. According to the family's official website it was written by Matt. However, Amazon.com credits The Roloff Family and Tracy Summer, the same ghostwriter that helped with Matt's first book.
Season three (started airing in 2007) has shown the trebuchet accident as well as Zach's leg straightening surgery.
As of Monday, October 15, 2007, the new episodes have started and are documenting a family road trip as Matt drives an RV from the family home south through California to Yosemite, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and Matt's hometown of San Francisco.
Arrests
In 2003, Roloff agreed to enter an alcohol treatment program after being charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants. Upon his completion of the program, the charges were dropped.[3]
On June 19, 2007, Roloff was arrested and cited on charges of driving under the influence, refusing a roadside sobriety test and failing to drive within a lane.[4] He pleaded not guilty. A trial began on January 8, 2008 and ended two days later. After determining that members of the jury had improperly researched legal questions on the internet, the Judge, with the defendant's approval, acquitted Roloff on the principal charge but held him responsible on related civil infractions for improper lane use and refusal to take a breathalyzer, which under Oregon law will result in a three year suspension of his drivers license.[5] The arrest was the subject of the season opener of Little People, Big World on March 3, 2008.
References
- Roloff, Matt & Tracy Summer (1999). Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World. Multnomah Publishing. ISBN 1-57673-583-4.
- Roloff, Matt & Tracy Summer (2007). "Little Family, Big Values: Lessons in Love, Respect, and Understanding for Families of Any Size". Fireside. ISBN 1-41654-910-2
Notes
- ^ ""Pair in pumpkin launch incident still hospitalized"". KATU. 2006-10-29. Retrieved November 5.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ a b Tresniowski, Alex. Alexandra Hardy. Tall Order; His size once kept him off amusement park rides, so 4'2" Matt Roloff built a fantasyland for his kids after he hurt them. People, April 3 2000.
- ^ ""Oregon reality TV star arrested for DUI once before"". KGW. 2007-07-31. Retrieved November 25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ ""DUII Charge Not The First For 'Little People' Star"". KPTV. 2007-07-30. Retrieved December 1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ ""Roloff acquitted by judge after jury misconduct discovered"". Oregon Live. 2008-01-10. Retrieved January 10.
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External links
- "Little People, Big World: Exclusive With Matt Roloff", Orato, December 7, 2007
- Roloff family official web site
- Little People, Big World official web site
- Matt Roloff at IMDb
- Direct Access Solutions
- http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net/MattRoloff.html
- "A Dream Lives in a Grand Design", The New York Times, September 30, 1999