Billy Curtis
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Billy Curtis | |
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![]() Billy Curtis and Yvonne Moray in The Terror of Tiny Town (1938) | |
Born | Luigi Curto June 27, 1909 |
Died | November 9, 1988 Dayton, Nevada, U.S. | (aged 79)
Other names | Little Billy, The Singer Midgets |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1938–1988 |
Height | 4 ft 2 in (1.27 m) |
Spouse(s) |
Joann Curtis
(m. 1948; "his death" is deprecated; use "died" instead. 1988) |
Children | 2 |
Billy Curtis (born Luigi Curto, June 27, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor with dwarfism who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry.
Career
The bulk of his work was in the western and science fiction genres. One of his early roles was uncredited as a Munchkin city father in The Wizard of Oz (1939). He had a featured role as part of the circus troupe in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942). He also appeared in Superman and the Mole Men (1951), a B-Picture intended as the pilot for the Adventures of Superman TV series.
Curtis's work in westerns included the Clint Eastwood feature, High Plains Drifter (1973) in which he was featured as Mordecai, a friendly dwarf sympathetic to Eastwood. He also appeared in the Musical/Western The Terror of Tiny Town (1938). This film is, as far as is known, the world's only Western with an all-midget cast. Many of the actors in Tiny Town were part of a performing troupe called Singer's Midgets, who also played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz.[1] In 1972 he appeared as Arizona in an episode of Gunsmoke titled "Arizona Midnight." He had a starring role in American International Pictures' Little Cigars (1973), about a gang of small people on a crime spree.
Death
Curtis died November 9, 1988, in Dayton, Nevada of a heart attack.
Selected filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1938 | The Terror of Tiny Town | The Hero | |
1939 | Three Texas Steers | Hercules | |
The Wizard of Oz | Braggart Munchkin | Uncredited | |
1941 | Maisie Was a Lady | Midget | Uncredited |
Emergency Landing | Midget Judge | ||
Meet John Doe | Midget | Uncredited | |
Outlaws of Cherokee Trail | Papoose | Uncredited | |
Hellzapoppin' | Bodyguard | Uncredited | |
1942 | Tramp, Tramp, Tramp! | Midget | |
Don't Lie | Melinda the Chimp | Short | |
Saboteur | Midget - Circus Troupe | ||
My Gal Sal | Midget Driver | Uncredited | |
Wings for the Eagle | Midget (Eddie) | ||
Just Off Broadway | Billy - Midget in Wings | Uncredited | |
Lucky Legs | Newsboy | Uncredited | |
1943 | The Hard Way | Vaudeville Midget | Uncredited |
1944 | Ghost Catchers | Midget in Nightclub Dinner Gag | Uncredited |
1945 | That's the Spirit | Midget | Uncredited |
Incendiary Blonde | 'Baby' Joe | Uncredited | |
An Angel Comes to Brooklyn | Midget Musician | Uncredited | |
1946 | Three Wise Fools | Dugan | |
1947 | Buck Privates Come Home | Man | Uncredited |
Blaze of Noon | Midget Barker | Uncredited | |
1948 | April Showers | Col. Rudolph L. Nemo | |
Hills of Home | Mighty Mite | Uncredited | |
Homicide for Three | Himself - Midget | ||
Jiggs and Maggie in Court | Little Man | Uncredited | |
1950 | Pygmy Island | Makuba | |
1951 | Two Tickets to Broadway | Midget in Deli | Uncredited |
Superman and the Mole Men | Mole-Man | Uncredited | |
1952 | Limelight | Midget in Agent's Office | Uncredited |
1953 | Here Come the Girls | Clown | Uncredited |
1954 | Gorilla at Large | Slim, Midget Carnival Employee | Uncredited |
Gog | Gog / Magog operator | Uncredited | |
Princess of the Nile | Tut | Uncredited | |
3 Ring Circus | Circus Midget Clown | Uncredited | |
1955 | Jungle Moon Men | Damu | |
The Court Jester | One of Hermine's Midgets | Uncredited | |
1956 | Friendly Persuasion | Midget at County Fair | Uncredited |
1957 | The Incredible Shrinking Man | Midget | |
1958 | The Adventures of Superpup | Superpup | |
1959 | The Angry Red Planet | Martian | Uncredited |
1964 | Robin and the 7 Hoods | Newsboy | Uncredited |
1965 | Two on a Guillotine | Big Mike - Owner / Bartender | Uncredited |
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! | Little Football Player | Uncredited | |
Harlow | Newsboy | Uncredited | |
1966 | Batman | Midget | TV Series Season 1, Episode 17 Season 1, Episode 18 |
Out of Sight | The Man From Flush | ||
1967 | Gilligan's Island | Soldier | TV Series: Episode "Lovey's Secret Admirer", Uncredited |
Star Trek: The Original Series | Small Copper-Skinned Ambassador | TV Series: Season 2, Episode 10 | |
1968 | Planet of the Apes | Child Ape | Uncredited |
The Legend of Lylah Clare | Clown | Uncredited | |
1969 | The Comic | Lifeguard in Film | Uncredited |
Hello, Dolly! | Midget | Uncredited | |
1970 | Norwood | Edmund B. Ratner | |
1972 | Evil Roy Slade | Toy Cowboy | TV Movie, Uncredited |
1973 | High Plains Drifter | Mordecai | |
Little Cigars | Slick Bender | ||
1974 | How to Seduce a Woman | Toulouse | |
1973 | The Wild McCullochs | Charlie P. | |
White House Madness | Secret Service Man | ||
1978 | Loose Shoes | Menchkin | |
1982 | Eating Raoul | Little Person | |
1985 | Head Office | Reverend Lynch | |
1986 | The Twilight Zone | Creature | TV Series: Season 1, Episode 18 |
1987 | Bloody Wednesday | Teddy | Voice, (final film role) |
References
- ^ O'Connor, John E and Peter C Rollins. "Hollywood's West: The American Frontier In Film, Television, And History." 2006. American Historical Review. Ed. Professional Development Review. web. October 2, 2015.
External links
- Billy Curtis at Find a Grave
- Billy Curtis at IMDb
- Billy Curtis at Memory Alpha
- The Terror of Tiny Town at IMDb
- Billy Curtis at the Internet Broadway Database