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Verne Troyer

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Verne Troyer
Troyer at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo Sydney, Australia in 2012
BornJanuary 1, 1969
Sturgis, Michigan, U.S.
DiedApril 21, 2018(2018-04-21) (aged 49)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • stunt performer
Years active1994–2018
Height2 ft 8 in (81 cm)
Spouse
Genevieve Gallen
​
​
(m. 2004; ann. 2004)​
PartnerBrittney Powell (2007–2018)
Signature

Verne Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018)[1][2] was an American actor, stunt performer, and comedian. He was notable for his height of 2 ft 8 in (81 cm), the result of cartilage–hair hypoplasia,[3][4] which made him one of the shortest men in the world. He was best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, and for his brief appearance as Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Early life

Troyer was born in Sturgis, Michigan, the son of Susan, a factory worker, and Reuben Troyer, a repair technician.[5] He had two siblings, Davon and Deborah. During his childhood, Troyer spent much time visiting Amish relatives[6] in Centreville, Michigan, and graduated from Centreville High School in 1987. Troyer was initially raised Amish, but his parents left the faith when he was a child.[7] He stated that his parents "never treated me any different than my other average-sized siblings. I used to have to carry wood, feed the cows and pigs and farm animals".[8]

Career

Troyer's film career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone of a "certain size" to serve as a stunt double for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994).[9] He gained further work as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films of the 1990s, including Dunston Checks In , Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997),[10] and My Giant (1998).[11]

Troyer first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series,[12] directed by Roach and starring co-creator Mike Myers, before filming for the series' second film began. Myers was impressed with Troyer's performance, rewriting the script for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) to give Mini-Me more screen time and remove the character's death.[13] Troyer reprised the role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru (2008).[10]

After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer provided the body portrayal of the goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), and had a prominent role as Percy in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).[14] He also made several appearances as himself in reality television series, including The Surreal Life (2005), Welcome to Sweden (2007),[10] and the sixth series of the British Celebrity Big Brother (2009).[15]

Personal life

He reportedly married model Genevieve Gallen on February 22, 2004, but filed for an annulment the next day. Though the couple's engagement was much reported, Troyer and his attorney denied that the pair ever had any formal wedding plans, saying that Gallen had fabricated the story for her own financial gain.[16]

On June 25, 2008, a private home video leaked of Troyer and his former live-in girlfriend, Ranae Shrider, having sex. The video, filmed in 2008 in Beverly Hills, California, and Shrider's hometown of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma,[17] was leaked to the public by Shrider and TMZ.[18] Kevin Blatt, the man responsible for brokering the deal for Paris Hilton's sex tape in 2003, tried to sell the video. Troyer, through his long-time attorney, Ed McPherson, sued TMZ, Blatt, and online rental company SugarDVD, for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.[19]

In May 2015, Troyer, his girlfriend Brittney Powell, and her son Tyson appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap, where she switched places with Hines Ward's wife.[20]

Death

In early April 2018, Troyer was admitted to a hospital after an incident in his home.[21][22] He had previously been admitted to rehab to undergo treatment for alcoholism.[22][23]

On April 21, 2018, Troyer died at the age of 49. No cause of death has been immediately released.[24][25][26]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
1994 Baby's Day Out Baby Bink's stunt double
1996 Dunston Checks In
1996 Jingle All the Way Little Santa
1996 Pinocchio's Revenge Pinocchio's Miniature Double
1997 Volcano
1997 Men in Black Alien Son [27]
1997 Wishmaster Creature Stage #1 [27]
1997 RocketMan
1998 My Giant Wrestler
1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Wee Waiter Billed as "Verne J. Troya"
1998 The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald: Scared Silly Sundae
1998 Mighty Joe Young Baby Joe
1999 Here Lies Lonely Virgil
1999 Instinct Gorilla Performer
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Mini-Me [28]
2000 Bit Players Marty Rosenthal
2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Band Member
2001 Bubble Boy Dr Phreak [27]
2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Griphook Voice by Warwick Davis
Credited as Verne Troyer 		[28]
2002 Run for the Money Attila [27]
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember Mini-Me [28]
2003 Pauly Shore Is Dead Himself [27]
2007 Postal Himself [27]
2008 The Love Guru Coach Punch Cherkov [28]
2008 College Himself
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Percy [27]
2012 Keith Lemon: The Film Archimedes
2015 Trailer Park Boys: Drunk, High, and Unemployed: Live in Austin Himself [27]
2015 Gnome Alone The Gnome

Television

Year(s) Title Role Notes Ref(s)
1995–1996 Masked Rider Stunts for Paul Pistore
1999–2000 Shasta McNasty Verne [27]
2000 Jack of All Trades Napoleon Bonaparte [27]
2002 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Angus [28]
2003 Boston Public Taylor Prentice 2 episodes [28]
2004 Karroll's Christmas Spike [27]
2005 The Girls Next Door Himself episode "Fight Night"
2005 The Surreal Life Himslef [27]
2006 Bo! in the USA
2007 The Surreal Life: Fame Games
2007 Welcome to Sweden
2008, 2010, 2012, 2015 Celebrity Juice Himself
2008 The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... Commentator
2008 The Podge and Rodge Show Himself
2009 Celebrity Big Brother Himself
2009 Friday Night with Jonathan Ross Himself [27]
2009 The Paul O'Grady Show Himself
2009 WWE Raw Guest host [27]
2013 Lemon La Vida Loca Himself
2013 Legit Himself
2014 BGO.com TV Campaign [29]
2014 Whose Line Is It Anyway? Himself Season 10, episode 3 [27]
2014 Through the Keyhole Himself
2015 Celebrity Wife Swap Himself [27]
2017 Trailer Park Boys: Out of the Park: USA Himself [27]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2016 Let It Die Jackal X [30]

References

  1. ^ Verne Troyer Dead: ‘Austin Powers’ Actor Was 49 – Variety
  2. ^ Verne Troyer, Mini-Me in Austin Powers Movies, Dies at 49 - The New York Times
  3. ^ As stated by Troyer during interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, 25 September 2009.
  4. ^ "Verne Troyer: 'Mini Me' actor reportedly hospitalised after suffering seizure at Heart of Texas Comic Con in Waco". News Corp Australia. March 23, 2015.
  5. ^ Verne Troyer Biography (1969–) from FilmReference.com
  6. ^ Verne Troyer respects the Amish lifestyle, in The Arizona Republic; published January 4, 2010; retrieved May 8, 2014
  7. ^ Verne Troyer: my family values http://gu.com/p/4d83g?CMP
  8. ^ "vernetroyer comments on I am Verne Troyer, AMA!!!". Reddit.com. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
  9. ^ "Verne Troyer Opens Up About Being Called the M-Word As a Child – and How He Physically Defended Himself Against a Bully". People. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "Verne Troyer: from Mini-Me to Celebrity Big Brother". The Daily Telegraph. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  11. ^ "Verne Troyer biography and filmography - Verne Troyer movies". Tribute. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  12. ^ "CNN.com - Mini-Me: From stunt double to popular clone - July 30, 2002". CNN. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  13. ^ OWN (4 October 2016). "Why 'Austin Powers' Changed Its Original Tragic Ending For Mini-Me". Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Verne Troyer: a life in pictures". Guardian.com. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  15. ^ "In pictures: Big Brother Eviction". BBC. 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Mini-Me Actor Challenges Model's Marriage".
  17. ^ Sherri L. Shaulis (2008-07-03). "AVN Exclusive: Verne Troyer's Ex Discusses Sex Tape, Relationship, More". AVN. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  18. ^ Isola, Laurie (2008-06-26). "Troyer in Sex Tape Scandal". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  19. ^ Dobuzinskis, Alex (June 27, 2008). ""Mini-Me" actor Verne Troyer sues over sex tape". Reuters. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  20. ^ "Verne Troyer And Girlfriend Brittney on Celebrity Wife Swap". DailyENews. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  21. ^ "Mini Me actor Verne Troyer in hospital after alleged incident". Sky News. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  22. ^ a b "Actor Verne Troyer in hospital". BBC News. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  23. ^ "Verne Troyer treated for alcoholism". BBC News. 2017-04-07. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  24. ^ Verne Troyer, 'Mini-Me' in Austin Powers films, dies at 49 - CNN
  25. ^ Verne Troyer dead: Why we need to take male suicide and depression seriously | Metro News
  26. ^ Austin Powers actor Verne Troyer dies aged 49 - BBC News
  27. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Verne Troyer List of Movies and TV Shows". TV Guide. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  28. ^ a b c d e f Dalton, Andrew (April 21, 2018). "Verne Troyer, Mini-Me from 'Austin Powers' films, has died". APNews.com. Associated Press. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  29. ^ bgo.com TV advertisement featuring Verne Troyer from bgo.com
  30. ^ "CAST｜PlayStation®4用サバイバルアクションゲーム — Let It Die". letitdie.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved March 17, 2018.

External links

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