BC
Billy Curtis
Actor
Born June 27, 1909Died November 9, 1988 (79 years)
Billy Curtis (June 27, 1909 - November 9, 1988) was an American film and television actor. He was a dwarf who had a 50-year career in a variety of roles. He was born on 27 June 1909 in Springfield, Massachusetts, and died November 9, 1988 in Dayton, Nevada, of a heart attack. According to the IMDb site, his birth name was Luigi Curto, and his height was 4 feet 2 inches (1.27 m). The bulk of his work was in the western and science fiction genres. One of his early jobs was as one of the Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. He also appeared in Adventures of Superman in the 1950s. Most notably, Curtis worked in westerns, including the Clint Eastwood feature, High Plains Drifter in which he featured as Mordecai, a friendly dwarf sympathetic to Eastwood, he also appeared in the 1938 Musical/Western The Terror of Tiny Town. This film is, as far as is known, the world's only Western with an all-dwarf cast. Many of the actors in Tinytown were part of a performing troupe called Singer's Midgets, who also played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939. He also had a starring role in American International Pictures' 1973 release, Little Cigars, about a gang of "midgets" on a crime spree.
Filmography
| 1987 | Bloody Wednesday · as Teddy |
| 1985 | Head Office · as Reverend Lynch |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone (1985) (TV Series) |
| 1984 | It Came Upon the Midnight Clear · as Elf #2 |
| 1984 | The Night They Saved Christmas · as Jack |
| 1982 | Eating Raoul · as Little Person |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Series) · as Barnaby |
| 1981 | Open All Night (TV Series) · as Scott Davis |
| 1981 | Elephant Parts · as Propositioning Inflatable Hooker On Park Bench During The Song: 'lucy And Ramona And Their Brother Sunset Sam' |
| 1979 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV Series) · as General Yoomak |
| 1978 | Coming Attractions · as Menchkin |
| 1976 | Monster Squad (TV Series) · as The Ringmaster |
| 1976 | Laverne & Shirley (TV Series) |
| 1975 | The Wild McCullochs · as Charlie P. |
| 1975 | White House Madness · as Secret Service Man |
| 1974 | How to Seduce a Woman · as Toulouse |
| 1973 | Little Cigars · as Slick Bender |
| 1973 | High Plains Drifter · as Mordecai |
| 1972 | Evil Roy Slade · as Toy Cowboy (uncredited) |
| 1971 | The Good Life (1971) (TV Series) · as Bell Boy |
| 1970 | Norwood · as Edmund B. Ratner |
| 1969 | Hello, Dolly! · as Little Person (uncredited) |
| 1969 | The Comic · as Lifeguard In Film |
| 1969 | Bracken's World (TV Series) · as Johnson |
| 1968 | The Legend of Lylah Clare · as Clown |
| 1968 | Here's Lucy (TV Series) · as Herman |
| 1968 | Julia (TV Series) · as Small Businessman |
| 1968 | Planet of the Apes · as Child Ape (uncredited) |
| 1966 | Star Trek (TV Series) · as Small, Copper Skinned Ambassador (uncredited) |
| 1966 | The Pruitts of Southampton (TV Series) · as Augie |
| 1966 | Out of Sight · as The Man From F.l.u.s.h. |
| 1966 | Batman (TV Series) · as Midget |
| 1966 | Blue Light (TV Series) · as Bellboy |
| 1965 | The Monkees (TV Series) |
| 1965 | Get Smart (TV Series) · as El Lobo-Ito |
| 1965 | The Wild Wild West (TV Series) · as Gypsy |
| 1965 | I Spy (TV Series) · as Disguised #2 |
| 1965 | Harlow · as Newsboy |
| 1965 | John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! · as Little Football Player |
| 1965 | Two on a Guillotine · as Big Mike |
| 1964 | Bewitched (TV Series) |
| 1964 | Robin and the 7 Hoods · as Newsboy |
| 1963 | Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1963 | The Greatest Show on Earth (TV Series) |
| 1962 | The Beverly Hillbillies (TV Series) · as Spaceman #3 |
| 1961 | Ben Casey (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1961 | 87th Precinct (TV Series) |
| 1961 | Follow The Sun (TV Series) · as Tiny Tom |
| 1960 | SurfSide 6 (TV Series) · as Tippy, Circus Midget |
| 1960 | My Three Sons (TV Series) · as Sammy |
| 1959 | The Angry Red Planet · as Martian |
| 1959 | Adventures in Paradise (TV Series) · as Captain Borcher |
| 1959 | Tightrope (TV Series) |
| 1958 | 77 Sunset Strip (TV Series) |
| 1958 | Rescue 8 (TV Series) · as Volunteer #1 |
| 1958 | Merry Andrew · as Clown |
| 1958 | Shirley Temple's Storybook (TV Series) · as Boomalakka Wee |
| 1958 | The Adventures of Superpup · as Super Pup / Bark Bent |
| 1957 | Man of a Thousand Faces · as Harry Earles (uncredited) |
| 1957 | The Real McCoys (TV Series) · as Page Boy |
| 1957 | The Californians (TV Series) · as Clown |
| 1957 | The Incredible Shrinking Man · as Midget |
| 1956 | Friendly Persuasion · as Midget At County Fair (uncredited) |
| 1956 | Broken Arrow (TV Series) · as Sinbad |
| 1955 | The Court Jester · as One Of Hermine's Midgets |
| 1955 | Gunsmoke (TV Series) · as Arizona |
| 1955 | Tales of the Texas Rangers (TV Series) · as Count Smorgasbord |
| 1955 | Jungle Moon Men · as Damu |
| 1954 | The Great Gildersleeve (TV Series) · as Mr. Smith |
| 1954 | 3 Ring Circus · as Circus Midget Clown |
| 1954 | Princess of the Nile · as Tut (uncredited) |
| 1954 | Gog · as Gog |
| 1954 | Gorilla at Large · as Slim |
| 1953 | Here Come the Girls · as Clown |
| 1953 | Make Room for Daddy (TV Series) · as Billy |
| 1952 | Limelight · as Midget In Agent's Office (uncredited) |
| 1952 | Adventures of Superman (TV Series) |
| 1951 | Two Tickets to Broadway · as Midget In Deli |
| 1951 | Superman and the Mole-Men · as Mole-Man (uncredited) |
| 1951 | The Red Skelton Show (TV Series) · as Midget |
| 1951 | Gruen Guild Theater (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1950 | Pygmy Island · as Makuba |
| 1950 | The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) · as Charlie Mccarthy |
| 1950 | Space Patrol (TV Series) · as Gino |
| 1950 | The Cisco Kid (TV Series) · as The Laughing Badman |
| 1948 | Homicide for Three · as Circus Performer |
| 1948 | Hills of Home · as Mighty Mite |
| 1948 | The Milton Berle Show (TV Series) · as Extra |
| 1948 | April Showers · as Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo |
| 1947 | Blaze of Noon · as Midget Barker |
| 1947 | |
| 1946 | Three Wise Fools · as Dugan |
| 1945 | Incendiary Blonde · as 'baby' Joe |
| 1945 | That's the Spirit · as Midget |
| 1944 | Ghost Catchers · as Midget In Nightclub Dinner Gag |
| 1943 | The Hard Way · as Vaudeville Midget (uncredited) |
| 1942 | My Gal Sal · as Midget Driver |
| 1942 | Just Off Broadway · as Billy - Midget In Wings |
| 1942 | Wings for the Eagle · as Midget (eddie) |
| 1942 | Saboteur · as Midget - Circus Troupe |
| 1942 | Don't Lie · as Melinda, The Chimp |
| 1941 | Hellzapoppin' · as Bodyguard (uncredited) |
| 1941 | Ice-Capades · as George |
| 1941 | Meet John Doe · as Midget |
| 1941 | Emergency Landing · as Judge |
| 1941 | Maisie Was a Lady · as Midget (uncredited) |
| 1939 | The Wizard of Oz · as Munchkin (uncredited) |
| 1939 | Three Texas Steers · as Hercules - The Midget |
| 1938 | The Terror of Tiny Town · as The Hero (buck Lawson) |
| 1932 | Tarzan the Ape Man · as Evil Dwarf |