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Billy Curtis

Billy Curtis

Actor · 1909–1988 · Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

IMDb

Biography

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.

Acted in 64

1980s

  1. 1986

    Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour

    Monsignor Duffy

  2. 1985

    The Twilight Zone

    Creature (segment "Personal Demons") · 1 episode

    77

  3. Head Office

    Reverend Lynch

  4. 1984

    It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

    Elf #2

  5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

    Barnaby

  6. 1982

    Faerie Tale Theatre

    Barnaby · 1 episode

    82

  7. Eating Raoul

    Little Person

    71

1970s

  1. 1979

    Knots Landing

    Billy Curtis · 1 episode

    69

  2. Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

    General Yoomak · 1 episode

    70
  3. 1978

    Loose Shoes

    Menchkin

    43
  4. 1976

    Monster Squad

    The Ringmaster · 1 episode

  5. Laverne & Shirley

    Roger Robot

    71
  6. 1975

    The Wild McCullochs

    Charlie P.

  7. White House Madness

    Secret Service Man

  8. 1973

    Little Cigars

    Slick Bender

  9. High Plains Drifter

    Mordecai

    76
  10. 1972

    Evil Roy Slade

    Toy Cowboy (uncredited)

  11. 1971

    Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana

    Man on the Street Interviewee

  12. 1970

    Norwood

    Edmund B. Ratner

1940s

  1. 1948

    Homicide for Three

    Circus Performer

  2. April Showers

    Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo

  3. 1947

    Buck Privates Come Home

    Movie · Comedy · Romance

    67
  4. 1943

    The Hard Way

    Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)

  5. 1942

    Lucky Legs

    Newsboy

  6. Saboteur

    Midget - Circus Troupe

    71

  7. Don't Lie

    Melinda, the chimp

  8. Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

    Midget

  9. 1941

    Hellzapoppin'

    Bodyguard (uncredited)

  10. Ice-Capades

    George

  11. Emergency Landing

    Judge

  12. Maisie Was a Lady

    Midget (Uncredited)

1930s

  1. 1939

    The Wizard of Oz

    Munchkin (uncredited)

    86

  2. Three Texas Steers

    Hercules - the Midget

  3. 1938

    The Terror of Tiny Town

    The Hero (Buck Lawson)

    38

Other crew 1

Appearances4

1960s

  1. 1965

    Bob Hope Christmas Show

    Self

  2. 1961

    Backstage Party

    Self