Billy Curtis
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- June 27, 1909
- Died
- November 9, 1988 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
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.
Known For
Filmography
Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
Movie · as Monsignor Duffy
Head Office
Movie · as Reverend Lynch
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Creature (segment "Personal Demons") · 1 ep
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Movie · as Barnaby
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Movie · as Elf #2
Eating Raoul
Movie · as Little Person
Faerie Tale Theatre
TV · as Barnaby · 1 ep
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
TV · as General Yoomak · 1 ep
Knots Landing
TV · as Billy Curtis · 1 ep
Loose Shoes
Movie · as Menchkin
Laverne & Shirley
TV · as Roger Robot
Monster Squad
TV · as The Ringmaster · 1 ep
White House Madness
Movie · as Secret Service Man
The Wild McCullochs
Movie · as Charlie P.
High Plains Drifter
Movie · as Mordecai
Little Cigars
Movie · as Slick Bender
Evil Roy Slade
Movie · as Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana
Movie · as Man on the Street Interviewee
Norwood
Movie · as Edmund B. Ratner
Hello, Dolly!
Movie · as Little Person (uncredited)
The Comic
Movie · as Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
Planet of the Apes
Movie · as Child Ape (uncredited)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Movie · as Clown (uncredited)
Here's Lucy
TV · as Herman · 1 ep
Out of Sight
Movie · as The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
Star Trek
TV · as Small, copper skinned ambassador (uncredited) · 1 ep
Batman
TV · as Midget · 2 eps
The Monkees
TV · as Midget · 1 ep
Bob Hope Christmas Show
Movie · as Self
Two on a Guillotine
Movie · as Big Mike (uncredited)
Get Smart
TV · as El Lobo-Ito, Tiny Allen (uncredited) · 1 ep
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Movie · as Newsboy (uncredited)
Bewitched
TV · as Jack O'Lantern · 1 ep
The Greatest Show on Earth
TV · 3 eps
The Beverly Hillbillies
TV
Backstage Party
Movie · as Self
87th Precinct
TV · 1 ep
Adventures in Paradise
TV · as Captain Borcher · 1 ep
Tightrope
TV · 1 ep
77 Sunset Strip
TV · 1 ep
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV · as Boomalakka Wee, Dwarf · 1 ep
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Movie · as Midget
Man of a Thousand Faces
Movie · as Harry Earles (uncredited)
Friendly Persuasion
Movie · as Midget at County Fair (uncredited)
Jungle Moon Men
Movie · as Damu
Gunsmoke
TV · as Arizona · 1 ep
Princess of the Nile
Movie · as Tut (uncredited)
Limelight
Movie · as Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)
This Is Your Life
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Adventures of Superman
TV · as Mole-Man #1 (uncredited) · 1 ep
Superman and the Mole Men
Movie · as Mole-Man (uncredited)
Pygmy Island
Movie · as Makuba
The Cisco Kid
TV · as The Laughing Badman · 1 ep
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self - Santa's Elf (uncredited) · 1 ep
Homicide for Three
Movie · as Circus Performer
April Showers
Movie · as Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
Buck Privates Come Home
Movie
The Hard Way
Movie · as Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
Don't Lie
Movie · as Melinda, the chimp
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Movie · as Midget
Lucky Legs
Movie · as Newsboy
Saboteur
Movie · as Midget - Circus Troupe
Emergency Landing
Movie · as Judge
Ice-Capades
Movie · as George
Hellzapoppin'
Movie · as Bodyguard (uncredited)
Maisie Was a Lady
Movie · as Midget (Uncredited)
The Wizard of Oz
Movie · as Munchkin (uncredited)
Three Texas Steers
Movie · as Hercules - the Midget
The Terror of Tiny Town
Movie · as The Hero (Buck Lawson)