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Billy Curtis

Billy Curtis

Born on June 27th, 1909

Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

Died on November 9th, 1988

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.

Filmography

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

1986

Monsignor Duffy

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Head Office

1985

Reverend Lynch

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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

1984

Barnaby

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Eating Raoul

1982

Little Person

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Loose Shoes

1978

Menchkin

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The Wild McCullochs

1975

Charlie P.

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White House Madness

1975

Secret Service Man

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Little Cigars

1973

Slick Bender

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High Plains Drifter

1973

Mordecai

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Evil Roy Slade

1972

Toy Cowboy (uncredited)

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Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret

1971

Man on the Street Interviewee

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Norwood

1970

Edmund B. Ratner

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Hello, Dolly!

1969

Little Person (uncredited)

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The Legend of Lylah Clare

1968

Clown (uncredited)

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Planet of the Apes

1968

Child Ape (uncredited)

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Out of Sight

1966

The Man From F.L.U.S.H.

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Bob Hope Christmas Show

1965

Self

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Two on a Guillotine

1965

Big Mike (uncredited)

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Robin and the 7 Hoods

1964

Newsboy

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Backstage Party

1961

Self

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The Adventures of Super Pup

1958

Super Pup / Bark Bent

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Man of a Thousand Faces

1957

Harry Earles (uncredited)

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The Incredible Shrinking Man

1957

Midget

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Friendly Persuasion

1956

Midget at County Fair (uncredited)

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Jungle Moon Men

1955

Damu

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Princess of the Nile

1954

Tut (uncredited)

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Limelight

1952

Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)

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Superman and the Mole Men

1951

Mole-Man (uncredited)

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Pygmy Island

1950

Makuba

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Homicide for Three

1948

Circus Performer

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April Showers

1948

Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo

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Buck Privates Come Home

1947

Character TBA

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The Hard Way

1943

Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)

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Lucky Legs

1942

Newsboy

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Saboteur

1942

Midget - Circus Troupe

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Don't Lie

1942

Melinda, the chimp

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Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

1942

Midget

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Hellzapoppin'

1941

Bodyguard (uncredited)

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Ice-Capades

1941

George

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Emergency Landing

1941

Judge

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Maisie Was a Lady

1941

Midget (Uncredited)

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The Wizard of Oz

1939

Munchkin (uncredited)

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Three Texas Steers

1939

Hercules - the Midget

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The Terror of Tiny Town

1938

The Hero (Buck Lawson)

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