Billy Curtis
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.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
(Midget)
High Plains Drifter
(Mordecai)
The Terror of Tiny Town
(The Hero (Buck Lawson))
Eating Raoul
(Little Person)
Superman and the Mole-Men
(Mole-Man (uncredited))
Pygmy Island
(Makuba)
Little Cigars
(Slick Bender)
Homicide for Three
(Circus Performer)
White House Madness
(Secret Service Man)
Emergency Landing
(Judge)
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
(Man on the Street Interviewee)
Princess of the Nile
(Tut (uncredited))
The Wizard of Oz
(Munchkin (uncredited))
Out of Sight
(The Man From F.L.U.S.H.)
Robin and the 7 Hoods
(Newsboy)
The Wild McCullochs
(Charlie P.)
Hello, Dolly!
(Little Person (uncredited))
Three Texas Steers
(Hercules - the Midget)
Jungle Moon Men
(Damu)
Don't Lie
(Melinda, the chimp)
Evil Roy Slade
(Toy Cowboy (uncredited))
Planet of the Apes
(Child Ape (uncredited))
The Adventures of Super Pup
(Super Pup / Bark Bent)
April Showers
(Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo)
Buck Privates Come Home
Limelight
(Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited))
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
(Midget)
Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
(Monsignor Duffy)
Friendly Persuasion
(Midget at County Fair (uncredited))
Norwood
(Edmund B. Ratner)
Lucky Legs
(Newsboy)
Saboteur
(Midget - Circus Troupe)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(Barnaby)
Ice-Capades
(George)
Loose Shoes
(Menchkin)
Hellzapoppin'
(Bodyguard (uncredited))
Man of a Thousand Faces
(Harry Earles (uncredited))
The Hard Way
(Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited))
Head Office
(Reverend Lynch)
Back Stage Party
(Self)
Maisie Was a Lady
(Midget (Uncredited))
Star Trek
(Small, copper skinned ambassador (uncredited))
77 Sunset Strip
Here's Lucy
(Herman)
Batman
(Midget)
The Twilight Zone
The Beverly Hillbillies
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
(General Yoomak)
Knots Landing
(Billy Curtis)
Laverne & Shirley
Monster Squad
(The Ringmaster)
Gunsmoke
(Arizona)
Bewitched
87th Precinct
The Monkees
The Greatest Show on Earth
This Is Your Life
(Self)
Adventures of Superman
Adventures in Paradise
(Captain Borcher)
Tightrope
Faerie Tale Theatre
(Barnaby)
