Billy Curtis
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Star Trek
Small, copper skinned ambassador (uncredited)
1966
Series
Batman
Midget
1966
Series
Bewitched
Jack O'Lantern
1964
Series
Knots Landing
Billy Curtis
1979
Series
Get Smart
El Lobo-Ito
1965
Series
Get Smart
Tiny Allen (uncredited)
1965
Series
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
Series
The Twilight Zone
Creature (segment "Personal Demons")
1985
Film
The Wizard of Oz
Munchkin (uncredited)
1939
Series
Gunsmoke
Arizona
1955
Series
Adventures of Superman
1952
Series
Adventures of Superman
Mole-Man #1 (uncredited)
1952
Series
Faerie Tale Theatre
Barnaby
1982
Series
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
General Yoomak
1979
Series
Here's Lucy
Herman
1968
Film
Planet of the Apes
Child Ape (uncredited)
1968
Series
Laverne & Shirley
1976
Series
77 Sunset Strip
1958
Series
Adventures in Paradise
Captain Borcher
1959
Series
The Monkees
Midget
1966
Series
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Series
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Boomalakka Wee
1958
Series
Shirley Temple's Storybook
Dwarf
1958
Series
87th Precinct
1961
Series
The Cisco Kid
The Laughing Badman
1950
Film
High Plains Drifter
Mordecai
1973
Series
Tightrope
1959
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963
Film
Hello, Dolly!
Little Person (uncredited)
1969
Series
Monster Squad
The Ringmaster
1976
Film
Limelight
Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)
1952
Film
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Midget
1957
Film
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Newsboy (uncredited)
1964
Film
Friendly Persuasion
Midget at County Fair (uncredited)
1956
Film
Saboteur
Midget - Circus Troupe
1942
Film
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Elf #2
1984
Film
The Legend of Lylah Clare
Clown (uncredited)
1968
Film
Man of a Thousand Faces
Harry Earles (uncredited)
1957
Film
Head Office
Reverend Lynch
1985
Film
Princess of the Nile
Tut (uncredited)
1954
Film
Backstage Party
Self
1961
Film
Superman and the Mole Men
Mole-Man (uncredited)
1951
Film
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Barnaby
1984
Film
Eating Raoul
Little Person
1982
Film
The Comic
Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
1969
Film
Hellzapoppin'
Bodyguard (uncredited)
1941
Film
Buck Privates Come Home
1947
Film
The Hard Way
Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
1943
Film
Evil Roy Slade
Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
1972
Film
Loose Shoes
Menchkin
1978
Film
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
Man on the Street Interviewee
1971
Film
Two on a Guillotine
Big Mike (uncredited)
1965
Film
Maisie Was a Lady
Midget (Uncredited)
1941
Film
The Wild McCullochs
Charlie P.
1975
Film
Out of Sight
The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
1966
Film
April Showers
Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
1948
Film
Norwood
Edmund B. Ratner
1970
Film
Pygmy Island
Makuba
1950
Bob Hope Christmas Show
Self
1965
Film
Emergency Landing
Judge
1941
Film
Lucky Legs
Newsboy
1942
Film
Little Cigars
Slick Bender
1973
Film
The Terror of Tiny Town
The Hero (Buck Lawson)
1938
Film
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Midget
1942
Film
Jungle Moon Men
Damu
1955
Film
Homicide for Three
Circus Performer
1948
Film
Three Texas Steers
Hercules - the Midget
1939
Film
Ice-Capades
George
1941
Film
White House Madness
Secret Service Man
1975
Film
Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
Monsignor Duffy
1986
Film
Don't Lie
Melinda, the chimp
1942