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.

Filmography (68 Appearances)

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

1986

The Twilight Zone

1985

Head Office

1985

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

1984

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

1984

Faerie Tale Theatre

1982

Eating Raoul

1982

Knots Landing

1979

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

1979

Loose Shoes

1978

Monster Squad

1976

Laverne & Shirley

1976

The Wild McCullochs

1975

White House Madness

1975

Little Cigars

1973

High Plains Drifter

1973

Evil Roy Slade

1972

Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret

1971

Norwood

1970

Hello, Dolly!

1969

The Comic

1969

Here's Lucy

1968

The Legend of Lylah Clare

1968

Planet of the Apes

1968

The Monkees

1966

Star Trek

1966

Out of Sight

1966

Batman

1966

Bob Hope Christmas Show

1965

Get Smart

1965

Two on a Guillotine

1965

Bewitched

1964

Robin and the 7 Hoods

1964

The Greatest Show on Earth

1963

The Beverly Hillbillies

1962

Backstage Party

1961

87th Precinct

1961

Adventures in Paradise

1959

Tightrope

1959

77 Sunset Strip

1958

Shirley Temple's Storybook

1958

Man of a Thousand Faces

1957

The Incredible Shrinking Man

1957

Friendly Persuasion

1956

Gunsmoke

1955

Jungle Moon Men

1955

Princess of the Nile

1954

Limelight

1952

This Is Your Life

1952

Adventures of Superman

1952

Superman and the Mole Men

1951

Pygmy Island

1950

The Cisco Kid

1950

Homicide for Three

1948

April Showers

1948

Buck Privates Come Home

1947

The Hard Way

1943

Lucky Legs

1942

Saboteur

1942

Don't Lie

1942

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!

1942

Hellzapoppin'

1941

Ice-Capades

1941

Emergency Landing

1941

Maisie Was a Lady

1941

The Wizard of Oz

1939

Three Texas Steers

1939

The Terror of Tiny Town

1938 Debut
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