Billy Curtis
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- June 27, 1909
- Died
- November 9, 1988
- Birthplace
- Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
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
as Monsignor Duffy
Head Office 1985
as Reverend Lynch
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear 1984
as Elf #2
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1984
as Barnaby
Eating Raoul 1982
as Little Person
Loose Shoes 1978
as Menchkin
The Wild McCullochs 1975
as Charlie P.
White House Madness 1975
as Secret Service Man
Little Cigars 1973
as Slick Bender
High Plains Drifter 1973
as Mordecai
Evil Roy Slade 1972
as Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
Dirty Harry 1971
Stunts
Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana 1971
as Man on the Street Interviewee
Norwood 1970
as Edmund B. Ratner
Hello, Dolly! 1969
as Little Person (uncredited)
The Comic 1969
as Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
The Legend of Lylah Clare 1968
as Clown (uncredited)
Planet of the Apes 1968
as Child Ape (uncredited)
Out of Sight 1966
as The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
Bob Hope Christmas Show 1965
as Self
Two on a Guillotine 1965
as Big Mike (uncredited)
Robin and the 7 Hoods 1964
as Newsboy (uncredited)
Backstage Party 1961
as Self
Man of a Thousand Faces 1957
as Harry Earles (uncredited)
The Incredible Shrinking Man 1957
as Midget
Friendly Persuasion 1956
as Midget at County Fair (uncredited)
Jungle Moon Men 1955
as Damu
Princess of the Nile 1954
as Tut (uncredited)
Limelight 1952
as Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)
Superman and the Mole Men 1951
as Mole-Man (uncredited)
Pygmy Island 1950
as Makuba
Homicide for Three 1948
as Circus Performer
April Showers 1948
as Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
Buck Privates Come Home 1947
Actor
The Hard Way 1943
as Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
Lucky Legs 1942
as Newsboy
Saboteur 1942
as Midget - Circus Troupe
Don't Lie 1942
as Melinda, the chimp
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp! 1942
as Midget
Hellzapoppin' 1941
as Bodyguard (uncredited)
Ice-Capades 1941
as George
Emergency Landing 1941
as Judge
Maisie Was a Lady 1941
as Midget (Uncredited)
The Wizard of Oz 1939
as Munchkin (uncredited)
Three Texas Steers 1939
as Hercules - the Midget
The Terror of Tiny Town 1938
as The Hero (Buck Lawson)
Credits from TMDB.