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 (68)
Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
1986
Head Office
1985
The Twilight Zone
1985
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1984
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
1984
Eating Raoul
1982
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979
Knots Landing
1979
Loose Shoes
1978
Laverne & Shirley
1976
Monster Squad
1976
White House Madness
1975
The Wild McCullochs
1975
High Plains Drifter
1973
Little Cigars
1973
Evil Roy Slade
1972
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
1971
Norwood
1970
Hello, Dolly!
1969
The Comic
1969
Planet of the Apes
1968
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968
Here's Lucy
1968
Out of Sight
1966
Star Trek
1966
Batman
1966
The Monkees
1966
Bob Hope Christmas Show
1965
Two on a Guillotine
1965
Get Smart
1965
Robin and the 7 Hoods
1964
Bewitched
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
The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957
Man of a Thousand Faces
1957
Friendly Persuasion
1956
Jungle Moon Men
1955
Gunsmoke
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
Don't Lie
1942
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
1942
Lucky Legs
1942
Saboteur
1942
Emergency Landing
1941
Ice-Capades
1941
Hellzapoppin'
1941
Maisie Was a Lady
1941
The Wizard of Oz
1939
Three Texas Steers
1939
The Terror of Tiny Town
1938