Billy Curtis
Born
June 27, 1909 (age 79)
Died
November 9, 1988
Birthplace
Springfield, Massachusetts, USA

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.

Movies

Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
1986
Monsignor Duffy
Head Office
Head Office
1985 ★ 5.1
Reverend Lynch
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
1984 ★ 5.6
Elf #2
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1984 ★ 6.0
Barnaby
Eating Raoul
Eating Raoul
1982 ★ 6.4
Little Person
Loose Shoes
Loose Shoes
1978 ★ 3.6
Menchkin
The Wild McCullochs
The Wild McCullochs
1975 ★ 3.7
Charlie P.
White House Madness
White House Madness
1975
Secret Service Man
Little Cigars
Little Cigars
1973 ★ 4.6
Slick Bender
High Plains Drifter
High Plains Drifter
1973 ★ 7.3
Mordecai
Evil Roy Slade
Evil Roy Slade
1972 ★ 6.2
Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
1971 ★ 4.5
Man on the Street Interviewee
Norwood
Norwood
1970 ★ 5.6
Edmund B. Ratner
Hello, Dolly!
Hello, Dolly!
1969 ★ 7.0
Little Person (uncredited)
The Comic
The Comic
1969 ★ 5.9
Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
The Legend of Lylah Clare
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968 ★ 5.9
Clown (uncredited)
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes
1968 ★ 7.6
Child Ape (uncredited)
Out of Sight
Out of Sight
1966 ★ 4.8
The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
Two on a Guillotine
Two on a Guillotine
1965 ★ 6.1
Big Mike (uncredited)
Robin and the 7 Hoods
Robin and the 7 Hoods
1964 ★ 6.1
Newsboy
Man of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces
1957 ★ 6.6
Harry Earles (uncredited)
The Incredible Shrinking Man
The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957 ★ 7.5
Midget
Friendly Persuasion
Friendly Persuasion
1956 ★ 6.7
Midget at County Fair (uncredited)
Jungle Moon Men
Jungle Moon Men
1955 ★ 4.7
Damu
Princess of the Nile
Princess of the Nile
1954 ★ 7.1
Tut (uncredited)
Limelight
Limelight
1952 ★ 7.9
Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)
Superman and the Mole Men
Superman and the Mole Men
1951 ★ 5.3
Mole-Man (uncredited)
Pygmy Island
Pygmy Island
1950 ★ 4.0
Makuba
Homicide for Three
Homicide for Three
1948 ★ 5.0
Circus Performer
April Showers
April Showers
1948 ★ 6.0
Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
Buck Privates Come Home
Buck Privates Come Home
1947 ★ 6.3
The Hard Way
The Hard Way
1943 ★ 6.3
Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
Lucky Legs
Lucky Legs
1942
Newsboy
Saboteur
Saboteur
1942 ★ 6.9
Midget - Circus Troupe
Don't Lie
Don't Lie
1942 ★ 6.5
Melinda, the chimp
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
1942 ★ 3.5
Midget
Hellzapoppin'
Hellzapoppin'
1941 ★ 7.2
Bodyguard (uncredited)
Ice-Capades
Ice-Capades
1941 ★ 5.5
George
Emergency Landing
Emergency Landing
1941 ★ 5.8
Judge
Maisie Was a Lady
Maisie Was a Lady
1941 ★ 6.8
Midget (Uncredited)
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz
1939 ★ 7.6
Munchkin (uncredited)
Three Texas Steers
Three Texas Steers
1939 ★ 4.9
Hercules - the Midget
The Terror of Tiny Town
The Terror of Tiny Town
1938 ★ 3.4
The Hero (Buck Lawson)

TV Series