Billy Curtis
Born
June 27, 1909
Died
November 9, 1988 (79 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
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.

Father Guido Sarducci's Vatican Inquirer: The Pope's Tour
Monsignor Duffy
1986

The Twilight Zone
(segment "Personal Demons") · (1 episode)
1985

Head Office
Reverend Lynch
1985

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Barnaby
1984

Faerie Tale Theatre
Barnaby · (1 episode)
1982

Eating Raoul
Little Person
1982

Knots Landing
Billy Curtis · (1 episode)
1979

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
General Yoomak · (1 episode)
1979

Loose Shoes
Menchkin
1978

Monster Squad
The Ringmaster · (1 episode)
1976

Laverne & Shirley
(1 episode)
1976

The Wild McCullochs
Charlie P.
1975

White House Madness
Secret Service Man
1975

Little Cigars
Slick Bender
1973

High Plains Drifter
Mordecai
1973

Evil Roy Slade
Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
1972

Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
Man on the Street Interviewee
1971

Norwood
Edmund B. Ratner
1970

Hello, Dolly!
Little Person (uncredited)
1969

The Comic
Lifeguard in Film (uncredited)
1969

Here's Lucy
Herman · (1 episode)
1968

The Legend of Lylah Clare
Clown (uncredited)
1968

Planet of the Apes
Child Ape (uncredited)
1968

The Monkees
Midget · (1 episode)
1966

Star Trek
Small, copper skinned ambassador (uncredited) · (1 episode)
1966

Out of Sight
The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
1966

Batman
Midget · (2 episodes)
1966
Bob Hope Christmas Show
Self
1965

Two on a Guillotine
Big Mike (uncredited)
1965

Bewitched
(1 episode)
1964

Robin and the 7 Hoods
Newsboy
1964
The Greatest Show on Earth
(3 episodes)
1963

The Beverly Hillbillies
(0 episode)
1962

Backstage Party
Self
1961

87th Precinct
(1 episode)
1961

Adventures in Paradise
Captain Borcher · (1 episode)
1959

Tightrope
(1 episode)
1959

77 Sunset Strip
(1 episode)
1958

Shirley Temple's Storybook
Boomalakka Wee · (1 episode)
1958

Shirley Temple's Storybook
Dwarf · (1 episode)
1958

The Adventures of Super Pup
Super Pup / Bark Bent
1958

Man of a Thousand Faces
Harry Earles (uncredited)
1957

The Incredible Shrinking Man
Midget
1957

Friendly Persuasion
Midget at County Fair (uncredited)
1956

Gunsmoke
Arizona · (1 episode)
1955

Jungle Moon Men
Damu
1955

Princess of the Nile
Tut (uncredited)
1954

Limelight
Midget in Agent's Office (uncredited)
1952

This Is Your Life
Self · (1 episode)
1952

Adventures of Superman
(3 episodes)
1952

Superman and the Mole Men
Mole-Man (uncredited)
1951

Pygmy Island
Makuba
1950

Homicide for Three
Circus Performer
1948

April Showers
Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
1948

Buck Privates Come Home
1947

The Hard Way
Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
1943

Lucky Legs
Newsboy
1942

Saboteur
Midget - Circus Troupe
1942

Don't Lie
Melinda, the chimp
1942

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Midget
1942

Hellzapoppin'
Bodyguard (uncredited)
1941

Ice-Capades
George
1941

Emergency Landing
Judge
1941

Maisie Was a Lady
Midget (Uncredited)
1941

The Wizard of Oz
Munchkin (uncredited)
1939

Three Texas Steers
Hercules - the Midget
1939

The Terror of Tiny Town
The Hero (Buck Lawson)
1938