Billy Curtis
Acting
1909-06-27 · 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 · Movie
The Twilight Zone
1985 · Series
Head Office
1985 · Movie
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
1984 · Movie
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1984 · Movie
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982 · Series
Eating Raoul
1982 · Movie
Knots Landing
1979 · Series
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979 · Series
Loose Shoes
1978 · Movie
Monster Squad
1976 · Series
Laverne & Shirley
1976 · Series
The Wild McCullochs
1975 · Movie
White House Madness
1975 · Movie
Little Cigars
1973 · Movie
High Plains Drifter
1973 · Movie
Evil Roy Slade
1972 · Movie
Dirty Harry
1971 · Movie
Aphrodisiac: The Love Secret
1971 · Movie
Norwood
1970 · Movie
Hello, Dolly!
1969 · Movie
The Comic
1969 · Movie
Here's Lucy
1968 · Series
The Legend of Lylah Clare
1968 · Movie
Planet of the Apes
1968 · Movie
The Monkees
1966 · Series
Star Trek
1966 · Series
Out of Sight
1966 · Movie
Batman
1966 · Series
Bob Hope Christmas Show
1965 · Movie
Get Smart
1965 · Series
Two on a Guillotine
1965 · Movie
Bewitched
1964 · Series
Robin and the 7 Hoods
1964 · Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
1963 · Series
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962 · Series
Backstage Party
1961 · Movie
87th Precinct
1961 · Series
Adventures in Paradise
1959 · Series
Tightrope
1959 · Series
77 Sunset Strip
1958 · Series
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958 · Series
Man of a Thousand Faces
1957 · Movie
The Incredible Shrinking Man
1957 · Movie
Friendly Persuasion
1956 · Movie
Gunsmoke
1955 · Series
Jungle Moon Men
1955 · Movie
Princess of the Nile
1954 · Movie
Limelight
1952 · Movie
This Is Your Life
1952 · Series
Adventures of Superman
1952 · Series
Superman and the Mole Men
1951 · Movie
Pygmy Island
1950 · Movie
The Cisco Kid
1950 · Series
Homicide for Three
1948 · Movie
April Showers
1948 · Movie
Buck Privates Come Home
1947 · Movie
The Hard Way
1943 · Movie
Lucky Legs
1942 · Movie
Saboteur
1942 · Movie
Don't Lie
1942 · Movie
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
1942 · Movie
Hellzapoppin'
1941 · Movie
Ice-Capades
1941 · Movie
Emergency Landing
1941 · Movie
Maisie Was a Lady
1941 · Movie
The Wizard of Oz
1939 · Movie
Three Texas Steers
1939 · Movie
The Terror of Tiny Town
1938 · Movie