Billy Barty's speciality was the outspoken supporting player, quick with a wisecrack and rarely meek. We value his comic energy, while wishing more of his films had given him substantial people to play.
Fi1m perspective
Billy Barty's supporting characters tend to answer back, with wise-guy lines delivered as though they have every right to interrupt. That outspoken comic manner connects work that otherwise has little in common, from Spike Jones's stage and television shows in the 1950s to the fantasy parts of the 1980s. His film roles became more substantial during the 1970s, with Abe Kusich in The Day of the Locust (1975) offering a dramatic part beyond the familiar gag. The irascibility remained, but there was more of a person to play.
Barty plays Sammy in Hardly Working (1980), and we would not suggest beginning an acquaintance with his work there. Director Jerry Lewis follows a clown who cannot keep a job, but never finds a reliable rhythm for the comedy. Two or three gags work; too much of the rest is slack and sentimental. That unevenness matters when considering a performer whose opportunities so often depended on making something of a small part.
Legend (1985), in which he plays Screwball, offers a more elaborate setting without solving the problem of thin characters. Ridley Scott's fairy-tale imagery is the chief attraction, with Tim Curry supplying welcome mischief when the film needs it. We grew restless because the characters struggled to hold our attention, however much there was to look at around them. Screwball is one of Barty's more substantial fantasy roles, but that does not make the film a satisfactory introduction to his acting. We would recommend it chiefly to committed fairy-tale enthusiasts.
The later fantasy work includes Gwildor, the inventor in Masters of the Universe (1987), and the village elder High Aldwin in Willow (1988), alongside Warwick Davis. These parts continued a familiar pattern of casting, with fantasy offering him regular employment but a limited choice of characters. For the physical comedy, there is his aggressive Bible salesman J.J. MacKuen in Foul Play (1978). Start there or with The Day of the Locust before deciding that fantasy was all he had to offer.
Biography
Billy Barty, born William John Bertanzetti, was an American actor and activist. He stood 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) tall due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism and was frequently cast opposite taller performers.
Barty began performing as a child in the late 1920s and appeared in films including Bride of Frankenstein (1935). In the 1950s he performed regularly with the Spike Jones ensemble on television. He founded the Little People of America organisation in 1957 to support people with dwarfism.
His later screen roles included Screwball in Legend (1985), Gwildor in Masters of the Universe (1987), High Aldwin in Willow (1988) and the voice of Baitmouse in The Rescuers Down Under (1990). He died on 23 December 2000.
