Biography
Billy Curtis, also credited as Luigi Curto, was an American actor with dwarfism. Born on 27 June 1909 in Springfield, Massachusetts, he had a career spanning five decades in film and television, appearing in more than 50 productions, many uncredited.
He began in vaudeville and performed a dance act with his sister while studying at Northwestern University. His early film roles included the hero in the all-dwarf western The Terror of Tiny Town (1938) and an uncredited Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz (1939). He appeared as a member of the circus troupe in Alfred Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) and as the Midget in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957).
Curtis is known for his role as Mordecai in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter (1973). He also appeared in Planet of the Apes (1968), episodes of Star Trek (1966) and Bewitched (1964), and Little Cigars (1973). He died on 9 November 1988 in Dayton, Nevada.
