Billy Barty

The actor who was born with the talkies

Billy Barty stood just over three feet tall, but his shadow across Hollywood sets stretched for seven decades. He debuted in silent films before turning three. By 1927, he was already running around the sets of the short-film series Mickey McGuire, playing the younger brother of Mickey Rooney. He was a child prodigy who survived the transition to sound without missing a beat.

During the 1930s, he became a go-to performer for Busby Berkeley's geometric dance numbers. He appears in Gold Diggers of 1933 and in Footlight Parade, often wearing costumes that hid his face. But his physical agility and vaudeville training kept him on the payroll of the major studios. These were times of grueling shoots and one-sided contracts.

Barty never wanted to be a special effect.

In 1933, he appeared in Paramount's version of Alice in Wonderland. He played Baby, and the role helped him realize that his physique didn't have to limit his dramatic range. Although the industry often typecast him in fantasy roles, he always looked for the humanity beneath the makeup.

The Union of the Forgotten

In 1957, he decided the industry would no longer treat them as mere sideshow curiosities. He brought together a group of little people in Reno and founded Little People of America. It wasn't a romantic gesture, but an absolute necessity for work and social equality. He helped end the use of the term “midget” as a professional slur, turning it into an identity protected by the union.

Dignity was earned through lawsuits and organization.

His maturity as an actor came with roles that demanded more than stunts. In 1975, he appeared in The Day of the Locust, and three years later he co-starred with Goldie Hawn in Foul Play. But audiences of the eighties remember him mostly for his foray into fantasy film. In 1987, he played Gwildor in Masters of the Universe, lugging pounds of latex and prosthetics under the heat of the lights.

Ron Howard gave him one of his most memorable roles in 1988 in Willow. Barty played High Aldwin with an authority that had nothing to do with camera angles. Ridley Scott had previously directed him in Legend in 1985, but Barty's screen presence always brought a touch of reality, even among fairies and goblins. He worked nonstop because he knew visibility was his only weapon.

Fantasy was both his refuge and his prison.

The end of a long-distance runner

In the late nineties, his health began to decline due to chronic heart problems. He kept taking brief TV roles and voice work for animation until his body said enough. In 1991, he appeared in Mel Brooks' comedy Life Stinks, proving his comic timing was still intact despite the years.

Billy Barty died on December 23, 2000, at a Glendale hospital at age 76. He left behind a filmography of more than 200 titles, spanning the silent era through the digital age. His last credited movie appearance was in I/O Error, filmed the same year he died.