Billy Curtis

Billy Curtis

Born: June 27, 1909
Died: November 9, 1988
in 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.

Movies for Billy Curtis...

Title: The Twilight Zone
Released: September 27, 1985
Type: TV
This 1980s revival of the classic sci-fi series features a similar style to the original anthology series. Each episode tells a tale (sometimes two or three) rooted in horror or suspense, often with a surprising twist at the end. Episodes usually feature elements of drama and comedy.
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Head Office
Title: Head Office
Character: Reverend Lynch
Released: June 6, 1985
Type: Movie
In this comic take on big-business wheelings and dealings, an ambitious senator's son (Judge Reinhold) moves up the corporate ladder through undeserved promotions. But against his better judgment, he falls for a woman (the chairman's daughter, no less) who's leading a protest against the company's shady business practices.
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Character: Barnaby
Released: July 16, 1984
Type: Movie
Snow White must flee from her evil stepmother. She's taken in by the lovable seven dwarves. Will the wicked queen be able to get rid of her rival?
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Title: Faerie Tale Theatre
Character: Barnaby
Released: September 11, 1982
Type: TV
A live-action children's television anthology series retelling popular fairy tales.
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Eating Raoul
Title: Eating Raoul
Character: Little Person
Released: March 24, 1982
Type: Movie
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discover a bizarre, if not murderous way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
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Title: Knots Landing
Released: December 27, 1979
Type: TV
The domestic adventures, misdeeds and everyday interactions of five families living on a cul-de-sac in a small California community.
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Title: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
Character: General Yoomak
Released: September 20, 1979
Type: TV
20th-century astronaut Buck Rogers awakens in the 25th century after a freak accident puts him in suspended animation for 500 years. Upon returning to Earth and discovering the planet is recovering from a nuclear war, Buck uses his combat skills and ingenuity to protect Earth and fight evil throughout the galaxy alongside starfighter pilot Colonel Wilma Deering and robot companion Twiki.
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Loose Shoes
Title: Loose Shoes
Character: Menchkin
Released: September 1, 1978
Type: Movie
Broad satire and buffoonery presented as a series of movie trailers. Among the titles and subjects are: "The Howard Huge Story", "Skate-boarders from Hell", "The Invasion of the Penis Snatchers", Woody Allen (pre-Mia), movie trailer come-ons, Charlie Chaplin, war movies, Billy Jack. The source of the title is presented about an hour into the film.
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Title: Monster Squad
Character: The Ringmaster
Released: September 11, 1976
Type: TV
Monster Squad is a television series that aired Saturday mornings on NBC from 1976-1977 that is unrelated to the later movie of the same name. The series stars Fred Grandy as Walt, a criminology student working as a night watchman at "Fred's Wax Museum". To pass the time, Walt built a prototype "Crime Computer" hidden in a large stone sarcophagus near an exhibit of legendary monsters. When Walt plugged in his computer, "oscillating vibrations" brought to life the wax statues of Dracula, the Wolfman who here was named "Bruce W. Wolf", and Frankenstein's Monster who was referred to as "Frank N. Stein" in the credits. The monsters, wanting to make up for the misdeeds of their pasts, became superhero crimefighters who used their unique abilities to challenge and defeat various supervillains. In most episodes, Walt would send the monsters out to investigate crimes and fight the villains while monitoring the activities from the wax museum via the Crime Computer, presumably because his job required him to be at the wax museum at all times. However, Walt would sometimes join the climactic battle with his comrades in some episodes and come to the rescue when needed.
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Title: Laverne & Shirley
Released: January 27, 1976
Type: TV
Laverne & Shirley is an American television sitcom that ran on ABC from January 27, 1976 to May 10, 1983. It starred Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, single roommates who worked as bottlecappers in a fictitious Milwaukee brewery called "Shotz Brewery." The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of Fonzie. Set in roughly the same time period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As with Happy Days, it was made by Paramount Television, created by Garry Marshall, and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller.
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The Wild McCullochs
Title: The Wild McCullochs
Character: Charlie P.
Released: May 21, 1975
Type: Movie
A story about the rich McCulloch Family, their overbearing father and the children's misguided blaming him for everything that doesn't go right.
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White House Madness
Title: White House Madness
Character: Secret Service Man
Released: January 1, 1975
Type: Movie
The Nixon Administration falls apart in a farcical manner in the time of the Watergate Scandal.
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Little Cigars
Title: Little Cigars
Character: Slick Bender
Released: June 22, 1973
Type: Movie
A gangster's former mistress hooks up with a troupe of circus midgets who, as a sideline, rob banks and casinos.
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High Plains Drifter
Title: High Plains Drifter
Character: Mordecai
Released: April 19, 1973
Type: Movie
A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago. After gunning down three gunmen who tried to kill him, the townsfolk decide to hire the Stranger to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
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Evil Roy Slade
Title: Evil Roy Slade
Character: Toy Cowboy (uncredited)
Released: February 18, 1972
Type: Movie
Orphaned and left in the desert as an infant, Evil Roy Slade (John Astin) grew up alone—save for his teddy bear—and mean. As an adult, he is notorious for being the "meanest villain in the West"—so he's thrown for quite a loop when he falls for sweet schoolteacher Betsy Potter (Pamela Austin). There's also Nelson L. Stool (Mickey Rooney), a railroad tycoon, who, along with his dimwitted nephew Clifford (Henry Gibson), is trying to get revenge on Evil Roy Slade for robbing him.
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Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana
Title: Aphrodisiac!: The Sexual Secret of Marijuana
Character: Man on the Street Interviewee
Released: November 5, 1971
Type: Movie
A documentary examining the use of marijuana by young people in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Included are interviews with people who regularly use marijuana and testify to its beneficial effects as an aphrodisiac and scenes of nude encounter groups, instructions for making marijuana brownies, soldiers in Vietnam smoking marijuana, etc.
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Norwood
Title: Norwood
Character: Edmund B. Ratner
Released: November 24, 1970
Type: Movie
A Vietnam veteran returns to his Texas home but feels restless and decides to become a radio singer.
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Hello, Dolly!
Title: Hello, Dolly!
Character: Little Person (uncredited)
Released: December 12, 1969
Type: Movie
Dolly Levi is a strong-willed matchmaker who travels to Yonkers, New York in order to see the miserly "well-known unmarried half-a-millionaire" Horace Vandergelder. In doing so, she convinces his niece, his niece's intended, and Horace's two clerks to travel to New York City.
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Title: Here's Lucy
Character: Herman
Released: September 23, 1968
Type: TV
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Planet of the Apes
Title: Planet of the Apes
Character: Child Ape (uncredited)
Released: February 7, 1968
Type: Movie
Astronaut Taylor crash lands on a distant planet ruled by apes who use a primitive race of humans for experimentation and sport. Soon Taylor finds himself among the hunted, his life in the hands of a benevolent chimpanzee scientist.
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Title: The Monkees
Released: September 12, 1966
Type: TV
Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy are four young men in mid-1960s LA, members of a struggling country-folk-rock band looking for their big break amid madcap encounters with a variety of people straight out of TV and movie central casting, with full knowledge that their existence is part of a weekly television series
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Title: Star Trek
Character: Small, copper skinned ambassador (uncredited)
Released: September 8, 1966
Type: TV
Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk with First Officer Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen led by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.
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Out of Sight
Title: Out of Sight
Character: The Man From F.L.U.S.H.
Released: May 12, 1966
Type: Movie
Teenage beach party/spy spoof/musical comedy about a plot to bomb a music fair. As his boss is on vacation, a superspy's butler must come to the rescue, while being pursued by a trio of gorgeous assassins who're agents of F.L.U.S.H. Features George Barris hotrods, along with the musical talents of Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Astronauts, The Knickerbockers, Freddy and the Dreamers, and the only film appearance of The Turtles.
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Title: Batman
Character: Midget
Released: January 12, 1966
Type: TV
Wealthy entrepreneur Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson lead a double life: they are actually crime fighting duo Batman and Robin. A secret Batpole in the Wayne mansion leads to the Batcave, where Police Commissioner Gordon often calls with the latest emergency threatening Gotham City. Racing to the scene of the crime in the Batmobile, Batman and Robin must (with the help of their trusty Bat-utility-belt) thwart the efforts of a variety of master criminals, including The Riddler, The Joker, Catwoman, and The Penguin.
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Title: Bewitched
Released: September 17, 1964
Type: TV
Samantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.
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Robin and the 7 Hoods
Title: Robin and the 7 Hoods
Character: Newsboy
Released: June 24, 1964
Type: Movie
In prohibition-era Chicago, the corrupt sheriff and Guy Gisborne, a south-side racketeer, knock off the boss Big Jim. Everyone falls in line behind Guy except Robbo, who controls the north side. Although he's out-gunned, Robbo wants to keep his own territory. A pool-playing dude from Indiana and the director of a boys' orphanage join forces with Robbo; and, when he gives some money to the orphanage, he becomes the toast of the town as a hood like Robin Hood. Meanwhile, Guy schemes to get rid of Robbo, and Big Jim's heretofore unknown daughter Marian appears and goes from man to man trying to find an ally in her quest to run the whole show. Can Robbo hold things together?
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Title: The Greatest Show on Earth
Released: September 17, 1963
Type: TV
Johnny Slate successfully manages his circus as it moves from town to town.
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Title: The Beverly Hillbillies
Released: September 26, 1962
Type: TV
Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
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Back Stage Party
Title: Back Stage Party
Character: Self
Released: December 17, 1961
Type: Movie
A tour of the Disney Studio and a party celebrating the completion of Babes in Toyland.
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Back Stage Party
Title: Back Stage Party
Character: Self
Released: December 17, 1961
Type: Movie
Party, enterianment, and Behind the scenes
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Title: 87th Precinct
Released: September 25, 1961
Type: TV
87th Precinct is an American crime drama starring Robert Lansing, Gena Rowlands, and Ron Harper, which aired on NBC on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.
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Title: Adventures in Paradise
Character: Captain Borcher
Released: October 5, 1959
Type: TV
Adventures in Paradise is an American television series created by James Michener which ran on ABC from 1959 until 1962, starring Gardner McKay as Adam Troy, the captain of the schooner Tiki III, which sailed the South Pacific looking for passengers and adventure. USA Network aired reruns of this series between 1984 and 1988. The plots deal with the romantic and detective stories of Korean War veteran Troy. The supporting cast, varying from season to season, features George Tobias, Guy Stockwell, and Linda Lawson.
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Title: Tightrope
Released: September 8, 1959
Type: TV
Tightrope is an American crime drama series that aired on CBS from September 1959 to September 1960, under the alternate sponsorship of the J.B. Williams Company, and American Tobacco. Produced by Russell Rouse and Clarence Greene in association with Screen Gems, the series stars Mike Connors as an undercover agent named "Nick" who was assigned to infiltrate criminal gangs. The show was to have originally been titled Undercover Man but it was changed before going to air.
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Title: 77 Sunset Strip
Released: October 10, 1958
Type: TV
Stu Bailey and Jeff Spencer are the wisecracking, womanizing private-detective heroes of this Warner Brothers drama. They work out of an office located at 77 Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, right next door to a snazzy restaurant where Kookie works as a valet. The finger-snapping, slang-talking Kookie occasionally helps Stu and Jeff with their cases, and eventually becomes a full-fledged member of the detective agency. Rex Randolph and J.R. Hale also join the firm, and Suzanne is their leggy secretary.
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The Adventures of Super Pup
Title: The Adventures of Super Pup
Character: Super Pup / Bark Bent
Released: January 1, 1958
Type: Movie
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Man of a Thousand Faces
Title: Man of a Thousand Faces
Character: Harry Earles (uncredited)
Released: August 15, 1957
Type: Movie
The turbulent life and professional career of vaudeville actor and silent screen horror star Lon Chaney (1883-1930), the man of a thousand faces; bearer of many personal misfortunes that even his great success could not mitigate.
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The Incredible Shrinking Man
Title: The Incredible Shrinking Man
Character: Midget
Released: February 22, 1957
Type: Movie
A dangerous combination of radiation and insecticide causes the unfortunate Scott Carey to shrink, slowly but surely, until he is only a few inches tall. His home becomes a wilderness where he must survive everything from spiders living in the cellar to his beloved cat.
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Title: Gunsmoke
Character: Arizona
Released: September 10, 1955
Type: TV
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.
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Jungle Moon Men
Title: Jungle Moon Men
Character: Damu
Released: April 8, 1955
Type: Movie
Priestess Oma is forever young in this Jungle Jim knockoff of "She" or the La of Opar stories from "Tarzan". The Jungle Jim-type character is played by Weissmuller using his own name.
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Princess of the Nile
Title: Princess of the Nile
Character: Tut (uncredited)
Released: July 1, 1954
Type: Movie
Shalimar, an Egyptian princess, striving to rid her country of its Bedouin conquerors, forms an alliance with Prince Haidi, son of the Caliph of Bagdad. She practices her intrigues both at the court and, disguised as a dancing girl, in the market place.
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Title: This Is Your Life
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1952
Type: TV
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special guest appearances by colleagues, friends and family. Edwards revived the show in 1971-72, while Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983. Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005. The show originated as a radio show on NBC Radio airing from 1948 to 1952.
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Title: Adventures of Superman
Released: September 19, 1952
Type: TV
Announcer: "The Adventures of Superman. Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!" Voices: "Look up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" Announcer: "Yes, it's Superman, strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman, who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands; and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way."
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Superman and the Mole-Men
Title: Superman and the Mole-Men
Character: Mole-Man (uncredited)
Released: November 23, 1951
Type: Movie
Reporters Clark Kent and Lois Lane arrive in the small town of Silsby to witness the drilling of the world's deepest oil well. The drill, however, has penetrated the underground home of a race of small, furry people who then come to the surface at night to look around. The fact that they glow in the dark scares the townfolk, who form a mob, led by the vicious Luke Benson, intent on killing the strange people. Only Superman has a chance to prevent this tragedy.
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Pygmy Island
Title: Pygmy Island
Character: Makuba
Released: November 22, 1950
Type: Movie
Jungle Jim searches for a female Army captain who's gone missing.
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Homicide for Three
Title: Homicide for Three
Character: Circus Performer
Released: December 8, 1948
Type: Movie
While on shore leave to celebrate his first anniversary, Lt. Peter Duluth (Warren Douglas) takes his wife, Iris (Audrey Long), to a Los Angeles hotel but is turned away. When mysterious Colette (Stephanie Bachelor) offers them her suite, the young couple becomes entangled in a murder plot. Aided by two PIs, Peter and Iris find two corpses and are desperate to locate Colette before she becomes the next victim, but the killers are one step ahead.
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April Showers
Title: April Showers
Character: Capt. Rudolph L. Nemo
Released: March 27, 1948
Type: Movie
A married couple who have a song-and-dance act in vaudeville are in trouble. Their struggling act is going nowhere, they're almost broke and they have to do something to get them back on top or they'll really be in trouble. They decide to put their young son in the act in hopes of attracting some new attention. The boy turns out to be a major talent, audiences love him and the act is on its way to the top. That's when an organization whose purpose is to stop children from performing on stage shows up, and they're dead set on breaking up the act.
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The Hard Way
Title: The Hard Way
Character: Vaudeville Midget (Uncredited)
Released: January 13, 1943
Type: Movie
Helen Chernen pushes her younger sister Katherine into show business in order to escape their small town poverty.
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Lucky Legs
Title: Lucky Legs
Character: Newsboy
Released: October 1, 1942
Type: Movie
Chorus girl Gloria Carroll inherits one million dollars from Broadway playboy Herbert Dinwiddle. Producer Ned McLane persuades her to advance him the money on a production called "Lucky Legs" that will star her. Unfortunately, the money has "made the rounds" prior to reaching Gloria and several less-than-scrupulous characters set out to separate Gloria from her inheritance.
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Saboteur
Title: Saboteur
Character: Midget - Circus Troupe
Released: April 24, 1942
Type: Movie
Aircraft factory worker Barry Kane flees across the United States after he is wrongly accused of starting the fire that killed his best friend.
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Don't Lie
Title: Don't Lie
Character: Melinda, the chimp
Released: April 4, 1942
Type: Movie
After Buckwheat tells the gang he's seen a big monkey, Spanky, Froggy and Mickey decide to teach him once and for all not to lie. What the gang doesn't know is that the monkey is real, and hilarity will ensue.
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Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Title: Tramp, Tramp, Tramp!
Character: Midget
Released: April 2, 1942
Type: Movie
Jackie Gleason and Jack Durant are teamed for the first and only time as Hank and Jed, a pair of dimwitted barbers who are forced into bankruptcy because all their customers have marched off to war. Figuring that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, Hank and Jed try to join the Army themselves, only to be rejected for a variety of reasons (When asked to read the eye-chart, Hank says he can't-not because he can't see, but because he can't read).
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Hellzapoppin'
Title: Hellzapoppin'
Character: Bodyguard (uncredited)
Released: December 25, 1941
Type: Movie
Olsen and Johnson, a pair of stage comedians, try to turn their play into a movie and bring together a young couple in love, while breaking the fourth wall every step of the way.
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Ice-Capades
Title: Ice-Capades
Character: George
Released: August 19, 1941
Type: Movie
Bob Clemens is a cameraman for newsreels. Assigned to shoot the Swiss ice skater Karen Vadja, he arrives too late, so decides to film a woman skating on a different New York rink and pass her off as Karen. The scheme backfires when promoter Larry Herman takes a look at Bob's film and decides to make the skater a star. Unfortunately, it's actually amateur (and illegal immigrant) Marie Bergin in the newsreel footage, not the great figure skater from Switzerland. Chaos ensues as Bob tries to straighten everybody out.
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Emergency Landing
Title: Emergency Landing
Character: Judge
Released: March 7, 1941
Type: Movie
A test pilot and his weather observer develop a "robot" control so airplanes can be flown without pilots, but enemy agents get wind of it and try to steal it or destroy it.
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Maisie Was a Lady
Title: Maisie Was a Lady
Character: Midget (Uncredited)
Released: January 10, 1941
Type: Movie
Showgirl Maisie Ravier finds herself once again out of work. She meets a wealthy playboy who hires her to be his family's new maid. Maisie soon finds herself trying to mend the family's many problems.
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The Wizard of Oz
Title: The Wizard of Oz
Character: Munchkin (uncredited)
Released: August 15, 1939
Type: Movie
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
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Three Texas Steers
Title: Three Texas Steers
Character: Hercules - the Midget
Released: May 12, 1939
Type: Movie
Nancy Evans, lovely circus owner, has a ranch that she's never visited, but for sentimental reasons won't sell to Mike Abbott. Her partners, secretly in league with Abbott, sabotage the circus to force Nancy to sell the ranch; instead, she goes there to live. Will her neighbors, the Three Mesquiteers, be a match for the secret swindlers? And what's so valuable about that run-down ranch anyway?
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The Terror of Tiny Town
Title: The Terror of Tiny Town
Character: The Hero (Buck Lawson)
Released: December 1, 1938
Type: Movie
Using a conventional Western story with an all dwarf cast, the filmmakers were able to showcase gags such as cowboys entering the local saloon by walking under the swinging doors, and pint-sized cowboys galloping around on Shetland ponies while roping calves.