Billy Barty

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Billy Barty (born William John Bertanzetti ; born October 25, 1924 in Millsboro , Washington County , Pennsylvania , † December 23, 2000 in Glendale , California ) was an American film and stage actor .

Life

Billy Barty was born in Millsboro, the only son and second of three children of Albert and Ellen Bertanzetti, Italian-Americans , but grew up in Hollywood with his sisters Evelyn and Dede . Even as a child, Barty was diagnosed with a form of short stature - cartilage-hair hypoplasia . Even as an adult, he never got taller than four feet. As a one-year- old , in 1925, Barty stood in front of the camera in the short film Half a Hero , which was to be followed by more in the years to come. In the Mickey McGuire film series , he played Mickey Rooney's brother in over 20 films until about 1935 . Albert Bertanzetti took advantage of the early success of his son, who founded a vaudeville group with his wife and children and performed with them in cities in the USA and Canada .

After graduating from Los Angeles City College , Barty enrolled at Los Angeles State College , where he studied journalism from 1943 . Despite his small height, he played soccer and even basketball , so that he finally focused his studies on sports journalism. After graduating, he worked briefly as a sports editor for the daily newspaper LA Collegian .

After a break of almost nine years, Barty took a film offer for the first time in the comedy Three Wise Fools in 1946 . Nevertheless, it was not until 1950 until Barty was in Jungle Jim in Pygmy Island at the side of Johnny Weissmuller again in front of the camera, and from then on he was able to build on his successes as a child and adolescent.

In 1957, Barty attended a meeting of short people in Las Vegas . This experience was one of the reasons why he founded the organization Little People of America , which campaigns for the rights of small people in social and economic life, including against discrimination in the workplace. In 1975 it became the Billy Barty Foundation .

In February 1962, Barty married in Malad City ( Idaho ) Shirley Bolingbroke. Through his wife he came into contact with the denomination of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). He eventually converted from Catholicism to the Mormons . The Barty family are still close friends with Donny Osmond's family. The couple had two children, of whom their daughter Lori was born in November 1962 with cartilage-hair hypoplasia. At the beginning of the 1970s, son Braden was born, who did not inherit the genetic defect and is now of average height. Today he works as a filmmaker behind the camera.

Barty's film career is remarkable despite or perhaps because of his height. In addition to countless guest appearances such as television series, including Our Little Farm , Charlie's Angels or Hart , he was also in front of the camera in some very well-known fantasy films, such as Masters of the Universe or Willow . Although he was nominated three times for the Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actor, he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1981 .

Politically, Barty felt close to the Republican Party and in 1989 was one of the election campaign aids of the later US President George HW Bush . In 1990, with the help of Barty, the Americans with Disabilities Act came into effect, a federal law of the United States that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.

Barty has received numerous honors in the last few years of his life, including an honorary doctorate from California State University in 1995 . In 1999, he was inducted into the Governor's Hall of Fame in California . In 2000, the Billy Barty Humanitarian Award was launched in honor of him, and Billy Barty was the first recipient of this award.

In mid-December 2000, Barty began to have health problems. After two weeks at Glendale Memorial Hospital, Barty died of heart failure on December 23, 2000, at the age of 76 .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barty, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bertanzetti, William John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American film and stage actor
DATE OF BIRTH October 25, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Millsboro , Washington County , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH December 23, 2000
Place of death Glendale , California