Billy Barty

Billy Barty
Billy Barty in Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1973.
Born	William John Bertanzetti (1924-10-25)October 25, 1924 Millsboro, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 23, 2000(2000-12-23) (aged 76) Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1927–2000
Spouse(s)	Shirley Bolingbroke (m. 1962; his death 2000)
Children	2

Billy Barty (October 25, 1924 – December 23, 2000) was an American film and television actor. In adult life, he stood three feet, nine inches (114 cm), due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism, and because of his short stature, he was often cast in movies opposite taller performers for comic effect. He specialized in outspoken or wisecracking characters. During the 1950s, he became a television star, appearing regularly in the Spike Jones ensemble.

Barty was born William John Bertanzetti on October 25, 1924 in Millsboro, Pennsylvania, the son of Albert Steven and Ellen Cecial Bertanzetti His paternal grandfather was Italian. In 1962, he married Shirley Bolingbroke of Malad City, Idaho. They had two children, Lori Neilson and TV/film producer and director Braden Barty.

Barty and his family were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Barty died of heart failure in 2000 at age 76. He is entombed in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.

Barty co-starred with Mickey Rooney in the Mickey McGuire shorts, a comedy series of the 1920s and 1930s based on the Toonerville Folks comics. Small for his age even then, Barty would impersonate very young children alongside brawny authority figures or wild animals, making these threats seem even larger by comparison.

In the 1933 film Gold Diggers of 1933, a nine-year-old Barty appeared as a baby who escapes from his stroller. He also appeared as The Child in the 1933 film Footlight Parade. He is briefly seen in the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein, in an uncredited role as a baby in one of Dr. Pretorius' experiments, although his close-ups were cut out of the picture.