Celebrity Deathwatch: Billy Barty, Actor, 76

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/23/obit.barty.ap/index.html

3-foot-10 veteran actor, activist Billy Barty dead at 76
December 23, 2000
Web posted at: 10:21 PM EST (0321 GMT)


LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Billy Barty, a 3-foot-10 character actor whose career
spanned seven decades, died Saturday of heart failure. He was 76.

Barty had been hospitalized in Glendale for heart problems and a lung
infection, said his publicist, Bill York.

Barty appeared in his first Hollywood feature in 1927 at the age of 3 and
has performed for radio, television and on Broadway. He played a number of
outrageous characters, including a wizard in the movie "Willow" (1988), a
tongue-in-cheek role as a German spy in "Under the Rainbow" (1981) with
Chevy Chase, and a suspected stalker in "Foul Play" (1978).

In the late 20s and early 30s, he played Mickey Rooney's kid brother in the
"Mickey McGuire" series of comedy shorts. He had several TV appearances,
most recently in an episode of "Frasier."

In 1957, Barty founded Little People of America, an advocacy group for
others with dwarfism. He later started a non-profit foundation that bears
his name.

Barty was injured in May when he fell of a motorized scooter onto concrete
stairs, bruising his face and fracturing an eye socket. He had been using
the scooter since undergoing hip surgery earlier in the year. Despite the
injury, he said he was feeling alright.

"I feel good. I just look horrible," he told The Associated Press at the
time.

Barty in Millsboro, Pa., in 1924. A graduate of California State University,
Los Angeles, received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 1995. He
also had been appointed to the City Commission on Disabilities and the
County Commission on Disabilities.

Survivors include his wife, Shirley; a son; a daughter; and a granddaughter.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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