Felix Silla

Felix Silla was born January 11, 1937,{{cite book|last1=Tate|first1=Marsha Ann|last2=Houser|first2=Eric|title=What America Watched: Television Favorites From the Cornfields to the Cosmos, 1960s-1990s|location=Jefferson, N.C.|publisher=McFarland & Company|date=2022|isbn=9781476680576|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aD1ZEAAAQBAJ|page=118}} in the small village of Roccacasale, Abruzzo, Italy. He trained as a circus performer and came to the United States aged 18, in 1955, touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His multiple talents as a bareback horse rider, trapeze artist, and tumbler brought him to Hollywood, where he became a stuntman, appearing in the film, A Ticklish Affair.

His best-known roles include Litvak, the maniacal, miniature Hitler who menaces George Segal in film The Black Bird (his favorite role). He was also responsible for the physical performance of the robot Twiki in the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, a role for which the voice was supplied by Mel Blanc or Bob Elyea.

In part due to his short stature of 1.19 m (3 ft 11 in), he often doubled for children in such movies as The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, and Battlestar Galactica as well as Meatballs 2 as the alien. Between movies, he frequently appeared in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, night clubs with his own musical combo, The Original Harmonica Band.{{Cite web|title=Talking With Felix Silla – June 2, 2016|url=https://talkaboutlasvegas.com/talking-with-felix-silla-june-2-2016/|access-date=2020-11-24|website=Talk About Las Vegas with Ira|date=2 June 2016 |language=en-US}}

Silla provided his voice for the character Mortimer Goth in the 2004 video game The Sims 2.

Silla became famous however as the recurring costumed character of Cousin Itt on television's The Addams Family. The character was only in one of Charles Addams original comics, but his demeanor was created for the original black and white television series by producer David Levy, debuting in the 1965 first-season episode "Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family", and appearing in a total of 19 episodes, 17 of which featured Silla and Roger Arroyo, over the course of the show's two seasons. The character's voice was usually provided by studio sound engineer Anthony Magro (1923–2004). The character became so popular it was carried over to subsequent licensed media including film, stage and video games.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

He played one of the hang glider Ewoks in the film Star Wars Return of the Jedi in 1983.{{cite news |title=Felix Silla, Cousin Itt on TV's 'Addams Family,' dies at 84 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/felix-silla-cousin-itt-tvs-addams-family-dies-77142943 |access-date=April 20, 2021 |publisher=Associated Press |date=April 17, 2021}}

He also appears to have done quite a bit of work with Glen A. Larson as he was the body actor for the robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as well as Lucifer in "Battlestar Galactica."

Felix Silla died on April 16, 2021, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 84, in Las Vegas, Nevada.{{cite web |title=Felix Silla, Cousin Itt on 'The Addams Family,' Dies at 84|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/felix-silla-dead-cousin-itt-addams-family-1234953729/ |website=Variety|access-date=16 April 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/felix-silla-dies-cousin-itt-on-the-addams-family-tv-show-was-84-obituary-1234737466/|title=Felix Silla Dies: Cousin Itt On TV's 'The 'Addams Family' Was 84|first1=Bruce|last1=Haring|website=Deadline|date=16 April 2021}}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{IMDb name|0798061}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silla, Felix}}

Category:1937 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Actors with dwarfism

Category:Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Nevada

Category:Italian emigrants to the United States

Category:Italian male film actors

Category:Italian male television actors

Category:Male actors from Rome

Category:People of Lazian descent