• R.I.P. Felix Silla (Twiki in Buck Rogers, Cousin Itt in Addams Family)

    From Your Name@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 17 12:19:41 2021
    :-(

    84 is pretty good age for someone with dwarfism (or whatever the
    "Politically Correct" term is these days). Most die younger than that.


    From Variety.com ...


    Felix Silla, Cousin Itt on 'The Addams Family,' Dies at 84
    ----------------------------------------------------------
    Felix Silla, the actor who played beloved hairy Addams family
    member Cousin Itt, has died. He was 84.

    His "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" castmate, Gil Gerard,
    confirmed the news on Twitter. "Felix died just a few hours
    ago and the only good I can draw from his passing is that he
    didn't suffer any longer," he wrote. "I will miss him
    terribly, especially the time we had at our panels. Just
    telling me to ," go ' f ' myself"."

    Silla's death on Friday comes after a battle with pancreatic
    cancer. He was a longtime resident of Las Vegas, where he
    used to perform with his own musical combo, "The Original
    Harmonica Band," between movies.

    Born in a small village just outside Rome, Italy in January
    1937, Silla came to the United States in 1955. A trained
    circus performer, he toured with the Ringling Bros. and
    Barnum & Bailey Show, which ultimately led him to Hollywood.
    His skills as a tumbler, bareback rider and trapeze artist
    landed him stuntman roles, beginning with 1963 comedy
    "A Ticklish Affair." Silla also worked as a body double,
    often for children, in movies like "The Towering Inferno"
    (1974) and "Battlestar Galactica" (1978). His resume also
    boasted roles in the original "Star Trek," "Space Ball" and
    "Star Wars: Episode VI," in which he played an Ewok.

    Before a series of roles in science fiction projects, Silla
    played Cousin Itt, part of the kooky clan on "The Addams
    Family," which ran from 1964-1966 on ABC. His costume was a
    single body-length hairpiece topped by a bowler hat and pair
    of sunglasses. A Los Angeles Times interview revealed the
    costume was in fact made out of real human hair.

    Silla is survived by his wife Sue and their children Bonnie
    and Michael. The couple had been married since 1965.


    <https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/felix-silla-dead-cousin-itt-addams-family-1234953729/>

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