Felix Silla was born in Roccacasale, Abruzzo, Italy on January 11, 1937. He trained as a circus performer and came to the United States in 1955 with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was a bareback horse rider, trapeze artist and tumbler which led him becoming a Hollywood stuntman in 1962. He played a leprechaun on an episode of Bonanza (1963), Baron Munchkin on Petticoat Junction (1965), Cousin Itt on 17 episodes of The Addams Family (1965-66),
a circus performer on The Girl From U.N.C.L.E (1966)., Willy the Midget on The Monkees (1967), a polka-dotted horse on 17 episodes of H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-70), a troll and a goblin on Bewitched (1967 and 1971),
a child gorilla in Planet of the Apes (1968), Colonel Poom on 17 episodes of Lidsville (1971 -72), the villain Litvak, who took on George Segal’s Sam Spade Jr. in The Maltese Falcon sequel The Black Bird (1975), Chuck in 5 episodes of Mary Hartman Mary Hartman (1977),
a crazed clown in The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), was a voice in The Lord of the Rings (1978), Lucifer in 10 episodes of Battlestar Galactica (1978-79), Twiki the robot in 30 episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-81), an Orkan porter in Mork & Mindy (1981),
he was a hand-glider Ewok in Star Wars: Episode IV – Return of the Jedi (1983), Meathead the alien in Meatballs Part II (1984), he played the visitor in The Dukes of Hazzard (1985), Talosian in Star Trek (1986), Dink in Spaceballs (1987),
a courtroom spectator in Ghostbusters II (1989), an alien in Married with Children (1990) and the Emperor Penguin on Batman Returns (1992).
He performed stunts in Batman Returns, Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom, Poltergeist, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Towering Inferno, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, to name a few. He was a man of small stature at just under 4 feet, 70 lbs, but he brought a mountainous amount of joy to all of us through the years. He regularly attended fan conventions and played harmonica in his own combo.
Felix died of pancreatic cancer in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 16, 2021 at the age of 84. For more information on him go to his website, Wikipedia or IMDB.
