Billy Barty

Billy Barty was an American film actor. In adult life he stood three feet, nine inches, and because of his short stature he was often cast in movies and television episodes as outspoken or wisecracking characters, playing opposite taller performers. During the 1950s he became a TV star, appearing regularly in the Spike Jones ensemble. Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania. He was married to Shirley Bolingbroke of Malad City, Idaho, from 1962 until his death. They had two children, Lori Neilson and TV/film producer and director Braden Barty.... Barty and his family belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 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, and 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.
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