Dr. Praetorius jar specimens/Billy Barty? in Universal Horrors Forum

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Dr. Praetorius jar specimens/Billy Barty?

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TServo4		#21	[-]
Jun 3 10 8:51 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	True enough. If you don't want to continue the stereotype, don't take the part. Unfortunately, most actors see the dollar signs first, and there's always a long line of actors if the first pick doesn't. On the other hand, the public today is way too touchy. I love all of this, "people were less enlightened back then" talk— nonsense... it's not that they weren't enlightened, they were simply too thick-skinned trying to live from day to day to be worried about being offended at some stereotype popping up in a Monogram streamliner. J. Theakston Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY
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CreepingBride		#22	[-]
Jun 3 10 9:39 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bill Warren wrote: Don Glut wrote: Is this just me or has this bothered anyone else out there? Peter Dinklage sometimes is cast "straight." There was some indie film in the '90s about a really bad indie film being made-- was it FLIRTING WITH DISASTER? LIVING IN OBLIVION? SPANKING THE MONKEY? I forget what the hell it's called...--- anyway, Peter Dinklage is in it & has a funny scene criticizing that kind of casting that you're talking about, Don. If I remember right, the jerk indie filmmaker in the movie wants to do a pretentious dream sequence and he calls for a "midget" to be cast just to make everything seem "weird," and Dinklage's character tears into him for succumbing to such a lazy, obvious cliché in his picture & goes on to talk about Santa's elves & mad scientist's assistants.
Rick		#23	[-]
Jun 4 10 12:20 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It was LIVING IN OBLIVION. Dinklage has a great line about the scene, "it must be a dream, 'cause there's a midget in it." About 6 years ago I was called to audition for a Broadway show. When I arrived, the waiting room was occupied by four or five tubby, middle-aged character actors like myself, and two little people who were there on a break from rehearsals for the Radio City Christmas show. During our waiting-time conversation, we found out we were all there for the same role. One of the little guys said, "I guess they really don't know what they want." Neither of the little guys got the job, though, and, even worse, I didn't either.
Sid Terror.thehorrordrunx		#24	[-]
Jun 4 10 1:23 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	RE: LIVING IN OBLIVION dream sequence. I'm pretty sure they were taking a pot-shot at TWIN PEAKS with that one. RE: BARTY, In those years of the Great Depression he and his parents were just happy for the work. ANY work to keep the wolves at the door. I'd read that there was only one casting agency in the 1930's that specialized in supplying height challenged actors... Remember the stories about them trying to jack up their fees to MGM for THE WIZARD OF OZ so a nation wide casting call was instituted? There just wasn't a lot of job opportunities other than the side-show and film business in those days. It is still to this day the same (minus the side-shows) for a lot of actors other than Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, maybe New Years and, um, adult based entertainment. How much the world has progressed since then, huh? It sucks that casting types is so stringent. At least Angelo had his news stand to fall back on. One of the two most popular stands in Hollywood, as I recall. I was bummed going by there recently to see it had finally closed, with someone attempting to sell cheap luggage in its place.
Bill Warren		#25	[-]
Jun 4 10 1:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Sid Terror wrote: Remember the stories about them trying to jack up their fees to MGM for THE WIZARD OF OZ so a nation wide casting call was instituted? And in which Billy Barty did not appear. When I asked him why not, he wasn't entirely sure, but thought he was probably working in another (movie at the time, or several. Notice how many of the Munchkins never made another movie..
TServo4		#26	[-]
Jun 4 10 1:40 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	He did, however, co-star in the pretty abominable UNDER THE RAINBOW (and honestly, was probably the best part). J. Theakston Capitol Theatre, Rome, NY
Sid Terror.thehorrordrunx		#27	[-]
Jun 4 10 3:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Bill Warren wrote: Sid Terror wrote: Remember the stories about them trying to jack up their fees to MGM for THE WIZARD OF OZ so a nation wide casting call was instituted? And in which Billy Barty did not appear. When I asked him why not, he wasn't entirely sure, but thought he was probably working in another (movie at the time, or several. Notice how many of the Munchkins never made another movie.. The Munchkins were pretty much cobbled together in a nation-wide casting call. After OZ had wrapped, most of them just went back to where they came from. My bets are that it was a sore point with Barty that the agency he was with got aced out and out-of-town talent was hired instead. I heard one amusing story about after they had finally assembled all the Munchkins together... Apparently they loaded them all on a bus and drove to the house of the person who owned the casting agency (who tried to jack up the rates of local talent)then blasted the big air-horns on the bus. When the owner of the agency came out of the house to see what all the commotion was, they were witness to the sight of several dozen nekkid Munchkin rumps hanging out the bus windows. Their point made, they then quickly drove away. Did anyone else here go to the Munchkin reunion at the historic Culver City hotel in 1997? When I was living on that side of town it was only about four blocks away from where I lived, so of course I attended. There were only about six of them left. With Meinhardt Raabe (the Coroner Munchkin) dying in April of this year at the age of 94, I'm not sure if there are any survivors left for a future reunion. Last Edited By: Sid Terror Jun 4 10 3:45 AM. Edited 2 times.
zogstar67		#28	[-]
Jun 4 10 8:56 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rick wrote: It was LIVING IN OBLIVION. Dinklage has a great line about the scene, "it must be a dream, 'cause there's a midget in it." About 6 years ago I was called to audition for a Broadway show. When I arrived, the waiting room was occupied by four or five tubby, middle-aged character actors like myself, and two little people who were there on a break from rehearsals for the Radio City Christmas show. During our waiting-time conversation, we found out we were all there for the same role. One of the little guys said, "I guess they really don't know what they want." Neither of the little guys got the job, though, and, even worse, I didn't either. Not show business, but when I was in college, I had a summer job at a horse track admissions gate working as back-up to a little guy (really little) in a wheelchair. He handled the main gate, did all the figurative heavy lifting involved there and I worked the little secondary gate off to the side. Sometimes I would have nothing to do and look over and see him swamped, though I couldn't leave my position. He'd been there for years and that's the way everyone, including him, wanted it. He was good at his job. Also, he wore a giant pair of Cool Hand Luke mirrored shades, which I really dug. Chris Herzog "The Devil's on the loose and he's dancin' with the Mummy!!!" Last Edited By: zogstar67 Jun 4 10 8:59 AM. Edited 1 times.
Rakshasa		#29	[-]
Jun 4 10 9:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	"Ms. Mundy? Do you believe in life...after death?" Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
zogstar67		#30	[-]
Jun 4 10 9:05 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	re: Barty Does anyone know if his BOF role called for anything more than waiving a rattle and goo-gooing? I'm thinking they went with a little person (albeit a 10 year old) rather than a real baby because the script originally called for a character make-up. But did he have a comedy routine like some of the others? Or did they go with Barty because he could be counted on to ham it up for the comic scene while a real baby sitting there wouldn't be particularly funny? Chris Herzog "The Devil's on the loose and he's dancin' with the Mummy!!!"
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soundstage28		#31	[-]
Jun 4 10 9:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<<< Did anyone else here go to the Munchkin reunion at the historic Culver City hotel in 1997?>>>> You're correct, there were 6 of them. It was a nice low-key reunion with only a couple hundred people showing up and the midgets signed photos for free. They were later taken down the street to the massive Stage 27 for more photos. As far as where the original midgets came from, almost all were rounded up by midget agent Leo Singer. When they were still short (no pun intended) they added 10 or so children. If you want a brief history: http://www.kansasoz.com/infomunchkins.htm
Ted Newsom		#32	[-]
Jun 4 10 9:12 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	SAG and/or Child Protective Services may have been a factor at that time. This may have limited the hours an underage actor can work during a day, which is a production pain.
zogstar67		#33	[-]
Jun 4 10 9:17 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Ted Newsom wrote: SAG and/or Child Protective Services may have been a factor at that time. This may have limited the hours an underage actor can work during a day, which is a production pain. Hence the time honored practice of casting twins in the roles of toddlers and infants. Thanks, Ted. I imagine more filmmakers would cast adults as children to avoid the headache, if they could get away with it. Although, this role doesn't seem particularly extensive or time consuming, using Barty may have solved a number of problems. Chris Herzog "The Devil's on the loose and he's dancin' with the Mummy!!!"
TomWeaver999		#34	[-]
Jun 4 10 10:33 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I bet they went for Barty instead of a midget/dwarf/whatever the word is, to give the shot a "funny," macabre quality. A Whalesian quality, if you will. If they HAD used a baby, I bet the kid would have been in and out of there in 15 minutes -- "Shoot him from the front ... Okay, now shoot him from the back ... Hey, thanks for comin'."
Rakshasa		#35	[-]
Jun 4 10 11:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	TomWeaver999 wrote: a midget/dwarf/whatever the word is, to give the shot a "funny," macabre quality. A Whalesian quality, if you will. Certainly ain't no fidget. Agreed. Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758
Bill Warren		#36	[-]
Jun 4 10 11:02 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	zogstar67 wrote: But did he have a comedy routine like some of the others? Or did they go with Barty because he could be counted on to ham it up for the comic scene while a real baby sitting there wouldn't be particularly funny? I presume they used a kid rather than an actual baby because actual kids can take direction, and aren't likely to cry for mommy.
Don Glut	Certainly ain't no fidget.	#37	[-]
Jun 4 10 12:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Them's not babies, them's fidgets! Also, Barty, even as a baby or very young kid (check out those Mickey McGuire, er, shorts), looked a bit unusual. True Confession Time Again, re: My Three Most Embarrassing "Little People" Encounters: 1. When the late Bob Greenberg took Rob Reiner, Peter Boyle, me, possibly Bill Warren and some other friends to an actual midget minstrel show, in which a lot of them perform and very few had any real talent. Barty may have been one of the hosts (er, short memory?), because there were a few celebs in the show. We all kind of applauded to be polite. (At least they weren't in blackface!) 2. The first time I visited actor Richard (Prince Barin) Alexander, who lived down the street from me. Dick's very darkly lit apartment was cluttered with wooden boxes filled with raw vegetables. Some of these vegetables were out of the box and in a huge kettle, where Dick was brewing soup. With Dick in that apartment (don't recall if he was a roommate or just visiting) was a little guy. Alexander was drunk and every 30 seconds or so farted. Between my questions about the Flash Gordon serials, Dick farted and kept making cracks about whom he referred to as "the world's most uncharming midget." 3. I was at Harmony Gold attending the screening a new movie in which one of the lead characters (for once playing a normal role, not a character out of a Lucas or Monogram movie) was a dwarf. It was a rather long movie, so when it ended there was a long line to and into the bathrooms. This actor had invited a lot of his little friends to the screening. As fate would have it, I a very short dwarf was standing directly behind me in line. When my turn came, there was just one vacant urinal -- you guessed it, the "short" one. I didn't know what to do. If I used that urinal, would I be usurping the "right" of that guy behind me? If I let him have it, would I be "insensitive," making some kind of a reference to his size? We looked at each other and he "got" what I was thinking, smiled, and walked up to do his business.
thehorrorboy		#38	[-]
Jun 4 10 12:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	davlghry wrote: Bill Warren wrote: I think Barty was 7 or 8 when those scenes were shot, so he wasn't all that far from BEING a baby. Barty was truly disturbing in the "Honeymoon Hotel" number from FOOTLIGHT PARADE as a horny, leering child peeking through keyholes and chasing showgirls like a pint sized Harpo. William K. Everson always referred to "that nauseating midget."
Don Glut		#39	[-]
Jun 4 10 12:32 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My friend Bill Winckler (FRANKENSTEIN VS. THE CREATURE FROM BLOOD COVE, DOUBLE-D AVENGER) -- who worked with Barty on a TV kids show and, when Barty refused to pay him for his work sued him (and won) in "small" claims court -- told me that Barty was not the happy little man that he played in films and on TV, and, even on set with his young guests, was one of the most foul-mouthed people he's ever known. Last Edited By: Don Glut Jun 4 10 1:08 PM. Edited 1 times.
TomWeaver999		#40	[-]
Jun 4 10 12:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I haven't dealt with a lot of "little people" but the few I have been put in contact with all struck me as being mad at the world. Which maybe ... which PROBABLY I would be too, if I was in their size two's. I've also interviewed two people about Michael Dunn, and both made him sound like a treacherous little piece of work. It must be tough. I ain't judgin'. I'm just sayin'.
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Dr. Praetorius jar specimens/Billy Barty?