Verne Troyer
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Verne Jay Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor and occasional stunt coordinator and performer. He was best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. He had cartilage–hair hypoplasia and was Script error: No such module "convert". tall.[1][2]
Early life
Troyer was born in Sturgis, Michigan, on January 1, 1969,[3] the son of Susan, a factory worker, and Reuben Troyer, a repair technician.[4] He had two siblings, Davon and Deborah. He stated that his parents "never treated me any different than my other average-sized siblings. I used to have to carry wood, feed the cows and pigs and farm animals."[5] Troyer was initially raised Amish, but his parents left the faith when he was a child.[6] During his childhood, Troyer spent much time visiting Amish relatives[7] in Centreville, Michigan. He graduated in 1987 from Centreville High School, where a plaque was dedicated to him in 2003.[8]
Career
Troyer's film career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone to serve as a stunt double for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994).[9] He gained further work as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films of the 1990s, including Dunston Checks In, Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997),[10] and My Giant (1998).[11] He is also known for an appearance in an Apple PowerBook G4 advertisement.[12]
He first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series,[13] directed by Roach and starring co-creator Mike Myers, before filming for the series' second film began. Myers was impressed with Troyer's performance, rewriting the script for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) to give Mini-Me more screen time and remove the character's death.[14] Troyer reprised the role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru (2008).[10]
After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001),[15] and played the role of Percy in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).[16] He also made several appearances as himself in reality television series, including The Surreal Life (2005), Welcome to Sweden (2007),[10] and the British Celebrity Big Brother 6 (2009), in which he placed fourth.[17]
Personal life
On June 25, 2008, a private home video was leaked of Troyer and his former live-in girlfriend Ranae Shrider having sex. The video, recorded in 2008 in Beverly Hills, California, and Shrider's hometown of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma,[18] was leaked to the public by Shrider and TMZ.[19] Kevin Blatt, the man responsible for brokering the deal for Paris Hilton's sex tape in 2003, tried to sell the video. Troyer, through his long-time attorney, Ed McPherson, sued TMZ, Blatt, and online rental company SugarDVD, for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.[20]
Death
In early April 2018, Troyer was admitted to a hospital after an incident in his home.[21][22] He had previously been admitted to rehab to undergo treatment for alcoholism.[22][23]
Troyer died at a Los Angeles hospital on April 21, 2018, at age 49. His death was later ruled a suspected suicide by alcohol intoxication. He was interred with his parents in Leonidas Cemetery in St. Joseph County, Michigan.[24][25]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Baby's Day Out | Baby Bink's stunt double | Debut role | [9] |
| 1996 | Dunston Checks In | [10] | ||
| Jingle All the Way | Little Santa Claus | [10] | ||
| Pinocchio's Revenge | Pinocchio's Miniature Double | [26] | ||
| 1997 | Volcano | [27] | ||
| Men in Black | Alien Son | [28] | ||
| Wishmaster | Creature Stage #1 | [28] | ||
| RocketMan | [29] | |||
| 1998 | My Giant | Wrestler | [11] | |
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | Wee Waiter | Credited as Verne J. Troya | [30] | |
| The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald | Sundae | Direct-to-video Voice by Dee Bradley Baker |
[31] | |
| Mighty Joe Young | Baby Joe | [30] | ||
| 1999 | Here Lies Lonely | Virgil | [32] | |
| Instinct | Gorilla Performer | [30] | ||
| Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | Mini-Me | Credited as Verne J. Troya | [33] | |
| 2000 | Bit Players | Marty Rosenthal | [34] | |
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Band Member | [30] | ||
| 2001 | Bubble Boy | Dr. Phreak | [28] | |
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | Griphook | Voice by Warwick Davis | [33] | |
| 2002 | Run for the Money | Attila | [28] | |
| Austin Powers in Goldmember | Mini-Me | [33] | ||
| 2003 | Pauly Shore Is Dead | Himself | [28] | |
| 2007 | Postal | Himself | [28] | |
| 2008 | The Love Guru | Coach Punch Cherkov | [33] | |
| College | Himself | [30] | ||
| 2009 | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Percy | [28] | |
| 2012 | Keith Lemon: The Film | Archimedes | [30] | |
| 2013 | Convenience | Dwight | [30] | |
| 2015 | Trailer Park Boys: Drunk, High, and Unemployed: Live in Austin | Himself | [28] | |
| Gnome Alone | The Gnome | [35] | ||
| 2018 | The Delivery | The Boss | Short film Posthumous release |
|
| 2019 | Aliens, Clowns & Geeks | Emperor Beezel-Chugg | Posthumous release | [26] |
| 2020 | The 420 Movie: Mary & Jane | Tito the Terrible | Posthumous release Final film role |
[36] |
Television
Music videos
| Year | Artist | Song | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Madonna | "Beautiful Stranger" | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me |
| Mel B | "Word Up" | Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me | |
| 2002 | Moby | "We Are All Made of Stars" | 18 |
| 2004 | D12 | "My Band" | D12 World |
| 2005 | Ludacris | "Number One Spot" | The Red Light District |
| 2009 | Forever the Sickest Kids | "What Do You Want from Me" | The Weekend: Friday and Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
| 2014 | Steve Aoki featuring will.i.am | "Born to Get Wild" | Neon Future I |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Let It Die | Jackal X | [44] |
Web
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Story Cops with Verne Troyer | Glenn Peck | Funny or Die Exclusive[45] |
| 2018 | My 90-Year-Old Roommate | Verne Troyer | Episode: "Verne Troyer"; posthumous release |
References
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- ↑ As stated by Troyer during interview on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, September 25, 2009.
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- ↑ bgo.com TV advertisement featuring Verne Troyer Template:Webarchive from bgo.com
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External links
- Template:Trim/ Verne Troyer at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE at Find a GraveTemplate:EditAtWikidata
- Verne Troyer interview, Movieset.com
- Pages with script errors
- Biography with signature
- 1969 births
- 2018 deaths
- 2018 suicides
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Male actors from Michigan
- American actors with dwarfism
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- American stunt performers
- Drug-related suicides in California
- People from Centreville, Michigan
- People from Sturgis, Michigan
- American Amish people
- Alcohol-related deaths in California
- YouTube channels launched in 2015
- YouTube channels closed in 2018
- American male comedians
- Comedians from Michigan