'Addams Family,' 'Buck Rogers' Actor Felix Silla Dies at 84 (ew.com) 31
EW reports:
Felix Silla's friend and former Buck Rogers in the 25th Century costar Gil Gerard reported on Twitter that Silla died Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Coming in at just under 4 feet tall and only 70 pounds, Silla was the perfect choice for the mumbling Cousin Itt on The Addams Family. For years, audiences didn't see his face, the character covered in a full-length hairpiece, sporting sunglasses and a bowler hat... Silla did not provide the distinct mumbling voice of Cousin Itt. That was added by sound engineer Tony Magro in production...
He first came to the United States in 1955 and began his career touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for seven years. He worked as a trapeze artist, tumbler, and bareback horse rider. Eventually, he settled in Hollywood in 1962, where he became a stuntman. He went on to work in movies like A Ticklish Fair, TV shows like Bonanza, and appeared in the first pilot for Star Trek, "The Cage." His small stature often helped him find work, including as Cousin Itt, robot sidekick Twiki on the NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and even as a hang-gliding Ewok in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi...
He also excelled as a stand in, double, and stuntman working on projects such as Planet of the Apes, Demon Seed, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, The Golden Child, Howard the Duck, and Batman Returns.
In 2018 one Las Vegas blog spotted Silla with Gil Gerard, posting a picture of the two side by side -- just as they'd posed decades earlier on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
While for that show Mel Blanc had provided the voice for Twiki the robot, the blog notes that Silla himself supplied the voice of Mortimer Goth in the Sims 2 videogame.
Coming in at just under 4 feet tall and only 70 pounds, Silla was the perfect choice for the mumbling Cousin Itt on The Addams Family. For years, audiences didn't see his face, the character covered in a full-length hairpiece, sporting sunglasses and a bowler hat... Silla did not provide the distinct mumbling voice of Cousin Itt. That was added by sound engineer Tony Magro in production...
He first came to the United States in 1955 and began his career touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for seven years. He worked as a trapeze artist, tumbler, and bareback horse rider. Eventually, he settled in Hollywood in 1962, where he became a stuntman. He went on to work in movies like A Ticklish Fair, TV shows like Bonanza, and appeared in the first pilot for Star Trek, "The Cage." His small stature often helped him find work, including as Cousin Itt, robot sidekick Twiki on the NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and even as a hang-gliding Ewok in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi...
He also excelled as a stand in, double, and stuntman working on projects such as Planet of the Apes, Demon Seed, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, The Golden Child, Howard the Duck, and Batman Returns.
In 2018 one Las Vegas blog spotted Silla with Gil Gerard, posting a picture of the two side by side -- just as they'd posed decades earlier on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
While for that show Mel Blanc had provided the voice for Twiki the robot, the blog notes that Silla himself supplied the voice of Mortimer Goth in the Sims 2 videogame.
Poor guy (Score:5, Informative)
Cancer is a horrible way to die but pancreatic cancer is arguable the worst of the lot. Apparently the pain can be utterly unbearable without being doped up so much on painkillers that the patient barely knows where or who they are.
Condolenses to his family.
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Indeed, but is there really a "good way" to die?
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Yes hit by bus so it’s instant, or in your sleep
Getting hit by a bus may not instantly kill you. It depends on a number of factors.
A guillotine, while quick, may not be painless since your brain is still active.
The closest thing to an instant, painless death would be either a large bullet or a spike plunging into your brain stem [guns.com]. As the saying goes, you'll be dead before you hit the ground.
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Wasn't there a person, during the French revolution, and after a too close shave with the guillotine, whose head was still seen counting till 12 before actually dying?
Here is the Wikipedia link [wikipedia.org], describing another more recent experience.
Re: Poor guy (Score:5, Funny)
Reminds me of the following line attributed to either Bob Monkhouse or Will Rogers:
Lord allow me to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like the passengers in the bus he was driving.
Re: Poor guy (Score:5, Funny)
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Reminds me of the time a midget clairvoyant escaped from jail. The headlines said "Small Medium at Large".
You owe me a keyboard and a monitor cleaning.
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or in your sleep
Klingons would strongly disagree with you.
Re:Poor guy (Score:4)
Indeed, but is there really a "good way" to die?
You can go peacefully in your sleep like my grandfather, instead of screaming in terror like his passengers.
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In my own bed.
At age 80.
With a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my cock.
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Death by snu snu!
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motorboating cleavage while trying to open the women's bra with my teeth?
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Nitrogen asphixiation. If you feel anything before the lights go out, it's like the fun part of being drunk. Amongst divers, it's known as nitrogen narcosis [wikipedia.org], and it's a killer.
Because there's no buildup of CO2 in your bloodstream, you don't feel out of breath or anything. Then the oxygen content in your blood drops below 27 mbar and out go the lights.
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Cancer is a horrible way to die but pancreatic cancer is arguable the worst of the lot. Apparently the pain can be utterly unbearable without being doped up so much on painkillers that the patient barely knows where or who they are.
Condolenses to his family.
Actually, pancreatic isn’t the worst. It’s one of the few cancers that because there’s plenty of space the tumors can grow without pain. The very final end stage (last couple days) is when it gets painful unlike most other cancers, before then you feel tired and weak
Low below. (Score:2)
About the right height for a punch to the jewels. [vitalvegas.com]
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Many of us who were budding nerds in the late 70's are quite familiar with the Buck Rogers TV show. We were hungry for anything space-related or futuristic, even if it came with some fantasy or camp. Now we're at the age where much of it is quite nostalgic, and appreciate anything that brings us back to those times. Apparently you followed a different path to becoming a nerd.
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Col Wilma Deering, the ultimate execution of the concept of spandex.
As for Twiki, he looked like a giant silver dildo. Once you see it you cannot ever unsee it.
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But where do we draw the line memorializing actors on Slashdot? News for nerds, etc...
Slashdot stories are selected to generate clicks and comments. If an article generates interest, similar articles will be posted in the future.
So if you don't like a topic, don't click on it and don't comment.
You have done the opposite.
Now I feel old (Score:3)
I wish I hadn't clicked through to the picture of Felix Silla and Gil Gerard -- Buck Rogers has gotten so old! (and so have I!)
I never knew that there was an adult actor in Twiki, I never really thought about it, I guess I assumed it was a child or monkey or something.
I looked up Silla's IMDB and one surprising role he had was that of Lucifer in the original Battlestar Galactica, I thought Lucifer was played by a regular actor, but I guess the fake head meant they needed a shorter actor.
Interesting (Score:1)