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Vale: Felix Silla

US actor, best known as Cousin Itt on The Addams Family, has died.

US actor Felix Silla, best known as Cousin Itt on The Addams Family, has died aged 84.

He died on Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

“Felix died just a few hours ago and the only good I can draw from his passing is that he didn’t suffer any longer,” actor Gil Gerard tweeted. “I will miss him terribly, especially the great time we had at our panels.”

Italian-born Silla stood just under 4 feet tall and got his start in show business touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey as a bareback rider, a trapeze artist, and a tumbler. Upon his arrival in Hollywood, Silla became a stuntman.

He played Cousin Itt on The Addams Family across its two seasons from 1964 – 1966, after joining the cast midway through season one. The costumed character was voiced by sound engineer Tony Magro in postproduction.

His other big TV role was as robot Twiki on sci-fi series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, alongside Gil Gerard for two seasons from 1979 – 1981 (voiced by Mel Blanc).

Silla was as a regular for Sid and Marty Krofft on H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville. Other TV credits included Petticoat Junction and Bonanza.

His many film credits included Point Blank, Planet of the Apes, Demon Seed, The Kentucky Fried Movie, The Brood, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spaceballs, Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, plus stunt work in The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, The Golden Child, Howard the Duck and Batman Returns.

Source: Forbes.com

2 Responses

  1. He gave immeasurable joy in his role as Cousin Itt. I just stumbled again across the series last week on Foxtel and pondered the outpouring of grief when John Astin will shuffle off the mortal coil as his Gomez Addams is such a classic, I didn’t consider or realise that Felix Silla was still alive. I am saddened by this news.

    As a person of a certain age, the heroes and heroines of our youth are slipping away; more and more. Thank you for posting this tribute.

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