# Dwarves in serious roles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2007, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418 "2007-09-16T20:51:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/21 "2007-09-16T22:20:15Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] Well, the movie _Freaks_ was a serious drama, where the lead character was a sensitive, dignified and honourable human being, who just happens to work in a sideshow. And the “normal” people are evil money grubbers, who are the real freaks. [/QUOTE] …and then the worm turns again as the “freaks” are revealed to be just as evil and scheming as the normals, and thus just as human. Chilling and brilliant direction. ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/22 "2007-09-16T22:22:02Z")
A character named Wallingford on the now defunct soap opera Another World was a little person. I didn’t watch every episode, but I never remember any reference being made to his size. I think his real name was Brent Collins. Ok, so this was a soap opera and his part wasn’t the lead, so I guess it doesn’t really qualify, but he really wasn’t playing some dream sequence character. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/23 "2007-09-16T22:24:52Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] I’ve been wanting to see _The Station Agent_ ever since I saw Peter Dinklage in reruns of the TV show _Threshold_, where he played a computer expert. He’s supposed to be starring in a movie based on George Cheesbro’s books, playing a dwarf detective. [/QUOTE] That would be Georgie _Chesbro_. No kidding, somebody’s going to try filming one of the Mongo novels? Well, Dinklage is a terrific actor. The character is a dwarf who made it in the circus world as an acrobat (not as a comic performer, but as a real acrobat); I don’t know if there’s a dwarf alive who could really do what the character does, so it’ll be interesting to see how they handle some of the physical work. Ah; looks like they’re filming [An Affair of Sorcerers](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840276/). One of the later books, if I recall; somehow I always thought if somebody made a movie it would be _The Beasts of Valhallah_. ETA: I got my books mixed up; _An Affair of Sorcerers_ is actually an earlier book; I was confusing it with a later one. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/24 "2007-09-16T23:07:02Z")
There’s the Werner Herzog movie [Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Dwarfs_Started_Small) - an entire cast of dwarfs. It helps if you grok Herzog, though. I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/25 "2007-09-16T23:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] There’s the Werner Herzog movie [Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Even_Dwarfs_Started_Small) - an entire cast of dwarfs. It helps if you grok Herzog, though. I loved it. [/QUOTE] This is in my dwarf movie collection. It’s soooo bizarre, but I loved it. The bedroom scene is a ‘must see’. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/26 "2007-09-16T23:14:02Z")
Yes, Chesbro…odd, I usually try to add letters at the end of his name. I have a bunch of his books packed away, and one of these days I’m going to dig them out and re-read them. And find out which ones I’m missing so I can pick them up. I know they’re all in print on Chesbro’s website. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/27 "2007-09-16T23:31:24Z")
Not a lead, but one of the main roles in [Ship of Fools](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059712/) is played by the dwarf [Michael Dunn](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0242692/), who received an Oscar nomination for his work. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/28 "2007-09-16T23:43:24Z")
There’s [_Foul Play,_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foul_Play) 1978 comedy with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. Chased by criminals and warned to “beware of the Dwarf” (a hired killer’s nickname) Goldie mistakes an actual dwarf for the killer and puts him in the hospital. Turns out the dwarf she attacked was just selling insurance or pre-arranged funerals, forget which. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/29 "2007-09-17T00:06:12Z")
HBOs upcoming _Song of Ice and Fire_ adaptation should hopefully have a dwarf as a prominent member of the cast. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/30 "2007-09-17T00:22:48Z")
[Peter Dinklage](http://imdb.com/name/nm0227759/) played an excellent dramatic role in the FX TV series [Nip/Tuck](http://imdb.com/title/tt0361217/). This guy is a great actor and his foil as an intelligent and down to earth person to all of the Hollywood Plastic Types in NipTuck was ironic and very poignant. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/31 "2007-09-17T02:02:39Z")
[QUOTE=Ogre] …and then the worm turns again as the “freaks” are revealed to be just as evil and scheming as the normals, and thus just as human. Chilling and brilliant direction. [/QUOTE] What makes you say that? I don’t think what the “freaks” did to the golddigging woman revealed them to be “evil and scheming” at all. It was harsh justice, but they had strong motivation…it wasn’t twirling-mustache “evil.” ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/32 "2007-09-17T02:20:57Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] What makes you say that? I don’t think what the “freaks” did to the golddigging woman revealed them to be “evil and scheming” at all. It was harsh justice, but they had strong motivation…it wasn’t twirling-mustache “evil.” [/QUOTE] Say what? Hacking off her legs and cutting out her tongue (as well as presumably murdering Hercules) and forcing her to perform as The Human Duck (essentially as a slave) for the rest of her days isn’t evil? Jesus. I’d like to know what is, then. Good reason or not, that is not justice. It is hideously evil. Hans didn’t even die! I’ll also add the more prosaic fact thatHercules, being one of the freaks, was plotting and helping with Hans’s would-be murder. Scheming, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/33 "2007-09-17T02:26:17Z")
Does Linda Hunt in **Silverado** count? Is she a dwarf? She’s awfully short, and, while she’s not one of the four main leads, she’s as or ,more important than most of the other players. And in **The Year of Living Dangerously** , too. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/34 "2007-09-17T02:27:50Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Does Linda Hunt in **Silverado** count? Is she a dwarf? She’s awfully short, and, while she’s not one of the four main leads, she’s as or ,more important than most of the other players. And in **The Year of Living Dangerously** , too. [/QUOTE] And in Lynch’s _Dune_, as well, if she does count. The Shadout Mapes is a pivotal role, even if she didn’t have a lot of screen time. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/35 "2007-09-17T03:25:21Z")
[QUOTE=Jophiel] I can’t answer your question (at least, I can’t think of a non-comedy/fantasy which had a dwarf in a ‘normal’ role) but this thread immediately brough up the Nick/Tito exchange from **Living With Oblivion** where director Nick is trying to coach Tito (a dwarf) through some sterotypical “dream sequence” stuff. [/QUOTE] You know, I think this was Peter Dinklage as well. He clearly has somewhat of a corner on the market, and is, IMHO, a great serious actor. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/36 "2007-09-17T03:40:19Z")
[QUOTE=Meyer6] You know, I think this was Peter Dinklage as well. He clearly has somewhat of a corner on the market, and is, IMHO, a great serious actor. [/QUOTE] [Yep.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0227759/maindetails) Appears to have been his first film role, too. I’ve got a pipe dream about someone making a TV series from Lois Bujold’s _Miles Vorkosigan_ sf novels, with Dinklage in the title role. He’d be awesome in it. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/37 "2007-09-17T04:05:13Z")
There was a short woman on one of those television law shows. I think it was Boston Legal or some other. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/38 "2007-09-17T04:08:05Z")
**Miller** , I’ve had the same thought about Peter Dinklage as Miles Vorkosigan. I haven’t been watching Nip/Tuck (I saw one or two episodes and was not impressed) but I just might rent the 2006 season just to watch his performance. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/39 "2007-09-17T04:15:30Z")
According to Wikipedia (for what it’s worth. I know that many people don’t accept it as a cite in and of itself), sufferers of [dwarfism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarfism) stand at an average height of from about 123 cm for a woman to 132 cm for a man. Or between 48 and 51 inches. While Hunt and DeVito are notably short-statured adults, their height does not fall within the medical definition of dwarfism. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2007, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418/40 "2007-09-17T04:16:54Z")
[QUOTE=Mighty\_Girl] There was a short woman on one of those television law shows. I think it was Boston Legal or some other. [/QUOTE] [Meredith Eaton](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0247860/) played Bethany Horowitz, lover and occasional opposing attorney to William Shatner’s Denny Crane. According to her IMDB bio, the part was written specifically her by David E. Kelley after seeing her other acting work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dwarves-in-serious-roles/419418.md?page=3)