Felix Silla
Felix Silla | |
---|---|
![]() Silla in 2007 | |
Born | Felice Anthony Silla January 11, 1937 |
Died | April 16, 2021 Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | (aged 84)
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1964–2019 |
Spouse | Sue Silla (m. 1965) |
Children | 4 |
Felix Anthony Silla (January 11, 1937 – April 16, 2021), also credited as Felix Cilla, was an Italian actor and stuntman, known for his career in Hollywood in TV and film.
Silla starting his career in the circus, but is best known especially on television's The Addams Family as Cousin Itt, a costumed character, that was added exclusively for the TV series, and was not in Charles Addams original comic series[1]
Silla featured in the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi as one of the hang glider Ewoks.
He was also a voice artist on The Sims 2 video game.[2][3]
Discover more about Felix Silla related topics
Biography
Early life and circus career
Felix Silla was born in the small village of Roccacasale, Abruzzo, Italy. He trained as a circus performer and came to the United States aged 18, in 1955, touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His multiple talents as a bareback horse rider, trapeze artist, and tumbler brought him to Hollywood, where he became a stuntman, appearing in the film, A Ticklish Affair.
Film and television
His best-known roles include Litvak, the maniacal, miniature Hitler who menaces George Segal in film The Black Bird (his favorite role). He was also responsible for the physical performance of the robot Twiki in the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,[3] a role for which the voice was supplied by Mel Blanc or Bob Elyea.
In part due to his short stature of 1.19 m (3 ft 11 in), he often doubled for children in such movies as The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, and Battlestar Galactica as well as Meatballs 2 as the alien. Between movies, he frequently appeared in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, night clubs with his own musical combo, The Original Harmonica Band.[4]
Voice-art work
Silla provided the voice for the video game The Sims 2 as Mortimer Goth 2005.
Discover more about Biography related topics
Famous characters
The Addams Family: Cousin Itt
Silla became famous however as the recurring costumed character of Cousin Itt on television's The Addams Family. The character was not part of Charles Addams's original comic, but was introduced in the original black and white television series by producer David Levy, debuting in the 1965 first-season episode "Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family", and appearing in a total of 19 episodes, 17 which feature Silla and 2 with Roger Arroyo over the course of the show's two seasons. The character's voice was usually provided by studio sound engineer Anthony Magro (1923–2004). The character became so popular it was carried over to subsequent licensed media including film, stage and video games.
Star Wars: Ewok
He played one of the hang glider Ewoks in the film Return of the Jedi.[5]
He also was the body actor for the robot Twiki in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Discover more about Famous characters related topics
Death
Felix Silla died on April 16, 2021, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 84, in Las Vegas, Nevada.[6][1]
Source: "Felix Silla", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 25th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Silla.
Further Reading

Return of the Jedi
The Addams Family

Wicket W. Warrick

Warwick Davis

Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure

Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Lurch (The Addams Family)

Grandmama (The Addams Family)

Ewoks (TV series)

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV series)

Cousin Itt

The Addams Family (1964 TV series)

Phil Fondacaro

The Addams Family (1973 TV series)

The Addams Family (1992 TV series)

The New Addams Family
Halloween with the New Addams Family

The Addams Family (2019 film)
References
- ^ a b Haring, Bruce (16 April 2021). "Felix Silla Dies: Cousin Itt On TV's 'The 'Addams Family' Was 84". Deadline.
- ^ Daniel, Jeff (7 March 2006). "They don't come much bigger". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. E1. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
- ^ a b Glionna, John M (2 November 2014). "Felix Silla, a.k.a. Cousin Itt, looks back on a kooky career". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
- ^ "Talking With Felix Silla – June 2, 2016". Talk About Las Vegas with Ira. 2 June 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "Felix Silla, Cousin Itt on TV's 'Addams Family,' dies at 84". Associated Press. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
- ^ "Felix Silla, Cousin Itt on 'The Addams Family,' Dies at 84". Variety. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
External links

- Felix Silla at IMDb
Categories
- 1937 births
- 2021 deaths
- Actors with dwarfism
- All Wikipedia articles written in American English
- All articles with unsourced statements
- Articles with GND identifiers
- Articles with VIAF identifiers
- Articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with short description
- Articles with unsourced statements from April 2021
- Commons category link from Wikidata
- Deaths from cancer in Nevada
- Deaths from pancreatic cancer
- Italian emigrants to the United States
- Italian male film actors
- Italian male television actors
- Male actors from Rome
- People of Abruzzese descent
- People of Lazian descent
- Short description is different from Wikidata
- Use American English from April 2021
- Use dmy dates from April 2021
The content of this page is based on the Wikipedia article written by contributors..
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence & the media files are available under their respective licenses; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization & is not affiliated to WikiZ.com.