Roger Joseph Ebert was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert became the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times said Ebert "was without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic," and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times called him "the best-known film critic in America."
Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 147 centimetres, regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dwarfism is 120 centimetres (4 ft). Disproportionate dwarfism is characterized by either short limbs or a short torso. In cases of proportionate dwarfism, both the limbs and torso are unusually small. Intelligence is usually normal, and most have a nearly normal life expectancy. People with dwarfism can usually bear children, though there are additional risks to the mother and child depending upon the underlying condition.
Marlee Matlin is an American actress, author, and activist. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award, and four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Youth For Christ (YFC) is a worldwide Christian movement working with young people, whose main purpose is evangelism among teenagers. It began informally in New York City in 1940, when Jack Wyrtzen held evangelical Protestant rallies for teenagers. Rallies were held in other U.S. cities during World War II, attracting particularly large crowds in Chicago led by Torrey Johnson, who became YFC’s first president in 1944. Johnson hired Billy Graham as YFC’s first employee. Former YFC staff have launched over 100 related Christian organizations, including the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and World Vision.
Henry Joseph Nasiff Jr., better known professionally as Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf, was an American entertainer. He appeared numerous times on The Howard Stern Show and on the televised studio segments which aired on the E! channel. He was a member of the show's Wack Pack. Hank's career began August 16, 1996, when he entered Stern's studio at radio station WXRK (K-Rock) in New York City. He was 4 ft 1 in (1.24 m) tall and weighed 95 lb.
Dwarf-tossing, also called midget-tossing, is a pub/bar attraction or activity in which people with dwarfism, wearing special padded clothing or Velcro costumes, are thrown onto mattresses or at Velcro-coated walls. Participants compete to throw the person with dwarfism the farthest. Dwarf-tossing was started in Australia as a form of pub entertainment in the early 1980s. A related, formerly practiced activity was dwarf-bowling, in which a person with dwarfism was placed on a skateboard and used as a bowling ball.
A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in Oz. The Munchkins are described as being the same height as Dorothy and they wear only shades of blue clothing, as blue is the Munchkins' favorite color. Blue is also the predominating color that officially represents the eastern quadrant in the Land of Oz. The Munchkins have appeared in various media, including the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, as well as in various other films and comedy acts.
Billy Barty was an American actor and activist. In adult life, he stood 3 ft 9 in (1.14 m) tall, due to cartilage–hair hypoplasia dwarfism. Because of his short stature, he was often cast in films opposite taller performers for comic effect. He specialized in outspoken or wisecracking characters. During the 1950s, he became a television actor, appearing regularly in the Spike Jones ensemble. In the early 1970s he was a staple in a variety of roles in children's TV programs produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. Also an activist for people with dwarfism, he founded the Little People of America organization in 1957.
Omarosa Onee Newman, known mononymously as Omarosa, is an American reality television show participant, writer, and former political aide. She has worked in the White House offices of former presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. She became widely known as a contestant on the first season of NBC's reality television series The Apprentice.
Leslie Robert Krims is an American conceptualist photographer living in Buffalo, New York. He is noted for his carefully arranged fabricated photographs, various candid series, a satirical edge, dark humor, and long-standing criticism of what he describes as leftist twaddle.
Jerry Maren was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz. He became the last surviving adult Munchkin following the death of Ruth Duccini in 2014, and was also the last surviving cast member with a specifically identifiable speaking or singing role.
Midget wrestling is professional wrestling involving people of exceptionally short stature. Its heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when wrestlers such as Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, toured North America, and Sky Low Low was the first holder of the National Wrestling Alliance's World Midget Championship. In the following couple of decades, more wrestlers became prominent in North America, including foreign wrestlers like Japan's Little Tokyo.
Billy Curtis was an American film and television actor with dwarfism, who had a 50-year career in the entertainment industry.
The Dwarf Athletic Association of America (DAAA) is an American athletic organization that sponsors and organizes athletic events for people with dwarfism.
Mark Povinelli is an American stage, television and movie actor who also does occasional stunt work. Povinelli is also a noted social activist advocating for the rights of others with dwarfism. In June 2017 Povinelli was elected President of the Little People of America, an organization started in 1957 by Billy Barty, which promotes awareness, advocacy and medical assistance for individuals with forms of dwarfism. Povinelli stands 3’ 9½" and weighs 75 pounds as a consequence of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita (SEDc), a skeletal dysplasia caused by a mutation in the COL2A1 gene.
Midget is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like dwarf, midget long described anyone, or indeed any animal, exhibiting proportionate dwarfism. The word has a history of association with the performance arts, as little people were often employed by acts in the circus, professional wrestling and vaudeville.
Half Pint Brawlers is an American wrestling company with an eponymous television series. The company is considered the top midget wrestling company in the country.
Clarence Herbert Bliss professionally billed as "Little Billy" Rhodes, was an American stage and film character actor with dwarfism who was active in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1960s. Over the course of his career, he appeared in noteworthy projects like The Wizard of Oz as the Barrister and The Terror of Tiny Town, the latter of which was a western that was billed as featuring an all-little-person cast.
