Angelo Salvatore Rossitto February 18 1908 September 21 1991 was an American actor and voice artist He had dwarfism and was 211 89 cm tall and was often billed as Little Angie or Moe Angelo first appeared in silent films opposite Lon Chaney and John Barrymore Onscreen he portrayed everything from dwarfs midgets gnomes and pygmies as well as monsters villains and aliens with appearances in more than 70 films Rossitto was born in Omaha Nebraska to Salvatore Rossitto and Carmela Caniglia both born in Carlentini Province of Siracusa Sicily Italy and had a sister Josephine Rossitto He was discovered by John Barrymore and made his screen debut opposite Barrymore in The Beloved Rogue 1927 That same year he appeared in Warner Brothers Old San Francisco He appeared in the controversial 1932 film Freaks directed by Tod Browning and another controversial film 1938s Child Bride During the 1940s he appeared in several poverty row movies starring Bela Lugosi He appeared frequently in television series and miniseries particularly best known for the police drama Baretta and his later film roles included appearances in Alex in Wonderland 1970 Brain of Blood 1971 Dracula vs Frankenstein 1971 Little Cigars 1973 and Fairy Tales 1978 His last major role was as Master opposite Mel Gibson in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome 1985 Rossitto appears alongside singersongwriter Tom Waits and Lee Kolima on the cover art of Waits 1983 album Swordfishtrombones which pays homage to his performance in Freaks He also appears on the cover of Bob Dylans album The Basement Tapes
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