How flipping cool is it that Michael J. Anderson (b. 1953) was born on HALLOWEEN? The "J" is very important so as not to confuse him with the movie director or his son. The guy I mean is the Little Person from Twin Peaks and Carnivale, of course.
Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Anderson was born with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta. As an adult he reached only a height of 3'7". Believe it or not, he began his working life as a computer technician for NASA. There was a documentary about him made in 1984, and this is how he transitioned into acting. One of his first roles was in a children's fantasy film called The Great Land of Small (1987).
As rarely ever happens (for reasons purely statistical), Anderson turned out to be a terrific actor, and so he came to be very much in demand. He played the backwards-talking, dream-dwelling "Man from Another Place" on David Lynch's Twin Peaks from 1990 to 1991 and in the theatrical film Fire Walk With Me (1992). This was followed by one of the earliest episodes of Picket Fences (1992) and a turn as Rumpelstiltskin on Deep Space Nine (1993). Anderson worked for David Lynch again in Mulholland Drive (2001), in a role which used technical wizardry to make him conventionally sized. His principal role as Samson on Carnivale was from 2003 to 2005. One of his last onscreen appearances was in a 2012 Superbowl commercial. He has been retired now for about a decade.
We wish him long life and a Happy Birthday/ Halloween!
For nearly 100 more posts on performing Little People go here. And please check out the book Rose's Royal Midgets and Other Little People of Vaudeville.
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