Hervé Villechaize

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Hervé Villechaize
Villechaize in 1977
Born	Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (1943-04-23)23 April 1943 Paris, Occupied France
Died	4 September 1993(1993-09-04) (aged 50) North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide by firearm
Resting place	Ashes spread into the Pacific Ocean
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1966–1993
Notable work	Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) Spider in Seizure (1974) King Fausto in Forbidden Zone (1980) Smiley in Two Moon Junction (1988)
Height	3 ft 11 in (119 cm)
Television	Fantasy Island
Spouse(s)	Anne Sadowski ​ ​ (m. 1970; div. 1979)​ Camille Hagen ​ ​ (m. 1980; div. 1982)​

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (French: [ɛʁve vilʃɛz]; April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French American actor and painter. He is best remembered for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and for playing Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the 1977–1984 American television series Fantasy Island, where his catch phrase was "Ze plane! Ze plane!"

Early life[]

Villechaize was born in Nazi-occupied Paris, France, on April 23, 1943,^[1] to English-born Evelyn (Recchionni) and André Villechaize, a surgeon in Toulon.^[2] The youngest of four sons,^[2] Villechaize was born with dwarfism, likely due to an endocrine disorder, which his surgeon father tried unsuccessfully to cure in several institutions.^[3] In later years, he insisted on being called a "midget" rather than a "dwarf".^[2][4] Villechaize was bullied at school for his condition and found solace in painting. He also had a brief modeling career.^{[citation needed]} In 1959, at age 16, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts to study art. In 1961, he became the youngest artist ever to have his work displayed in the Museum of Paris.^[5][6]

In 1964, Villechaize left France for the United States.^[7] He settled in a Bohemian section of New York City, and taught himself English by watching television.^[8]

Career[]

Villechaize initially worked as an artist, painter, and photographer. He began acting in Off-Broadway productions, including Werner Liepolt's The Young Master Dante and a play by Sam Shepard, and he also modeled for photos for National Lampoon before moving on to film.^{[citation needed]}

His first film appearance was in Chappaqua (1966). His second film was Edward Summer's Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon, filmed in 1969.^[9] This was followed by several films, including The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971); Christopher Speeth and Werner Liepolt's Malatesta's Carnival of Blood (1973); Crazy Joe (1974); and Oliver Stone's first film, Seizure (1974). He was asked to play a role in Alejandro Jodorowsky's film Dune, which had originally begun preproduction in 1971, but was later cancelled.

His big break was getting cast in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), by which time he had become so poor, he was living in his car in Los Angeles. Prior to being signed by Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, he made ends meet by working as a rat catcher's assistant near his South Central home. From what his co-star Christopher Lee saw, The Man with the Golden Gun filming was possibly the happiest time of Villechaize's life; Lee likened it to honey in the sandwich between an insecure past and an uncertain future.

In addition to being an actor, Villechaize became an active member of a movement in 1970s and 1980s California to deal with child abuse and neglect, often going to crime scenes himself to help comfort abuse victims. Villechaize's former co-workers recalled that despite his stature, he often confronted and chastised spousal and child abusers when he arrived at crime scenes. In the 1970s, Villechaize performed Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street as a pair of legs peeping out from Oscar's trash can, for scenes that required Oscar to be mobile. These appearances began in the second season, and included the 1978 Hawaii episodes.

Though popular with the public, Villechaize proved a difficult actor on Fantasy Island, where he continually propositioned women and quarreled with the producers.^{[citation needed]} He was eventually fired after demanding a salary on par with that of his co-star Ricardo Montalbán. Villechaize was replaced with Christopher Hewett.

In 1980, Cleveland International Records released a single by the Children of the World, featuring Villechaize as vocalist: "Why", with B-side "When a Child Is Born".^[10]

Villechaize starred in the movie Forbidden Zone (1980), and appeared in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), and episodes of Diff'rent Strokes and Taxi. He later played the title role in the "Rumpelstiltskin" episode of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. In the 1980s, he became popular in Spain due to his impersonations of Prime Minister Felipe González on the television show Viaje con nosotros (Travel with Us), with showman . His final appearance was a cameo as himself in an episode of The Ben Stiller Show.

Personal life and death[]

Villechaize was married twice. He met his second wife, Camille Hagen, an actress and stand-in double, on the set of the pilot for Fantasy Island.^[2] They resided at a 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) San Fernando Valley ranch, which also was home to a menagerie of farm animals and pets.^[2] He had a few Hollywood friends, most notably country music singer Johnny Lee, whose concerts Villechaize would often attend in the 1980s.

In 1983, Haywood Nelson interviewed Villechaize for the television program That Teen Show—which included messages directed at depressed and suicide-prone teenagers—about his many suicide attempts. Villechaize said that he had learned to love life, even though the pain was severe and intense.^[11]

In the early morning hours of September 4, 1993, Villechaize, aged 50, is believed to have first fired a shot through the sliding-glass patio door to awaken his longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self, before shooting himself at his North Hollywood home. Self found Villechaize in his backyard, and he was pronounced dead at a North Hollywood facility. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean off Point Fermin in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.^{[citation needed]}

Villechaize left a suicide note saying he was despondent over longtime health problems.^[12][13] Villechaize was suffering from chronic pain due to having oversized internal organs putting increasing pressure on his body. According to Self, Villechaize often slept in a kneeling position so he could breathe more easily.^[12]

At the time of his death, Cartoon Network was in negotiations for him to co-star in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which was in preproduction at the time. Villechaize would have voiced Space Ghost's sidekick on the show.^[14]

Depictions in media[]

In a March 2012 New York Times interview, Peter Dinklage revealed that Sacha Gervasi and he spent several years writing a script about Villechaize. Gervasi, a director and journalist, conducted a lengthy interview with Villechaize just prior to his suicide; according to Dinklage, "After he killed himself, Sacha realized Hervé's interview was a suicide note".^[15] The film, My Dinner with Hervé,^[16] which is based on the last few days of Villechaize's life, stars Dinklage in the title role,^[17] and premiered on HBO on October 20, 2018.^[3][18]

Filmography[]

References[]

External links[]

• Hervé Villechaize at IMDb
• "Herve Villechaize; Actor, 50, Commits Suicide at His Home". The New York Times, September 5, 1993. Associated Press.