Verne Troyer, the small American actor who played Mini-Moi, in the cult series of crazy spy comedies “Austin Powers”, died Saturday at the age of 49.
“It is with great sadness and unbelievably heavy heart that we write that Verne passed away today,” have published his loved ones on his Instagram account, paying homage to an “extremely benevolent” man, who “wanted to make smile and laugh everyone “and” help your best “.
The reasons for his death were not specified, but the actor suffered from depression, according to this message, which states that Verne Troyer was recently baptized.
“Depression and suicide are very serious problems – you never know what battle someone is in. Be nice to each other.” “And always know that it’s never too late to help someone,” the message continues.
Troyer had been hospitalized recently for an unknown reason. A year ago, he had undergone a previous hospitalization and talked about his problems with alcohol.
The dwarf actor, who was 81 cm tall – he was one of the world’s smallest men – had gained global notoriety by playing the sidekick, “cloned on the scale 1 / 8th”, and all as bald as him, of the nasty “Dr. Denfer”, opposed to Austin Powers.
This bouncy dwarf character had appeared in 1999 in “Austin Powers 2: The spy who shot me”, and then returned to service in 2002 in “Austin Powers in Goldmember”. In his silver-glitter costume, “Mini-Moi” was able to deliver Homeric wrestling fights, multiplying the pirouettes and absurd gags that helped make it cult.
– A Goblin in “Harry Potter” –
In addition to this important role, Verne Troyer also shot in “Men in black” (1997) or in the first “Harry Potter”, “At the school of wizards” (2001), where he interpreted, under an impressive make-up, the Gripsec goblin.
In 2009, he also participated in the reality show Celebrity Big Brother alongside the rapper and actor Coolio and singer and actress La Toya Jackson, older sister of Michael
The actor came to the cinema in 1993, at the age of 24: then an employee of a telecommunications company, he had responded to an ad to shoot in the comedy “Baby leaves on the mop”, whose producers were looking for a comedian of small size … to incarnate, for cascades, the lining of a … baby!
For comedian Mike Myers, who played the dual role of the failed spy Austin Powers and the grotesque villain “Dr. Denfer”, Verne Troyer was an “accomplished professional” and a “beacon of positivity for those of us who had the honor of working with him “. “It’s a sad day, but I hope he’s in a better place now and we’ll miss him a lot,” he said.
Verne Troyer, who resided in Los Angeles, was involved in charity work for the deaf and hard of hearing through a foundation providing hearing aids to the low-income deaf.
The deaf actress Marlee Matlin, Oscar winner in 1987 for her role in “The Children of Silence”, paid tribute to him for this commitment, and for his “adorable smile, with a big benevolent heart”.
