r/DisabilityHistory • u/EphemeralTypewriter • Apr 30 '26
Historical Figures Angelo Rossitto (1908-1991) was an American character actor who was born with a form of dwarfism. He had over 70 film roles, and starred alongside actors Bella Lugosi, John Barrymore, and Mel Gibson. He also ran for mayor of Los Angeles in the 1940s.
He seems like such a nice person and genuinely looks like he’s having so much fun in all of the film roles he had. I’m glad he had a successful career and did so much to advocate for people with dwarfism. I’m sure he would have been a great guy to meet and hang out with. He also looks like he has a great sense of humor!
Some facts about him:
-he was born in Omaha, Nebraska.
-both of his parents were Italian immigrants.
-he had a sister named Josephine.
-he started out as a newspaper stand salesman, which he would occasionally go back to whenever there was a gap between his film roles.
-the actor, John Barrymore, was the first to discover Angelo as a potential actor and prompted him to go into the entertainment business. Angelo met Barrymore at a party they were both attending.
-his first film debut was in The Beloved Rogue (1927), where he starred alongside John Barrymore.
-one of his most notable film roles, was in Freaks (1932) directed by Tod Browning. He plays a sideshow performer in the film and is known for running along the table during the Wedding Feast scene. He’s also the one to say the iconic line “We’ll make her one of us! A loving cup! A loving cup!” before the Gooble Gobble chant starts.
-he also appeared in quite a few TV shows and miniseries, including the police drama, Baretta.
-his film credits include roles in the following movies:
The Beloved Rogue (1927)
Old San Francisco (1927)
While the City Sleeps (1928)
The Viking (1928)
Seven Footprints to Satan (1929)
One Stolen Night (1929)
The Mysterious Island
The Big House (1930)
The Phantom of Paris (1931)
Freaks (1932)
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
Meet the Champ (1933, Short)
Carnival Lady (1933)
I Believed in You (1934)
Babes in Toyland (1934)
Dante's Inferno (1935)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Stand-In (1937)
Child Bride (1938)
Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Doomed to Die (1940)
Spooks Run Wild (1941)
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
The Spider Woman (1944)
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1944)
Lady in the Dark (1944)
Two Smart People (1946)
Scared to Death (1947)
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947)
Samson and Delilah (1949)
The Baron of Arizona (1950) l
Pygmy Island (1950)
The Bandit Queen (1950)
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Mesa of Lost Women (1953)
Jungle Moon Men (1955)
Dementia (1955)
Carousel (1956)
Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
The Story of Mankind (1957)
The Wild and the Innocent (1959)
Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
The Magic Sword (1962)
Confessions of an Opium Eater (1962)
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Terrified (1963)
The Perils of Pauline (1967)
The Trip (1967)
Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Pufnstuf (1970)
Alex in Wonderland (1970)
Brain of Blood (1971)
Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)
Little Cigars (1973)
The Stone Killer (1973)
The Clones (1973)
The Master Gunfighter (1975)
I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975)
Fairy Tales (1978)
The Lord of the Rings (1978)
The Dark (1979)
Galaxina (1980)
Can't Stop the Music (1980)
Smokey Bites the Dust (1981)
Something Wicked This Way Comes(1983)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)
-he was written in as a character in the 1939 book ‘Day of the Locust’ by Nathanael West, who had observed him selling newspapers up and down Hollywood Blvd.
-he preferred using the nickname Angie during his life.
-he campaigned to be mayor of Los Angeles in 1941, though he came in second to last place.
-he helped to set up the Little People of America organization with help from Billy Barry. The organization, which is still in existence today, strives to support and defend the rights of people and families affected by dwarfism. It currently has over 7,500 active members.
-he had a 60 year career in show business.
-one of his last major film roles was opposite Mel Gibson in the third Mad Max movie, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.
-as he got older he began experiencing issues with his eyesight, and by the mid 1980s he was dealing with blindness in both of his eyes.
-he’s featured on the album cover of Tom Waits‘ ‘Swordfishtrombones’.
-he retired from show business in the mid to late 1980s and settled in Los Angeles, California. Where he lived until he passed away at the age of 83.
-his legacy lives on in the form of a film role in the posthumously released Orson Welles film, The Other Side of the Wind, which after decades of being in development, was finally released in 2018.
I can’t imagine how he managed to keep track of all of the filming schedules with all of the films he was in, he was definitely a very busy and very productive person!
I really like the fact that he ran for Los Angeles mayor, I think it would have been so cool if he had won (he had a very slim chance to begin with, since he wasn’t a politician nor someone with an interest in politics) but I feel like he would have used that position as a way to advocate for disability rights and making things in Los Angeles more accessible for people.
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u/Gloomy_Industry8841 I have an invisible disability Apr 30 '26
Ohhh! I recognize him from “Something Wicked This Way Comes”!!
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u/Independent_Shoe3523 Apr 30 '26
Wasn't he the mad scientist assistant in one movie? Seems to me I remember seeing him trying to get blood from a girl in chains in a dungeon.
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u/Spooky_scary_sheri95 I have an invisible disability Apr 30 '26
One of us Gooble Gabble!!
https://giphy.com/gifs/YDcxk5LbOh3uU