Verne Troyer
Encyclopedia
Verne J. Troyer is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 stand-up comedian, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, stuntman
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...

 and performer, best known for playing Mini-Me
Mini-Me
Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.-History:...

 in the Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...

 series. Troyer is also known for his height of , the result of cartilage–hair hypoplasia
Cartilage–hair hypoplasia
Cartilage–hair hypoplasia , also known as McKusick type metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, is a rare form of short-limbed dwarfism due to skeletal dysplasia. It was first reported in 1965 by McKusick et al...

 dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches  , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....

, making him one of the shortest men in the world.

Troyer is also known for playing Griphook the Goblin in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. However, in the two-part film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he was replaced by Warwick Davis
Warwick Davis
Warwick Ashley Davis is an English actor. He is most notable for playing the title characters in Willow and the Leprechaun film series, as well as for his roles in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and the Harry Potter movies. Davis currently stars in the sitcom Life's Too Short, written...

, who played Filius Flitwick in the films and provided the voice of Griphook in the first film.

Early life

Troyer was born in Sturgis, Michigan
Sturgis, Michigan
Sturgis, is a city in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,994 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township and at the intersection of US 12 and M-66....

, which was his original residence. Troyer is the son of Susan, a factory worker, and Reuben Troyer, a repair technician. He has two siblings, Davon and Deborah. He graduated from high school in 1987.

Stuntman career

Standing less than 3 feet tall, he appeared in his first feature role in Baby's Day Out
Baby's Day Out
Baby's Day Out is a 1994 comedy film, written by John Hughes and produced by Richard Vane and John Hughes, and directed by Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley, as well as twins Adam and Jacob Worton as Baby Bink...

, playing the stunt double of the film's 9-month-old protagonist. He also did stunts in Masked Rider
Masked Rider (TV series)
Masked Rider is an American adaptation of the Japanese television series Kamen Rider Black RX, the ninth in a line of series in the popular Kamen Rider Series franchise. It was produced by Saban and aired on FOX part of the Fox Kids program block from September 16, 1995 to August 31, 1996 and then...

, Dunston Checks In
Dunston Checks In
Dunston Checks In is a 1996 film starring Jason Alexander, Eric Lloyd, Faye Dunaway, Rupert Everett, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and introducing Sam the Orangutan as Dunston...

, Jingle All the Way
Jingle All the Way
Jingle All the Way is a 1996 American family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, James Belushi and Robert Conrad...

, Volcano, RocketMan
RocketMan
RocketMan is a 1997 science fiction comedy film that was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures and released on October 10, 1997. The film was shot on location at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and in Moab, Utah for the scenes on the surface on Mars.The film was a...

, and My Giant
My Giant
My Giant is a 1998 comedy drama film starring Billy Crystal, and NBA player Gheorghe Muresan in his only film appearance. Crystal also co-wrote the story.-Synopsis:A huckster named Sammy travels to Romania on business...

.

Acting career

As Mini-Me
Mini-Me
Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.-History:...

 in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...

 (1999), Troyer earned his claim to fame as the "1/8th scale", cloned sidekick of Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr...

 (Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...

). The sequel to Austin Powers received critical acclaim, as well as success at the box office, in addition to sending Troyer into stardom.

Troyer began his acting career in 1993, after relocating to Arlington, TX. He then appeared in numerous films including My Giant
My Giant
My Giant is a 1998 comedy drama film starring Billy Crystal, and NBA player Gheorghe Muresan in his only film appearance. Crystal also co-wrote the story.-Synopsis:A huckster named Sammy travels to Romania on business...

 (1998) and Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...

's Wishmaster
Wishmaster (film)
Wishmaster is a 1997 American horror film directed by Robert Kurtzman, and is the second film directed by Kurtzman. It was executive produced by Wes Craven—the only film of the Wishmaster series with his name attached....

 (1997), as well as the 1997 alien film Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...

.

After standing in the limelight of Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me in 1999, Troyer found roles in several major motion pictures. In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Troyer played a dual role as two different Who's. He also appeared in Bubble Boy in 2001, as Dr. Phreak. That same year, the box-office smash hit Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is the first novel in the Harry Potter series written by J. K. Rowling and featuring Harry Potter, a young wizard...

 incorporated a ghoulish Troyer. Returning to the role that catipulted him to stardom in 2002's Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...

 found Troyer taking on his most substantial role to date, with many of the film's key scenes featuring Troyer at his comic best.
In 2005, he was a cast member of The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life
The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks...

.

Currently, Troyer stars in his own YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 channel known as "VerneTroyerOfficial"...

Personal life

On February 22, 2004, Troyer reportedly married model Genevieve Gallen, but filed for an annulment
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...

 the next day. Even though the couple's engagement was widely reported, Troyer and his attorney deny that the two ever had any formal wedding plans, saying that Gallen had fabricated the entire story for her own financial gain.

He now resides in Hollywood, California.

Sex tape scandal

On June 25, 2008, a private home videotape was released which showed Troyer and his former live-in girlfriend Ranae Shrider having sex. The video, which had been made during the Easter Week
Easter Week
Easter Week is the period of seven days from Easter Sunday through the Saturday following.-Western Church:In the Latin Rite of Roman Catholicism, Anglican and other Western churches, Easter Week is the week beginning with the Christian feast of Easter and ending a week later on Easter Saturday...

end of 2008 at Raffles L’Ermitage
Raffles L’Ermitage
L'Ermitage Beverly Hills is a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The hotel is housed in what was formerly a condominium complex that was built in the 1970s, and provides standard guestrooms. The hotel consists of 117 guest rooms and suites....

 hotel, was leaked to the public by Shrider to TMZ
TMZ.com
TMZ.com is a celebrity news website that debuted on November 8, 2005. It was a collaboration between America Online and Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. However, it is still affiliated with AOL News and has the AOL News logo affixed in...

. Kevin Blatt, the man responsible for brokering the deal for the Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton is an American businesswoman, heiress, and socialite. She is a great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton . Hilton is known for her controversial participation in a sex tape in 2003, and appearance on the television series The Simple Life alongside fellow socialite and childhood...

 sex tape in 2003, tried to sell the video. Troyer sued TMZ, Blatt, and online rental company SugarDVD
SugarDVD
SugarDVD is the largest renter of adult DVDs online. Initially, SugarDVD's services were limited to flat-rate membership-based DVD-by-mail, but since its creation in 2002, the company has developed websites in several different areas of the adult industry. SugarDVD maintains its position in the...

, for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Pinocchio's Revenge
Pinocchio's Revenge
Pinocchio's Revenge is a 1996 Horror film about a mother who brings home a wooden puppet that was found buried with a boy supposedly killed by his father. Her little girl Zoe mistakenly finds the doll and takes it as her own...

Pinocchio's miniature double First acting film role
1997 Men in Black
Men in Black (film)
Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic book series by Lowell Cunningham, originally published by Marvel Comics. The film featured the creature effects...

Alien Son
1997 Wishmaster
Wishmaster (film)
Wishmaster is a 1997 American horror film directed by Robert Kurtzman, and is the second film directed by Kurtzman. It was executive produced by Wes Craven—the only film of the Wishmaster series with his name attached....

Creature Stage #1
1998 My Giant
My Giant
My Giant is a 1998 comedy drama film starring Billy Crystal, and NBA player Gheorghe Muresan in his only film appearance. Crystal also co-wrote the story.-Synopsis:A huckster named Sammy travels to Romania on business...

Wrestler Uncredited (One of the Seven Sweet Little Angels)
1998 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (film)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1998 American drama film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke and Benicio del Toro as Dr. Gonzo. It was adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel of the same name....

Waiter
1998 The Wacky Adventures Of Ronald McDonald Episode 1-3 Sundae
1999 Here Lies Lonely Virgil
1999 Instinct
Instinct (film)
Instinct is a 1999 film starring Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding, Jr., George Dzundza, Donald Sutherland, Kim Cattrall and Maura Tierney. It was very loosely inspired by Ishmael, a novel by Daniel Quinn. In the United States, the film had the working title Ishmael...

Gorilla Performers
1999 Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...

Mini-Me
Mini-Me
Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.-History:...

As Verne J. Troyer
2000 How the Grinch Stole Christmas Band Member As Verne J. Troyer
2001 Bubble Boy Dr. Phreak
2001 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Griphook the Goblin As Vern Troyer
2002 Run for the Money Attila
2002 Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...

Mini Me
Mini-Me
Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.-History:...

2004 Karroll's Christmas
Karroll's Christmas
Karroll's Christmas is a Christmas movie from Hallmark Channel.-Plot:Allen Karroll hates Christmas ever since his ex-girlfriend humiliated him in front of thousands of people one Christmas. As a man who writes greeting cards for a living, this proves to be a hinderance...

Spike
2007 Postal
Postal (film)
Postal is a 2007 Canadian-American-German black comedy action film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll.Like the majority of Boll's previous films, Postal is a film adaptation of a video game, in this case, Postal, though this film draws more heavily from that video game's sequel, Postal 2.-Plot:The...

Himself
2008 The Love Guru
The Love Guru
The Love Guru is a 2008 comedy film, directed by Marco Schnabel and starring Mike Myers and Jessica Alba along with Romany Malco and Justin Timberlake. In addition to starring in the film, Myers wrote The Love Guru with Graham Gordy and produced it with Gary Barber. The film was released by...

Coach Punch Cherkov
2008 College
College (2008 film)
College is a 2008 comedy starring Drake Bell, Andrew Caldwell, and Kevin Covais and directed by first-time director Deb Hagan. It was released on August 29, 2008, by MGM.-Plot:...

Himself
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a 2009 fantasy film directed by Terry Gilliam and written by Gilliam and Charles McKeown. The film follows a traveling theater troupe whose leader, having made a bet with the Devil, takes audience members through a magical mirror to explore their imaginations...

Percy

As a stuntman

Stuntman
Year Title Role Notes
1994 Baby's Day Out
Baby's Day Out
Baby's Day Out is a 1994 comedy film, written by John Hughes and produced by Richard Vane and John Hughes, and directed by Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley, as well as twins Adam and Jacob Worton as Baby Bink...

First film role as a stuntman
1995 Masked Rider
Masked Rider (TV series)
Masked Rider is an American adaptation of the Japanese television series Kamen Rider Black RX, the ninth in a line of series in the popular Kamen Rider Series franchise. It was produced by Saban and aired on FOX part of the Fox Kids program block from September 16, 1995 to August 31, 1996 and then...

Paul Pistore
Paul Pistore
-Biography:Paul’s love for puppetry began at a tender age, while watching Shari Lewis and Jim Henson work their magic with foam, felt and old socks on TV....

's stunt double
1996 Dunston Checks In
Dunston Checks In
Dunston Checks In is a 1996 film starring Jason Alexander, Eric Lloyd, Faye Dunaway, Rupert Everett, Paul Reubens, Glenn Shadix, and introducing Sam the Orangutan as Dunston...

As Verne J. Troyer
1996 Jingle All the Way
Jingle All the Way
Jingle All the Way is a 1996 American family comedy film directed by Brian Levant and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Jake Lloyd, James Belushi and Robert Conrad...

As Verne J. Troyer
1997 Volcano
1997 RocketMan
RocketMan
RocketMan is a 1997 science fiction comedy film that was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures and released on October 10, 1997. The film was shot on location at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and in Moab, Utah for the scenes on the surface on Mars.The film was a...

1998 My Giant
My Giant
My Giant is a 1998 comedy drama film starring Billy Crystal, and NBA player Gheorghe Muresan in his only film appearance. Crystal also co-wrote the story.-Synopsis:A huckster named Sammy travels to Romania on business...

Utility stunts

Television work

  • Masked Rider
    Masked Rider (TV series)
    Masked Rider is an American adaptation of the Japanese television series Kamen Rider Black RX, the ninth in a line of series in the popular Kamen Rider Series franchise. It was produced by Saban and aired on FOX part of the Fox Kids program block from September 16, 1995 to August 31, 1996 and then...

     (1995–1996) (stunts for Paul Pistore)
  • Shasta McNasty
    Shasta McNasty
    Shasta McNasty is an American sitcom that aired on UPN during the 1999-2000 season. The show was created by Jeff Eastin and produced by Eastin and Neal H. Moritz...

     (1999–2000)
  • Jack of All Trades (2000) – Napoleon Bonaparte
  • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
    Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
    Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a teenage fictional character named Sabrina Spellman. The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo. The comic's characters have also appeared in various other media...

     (2002) – Angus
  • Boston Public
    Boston Public
    Boston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place...

     (2003) – Taylor Prentice (2 episodes)
  • Karroll's Christmas (2004)
  • The Girls Next Door
    The Girls Next Door
    The Girls Next Door, also known as The Girls of the Playboy Mansion, is an American reality television series broadcast on the E! cable television network...

     (2005) - himself (episode "Fight Night")
  • The Surreal Life
    The Surreal Life
    The Surreal Life is a reality television series that sets a select group of past-their-prime celebrities and records them as they live together in Glen Campbell's former mansion in the Hollywood Hills for two weeks...

     (2005)
  • Bo! in the USA (2006)
  • The Surreal Life: Fame  (2007)
  • Welcome to Sweden
    Welcome to Sweden
    Welcome to Sweden is a Swedish reality show starring American actors Richard Kiel and Verne Troyer...

     (2007)
  • Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice is a British television comedy panel game show on ITV2 that has been airing since 24 September, 2008. The show is presented by Keith Lemon, with regular captains Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton, alongside regular panellist Rufus Hound...

     (2008) - himself
  • The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest...
    The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest...
    truTV Presents: World's Dumbest... is a cable television series produced by Meetinghouse Productions, Inc. and is airing on truTV...

     (2008) - commentator
  • The Podge and Rodge Show
    The Podge and Rodge Show
    The Podge and Rodge Show is an Irish chat show, broadcast and produced by RTÉ, featuring the popular Podge and Rodge as hosts...

     (2008) - himself
  • Celebrity Big Brother
    Celebrity Big Brother 2009 (UK)
    Celebrity Big Brother 2009 was the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother. It began on 2 January 2009 and ran for 22 days until 23 January 2009. It was broadcast on Channel 4. The launch show was watched by approximately 6.4 million people...

     (2009) - himself
  • Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
    Friday Night with Jonathan Ross
    Friday Night with Jonathan Ross was a British comedy chat show presented by Jonathan Ross. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 2 November 2001. The programme featured Ross's take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...

     (2009) - himself
  • The Paul O'Grady Show
    The Paul O'Grady Show
    The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...

     (2009) - himself
  • WWE Raw
    WWE RAW
    WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...

     (2009) - guest host
  • Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice is a British television comedy panel game show on ITV2 that has been airing since 24 September, 2008. The show is presented by Keith Lemon, with regular captains Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton, alongside regular panellist Rufus Hound...

     (2010) - himself
  • Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice
    Celebrity Juice is a British television comedy panel game show on ITV2 that has been airing since 24 September, 2008. The show is presented by Keith Lemon, with regular captains Holly Willoughby and Fearne Cotton, alongside regular panellist Rufus Hound...

     (2011) - himself

Other

Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Postal III Krotchy Voice only

External links

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