He may be known for his roll as "Mini-me" but he was larger than just that charactor.
Verne Troyer was born January 1st, 1969 in Sturgis, Michigan. During his childhood, Troyer spent most of his time visiting his Amish relatives in Centreville (Michigan), and graduated from Centreville High School in 1987. "I grew up in a small town. There were about 90 people in my graduating class." Troyer was initially raised Amish but his parents (Susan and Reuben) left the faith when he was a child. He has stated "My parents never treated me any different than my other average-sized siblings. I used to have to carry wood, feed the cows, pigs, and the other farm animals.”
Verne was born with a rare form of dwarfism called Cartilage-hair hypoplasia,. People born with CHH have skeletal abnormalities; fine, sparse hair (hypotrichosis); and abnormal immune system function (immune deficiency) that can lead to recurrent infections.
Other affects of cartilage-hair hypoplasia are unusually short limbs and short stature from birth. They typically have malformations in the cartilage near the ends of the long bones in the arms and legs, which then affects development of the bone itself. Most people with CHH are unusually flexible in some joints, but they may have difficulty extending their elbows fully.
Verne is often recognized for his Austin Powers role Mini-Me. But his body of work was much more than just that. He started his career as a stunt performer for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out(1994). He gained further work doing stunts and acting in films including Dunston Checks In, Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997) and My Giant (1998), He was Griphook the goblin in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Bubble Boy (with Jake Gyllenhaal), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (w/ Johnny Depp), How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey), Jack of All Trades with fellow Michigander Bruce Campbell, just to name a few.
Verne loved college football. You would often see him sporting a shirt from his favorite team the Michigan Wolverines. He often said that his second favorite team is "whoever's playing Notre Dame."
He truly lived his life to the fullest and worked steadily through the years. His last film Hipsters, Gangsters, Aliens and Geeks with fellow Michigander/ friend Martin Klebba. The movie has yet to be released.
Thank you Verne for entertaining us through the years. May you rest in peace and not be just known as “Mini-me” but as Verne Troyer.
Sources
Wikipedia
Genetic Home Reference
Comments (0)