English actor David Rappaport, pictured on the left, was one of the most well known little people to act in television and movies. Born with achondroplasia, he was a mere 3 foot and 11 inches, but he acted with a greatness that belied his height. As a child he learned to play drums and accordion and continued to play percussion professionally in his adult life. He first found fame in the 1979 BBC childrens series Jigsaw. One of his more popular roles would come from Terry Gilliams Time Bandits in which he played the leader of a gang of dwarves, as seen in the photo above. Other credits include television shows L.A. Law and The Goodies, and the movies The Bride and Sword of the Valiant. While filming an episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation, he attempted suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning but was unsuccessful. Rather than get him any assistance, medical officials released him from the hospital. A couple months later he would try again and complete the task. He shot himself in the chest at a dog park in Los Angeles. He was flown back to England and buried in Waltham Abbey Cemetery in Essex. Because of his death and the accident that left Jack Purvis a quadriplegic, Terry Gilliam cancelled plans for a sequel to Time Bandits.
