Felix Silla

Appearing 2

Felix Silla was born in a small village outside Rome, Italy. He trained as a circus performer, came to the United States in 1955, and toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His multiple talents as a bareback rider, trapeze artist and tumbler brought him to Hollywood, where he became a stuntman, starting with the Gig Young-Shirley Jones vehicle, A Ticklish Affair. A man of many faces and talents, Felix created many now iconic roles, such as Litvak, the maniacal, miniature Hitler who menaces George Segal in The Black Bird (his favorite performance), both a ‘child gorilla’ and stunt-ape for the original Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes films, the adorable “Wunka” the flying Exok and Cousin Itt of the TV show, The Addams Family. He was also responsible for the performance of the robot Twiki in the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. In part due to his short stature of 1.19 m (3 ft 11 in), he has often doubled for children in such movies as The Towering Inferno, The Hindenburg, and Battlestar Galactica. Between movies, he frequently appreared in Las Vegas and Reno night clubs with his own musical combo, The Original Harmonica Band. He also provided the voice of Mortimer Goth from The Sims 2, the best-selling video game of 2005.