Felix Silla, a versatile actor best known for his role as Itt’s hairy cousin on TV’s “The Addams Family,” died Friday after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 84.
His 40-year-old friend and former co-star on NBC’s “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” Gil Gerard announced the news on Twitter.
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“Felix passed away just a few hours ago and the only good thing I can draw from his passing is that he was no longer suffering,” he wrote. “I will miss him terribly, especially the great time we had on our panels. He just told me to ‘go’ myself.”
In a previous tweet, Gerard said that Silla was dying of pancreatic cancer.
Silla, a longtime resident of Las Vegas, weighed just 70 pounds and was less than four feet tall, according to FOX 23 Tulsa.
He also appeared in “Buck Rogers” as Twiki the robot sidekick, a hang gliding Ewok in the 1983 “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi”, and the villain Livak opposite George Segal in the 1975 film – and sequel to ” The Maltese Falcon “-” The Black Bird. “
Silla was born on January 11, 1937 in Roccacasale, Italy and came to the United States in 1955 when he began touring with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he worked as a trapeze artist, bottlenose dolphin and bareback rider, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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TMZ reported Friday that he had landed in Hollywood as a stuntman in 1962, appearing first on “A Ticklish Affair,” an episode of the classic television show “Bonanza,” and the first pilot for “Star Trek: The Original Series.”
In addition, The Hollywood Reporter noted Silla’s work in “Point Blank,” “The Kentucky Fried Movie,” “The Brood,” and “Spaceballs” with Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis.
He was known as a regular performer for Sid and Marty Krofft on the crazy “HR Pufnstuf and Lidsville,” Deadline said Friday.
Later in his career, Silla had small roles in the 1968 science fiction classic ‘Planet of the Apes’, ‘Demon Seed’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ from 1984.
IMDb.com cited his stunt work from “The Towering Inferno”, “The Hindenburg”, “ET the Extra-Terrestrial”, “Poltergeist”, “Howard the Duck” and “Batman Returns”.
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Silla moved to Las Vegas in 2003 and played harmonica with his own original combo, the Hollywood Reporter said.
He was also a regular at fan conventions.
Silla is survived by his wife of over 55, Sue, and their children, Bonnie and Diana. Their son Michael, 45, passed away in March 2020.