Felix chair, who played mysterious and hairy cousin Itt in “The Addams Family,” is dead after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Felix died Friday afternoon in Las Vegas … according to Gil Gerard, Felix ‘co-star in the old NBC series “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.”
Gil says he is sad to see his friend lose his battle with cancer, but he is happy that Felix is no longer suffering.
While we’ve never seen his face on the show … Felix was extraordinarily known for playing the mumbling Cousin Itt on the 1960s sitcom. For the youngsters … he was wearing sunglasses, a bowler hat and a hairpiece that covered his entire body. The audience never understood what he was saying, but members of the Addams Family did.
Silla also didn’t get face time as Buck Rogers’ robot sidekick Twiki, or hang gliding Ewok in “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” … but people knew him because he was barely four feet. tall and weighed about 70 pounds.
Felix had at least one famous role in which he actually showed his mug … in 1975 he shaved his head to play the villainous Litvak in “The Maltese Falcon” sequel “The Black Bird.”
Born and raised in Italy, Felix moved to the United States in 1955 and toured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, where he worked for several years as a tumbler and trapeze artist before landing in Hollywood as a stuntman in 1962.
Felix did stunt work on “ET the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Batman Returns,” and “Poltergeist,” among other films … and also appeared in the OG “Planet of the Apes” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”
Silla was 84, and is survived by his wife of over 55 years, Sue, and their children, Bonnie and Michael
REST IN PEACE