Felix Silla, the actor who played beloved Addams furry relative Cousin Itt, has passed away. He was 84.
His castmate “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century”, Gil Gerard, confirmed the news on Twitter. “Felix died 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 time we had on our panels. Just say to me “go for myself”. “
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Silla’s death on Friday comes after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He lived in Las Vegas for a long time, performing between films with his own musical combo, “The Original Harmonica Band”.
Born in a small village just outside of Rome, Italy in January 1937, Silla came to the United States in 1955. As a trained circus performer, he toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Show, which eventually led him to Hollywood. His skills as a bottlenose dolphin, bareback rider and trapeze artist earned him stuntman roles, starting with the 1963 comedy ‘A Ticklish Affair’. Silla also worked as a body double, often for children, in such films as “The Towering Inferno” (1974) and “Battlestar Galactica” (1978). His resume also had roles on the original “Star Trek,” “Space Ball,” and “Star Wars: Episode VI,” in which he played an Ewok.
Prior to a series of roles in science fiction projects, Silla played Cousin Itt, part of the wacky clan in “The Addams Family,” which ran on ABC from 1964-1966. His costume was a body-length hairpiece topped with a bowler hat and sunglasses. An interview in the Los Angeles Times revealed that the costume was, in fact, made of real human hair.
Silla leaves behind his wife Sue and their children Bonnie and Michael. The couple had been married since 1965.
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