Historical Figures Codexery

Hervé Villechaize

French actor best known as Nick Nack in The Man with the Golden Gun and Tattoo on Fantasy Island.

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize was a French actor born on 23 April 1943 in Nazi-occupied Paris.[1][2] The 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun featured Villechaize as the villainous henchman Nick Nack, and from 1977 through 1983 he portrayed Mr. Roarke's assistant Tattoo on the television series Fantasy Island.[1] On 4 September 1993, at age 50, Villechaize took his own life.[1]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize
Born
23 April 1943
Birthplace
Montauban, France
Died
4 September 1993
Place of death
North Hollywood, California, U.S.
Occupation
Actor
Years active
1966–1993
Height
3 ft 11 in / 1.19 m

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

His father, a surgeon, tried unsuccessfully to cure the condition at several institutions.[2] He left France for the United States in 1964 and learned English by watching television.[3] Villechaize, the fourth son in his family, had dwarfism at birth, which was probably caused by an endocrine disorder.[2] In 1959, when he was 16 years old, Villechaize began studying art at the École des Beaux-Arts.[4]

Having his artwork exhibited at the Museum of Paris in 1961, at age 18, made him the youngest artist ever to achieve that.[4] Villechaize made his debut on screen in the 1966 film Chappaqua.[5] His major career breakthrough occurred when he was chosen for the role in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974); at that point his financial situation was so dire that he was sleeping in his automobile in Los Angeles.[6] The exclamation "De plane! De plane!" shouted by Villechaize on Fantasy Island turned into one of the program's most recognizable catchphrases.[1]

After he requested a wage matching that of his fellow actor Ricardo Montalbán, Villechaize was let go from the show.[7]

What the cited sources add

The same article reports that his brother Patrick said Villechaize would be kicked in the head for being different while walking down the street.[8] A 2018 Guardian review states that Villechaize's mother went into labor with him while driving an ambulance through a bomb raid on Paris in 1943.[9] A 2021 Looper article confirms that Villechaize's first love was painting, but he fell into acting after moving from Paris to New York City in 1964.[10] The same Looper article states that off-camera, Villechaize earned a reputation for harassing women on the set and battling with producers.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Herve Villechaize; Actor, 50, Commits Suicide at His Home", The New York Times, 5 September 1993 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hervé Villechaize Biography" . Biography.com. Retrieved 20 October 2018.; "The True Story Behind My Dinner with Hervé", 19 October 2018; Hibberd, "Exclusive: Peter Dinklage talks Hervé Villechaize movie, addresses casting controversy", 29 August 2018; Jackovich, "Tattoo and His Bride Begin Their Marriage with a Plea: 'We Are as Normal as Anyone'", people.com, 13 October 1980; Jackovich, "Tattoo and His Bride Begin Their Marriage with a Plea: 'We Are as Normal as Anyone'", people.com, 13 October 1980; Mangan, "My Dinner with Hervé rev en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Adelson, "The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey from Public Curiosity Toward Social Liberation", Rutgers University Press, 2005, p. 251; Miller, "The Tragic, Beautiful True Story Behind Peter Dinklage's My Dinner with Hervé", 19 October 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rose, "They Call Me Naughty Lola: Personal Ads from the London Review of Books", Simon and Schuster, 28 November 2006; Miller, "The Tragic, Beautiful True Story Behind Peter Dinklage's My Dinner with Hervé", 19 October 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon", IMDB, n.d. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lee, "Lord of Misrule", Orion, 2004, p. 284 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Hervé Villechaize" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gaita, "Fantasy Island Actors you may not Know Passed Away", Looper, 11 September 2021 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Miller, "The Tragic, Beautiful True Story Behind Peter Dinklage's My Dinner with Hervé", 19 October 2018. facts only, no text reused. vanityfair.com
  9. Mangan, "My Dinner with Hervé review – a glorious and tragic romp in 90s Lalaland", The Guardian, 22 October 2018. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  10. Gaita, "Fantasy Island Actors you may not Know Passed Away", Looper, 11 September 2021. facts only, no text reused. looper.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Hervé Villechaize (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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