Herve Villechaize ✝

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (French: [ɛʁve vilʃɛz]; April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French actor and painter. He is best known for his role as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun, and his role as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the 1977–1984 American television series Fantasy Island. On Fantasy Island, his shout of "The plane! The plane!" became one of the show's signature phrases. Villechaize was born in Nazi-occupied Paris, France, on April 23, 1943, to English-born Evelyn (Recchionni) and André Villechaize, a surgeon in Toulon. The youngest of four sons, Villechaize was born with dwarfism, likely due to an endocrine disorder, which his surgeon father tried unsuccessfully to cure in several institutions. In later years, he insisted on being called a "midget" rather than a "dwarf", which annoyed his acting contemporary with a similar condition, Billy Barty, who was an activist who found that term derogatory. Villechaize was bullied at school for his condition and found solace in painting. In 1959, at age 16, he entered the École des Beaux-Arts to study art. In 1961, he became the youngest artist ever to have his work displayed in the Museum of Paris. In 1964, Villechaize left France for the United States. He settled in a Bohemian section of New York City, and taught himself English by watching television.