Verne Troyer was a versatile comedian, stuntman, and actor. He was widely recognized for his role in the Austin Powers film series as ‘Mini-Me’, a clone of the films’ villain – Dr. Evil. His career started when he worked as a stunt double on Baby’s Day Out. From there, Verne’s roles expanded to include Jingle All The Way, My Giant, Dunston: Checks In, and Men In Black.
Verne Troyer Bio (Age)
He was born with Cartilage-hair hypoplasia disorder – which caused his dwarfism – on the 1st of January, 1969 in Sturgis, Michigan, the United States to Amish parents.
He had a very supportive family as his parents and his two siblings never saw his size as an impediment. For his high school education, he attended Centreville High School in Michigan where he was elected Homecoming King.
Verne Troyer started his career as an actor in 1993 after moving to Arlington, Texas with friends. He was working for Sprint in the customer service department when a former president of Little People of America, a friend of his, connected him to some movie producers who were in search of a certain size of man who would be a stunt double for a 9-month old baby in the film Baby’s Day Out (1994).
Verne Troyer, who never took acting classes, was offered the job within two days. What changed Troyer’s acting career forever was his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series. The film, which was directed by Jay Roach, also starred Mike Myers who played the dual role of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil.
Mike Myers and Verne Troyer co-starred again in 2008 for the film The Love Guru. For their outstanding characters, they were both nominated for and won the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo.
The actor appeared in more films such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2000) as Griphook the goblin. He also played the role of Percy in The Imaginarium of Parnassus (2009).
In addition to that, he appeared in several reality television shows including The Surreal Life (2005), Welcome to Sweden (2007), and the 6th series of the British Celebrity Big Brother (2009). Throughout his career, Verne Troyer was nominated for four awards, he won two of them.
His Parents
His father, Reuben Troyer, was a repair technician while his mother, Susan Troyer, was a factory worker. The couple had three children and lived in Sturgis, Michigan, United States.
They were once Amish and raised their children as Amish until they left the faith when Verne was still a child. The actor spent most of his childhood visiting Amish relatives in Centreville, Michigan.
Wife, Girlfriends, and Kids
On the 22nd of February, 2004, Verne Troyer got married to Genevieve Gallen, a model. However, he filed for an annulment the following day stating that she lied about her financial gain.
Since then, Verne Troyer has been known to make headlines with his romantic partners. In 2008, his ex-girlfriend, Ranae Shrider leaked a private home sex video of herself and the actor to the public. The video was available on several websites including TMZ and as such, the video went viral.
Troyer and his attorney, Ed McPherson sued the celebrity news site TMZ for 20 million dollars on grounds of invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.
He later dated Brittney Powell from 2007 to 2018. Though Britney had a son, reports have it that Verne Troyer never had any child of his own.
Height – How Tall Was Verne Troyer?
While he was alive, Verne Troyer was one of the shortest men in the world. His height was recorded at 2 feet and 8 inches. While his weight was listed at 35 lb (16 kg) – which is why he could easily be a stunt double for a baby in Baby’s Day Out.
Cause of Death
Troyer died on the 21st of April, 2018 at the age of 49 in his Hollywood home in Los Angeles, California, United States. The news was announced by his spokesman who confirmed his death through a statement on Facebook.
The cause of his death was not mentioned initially but was later confirmed that he died of Alcohol poisoning. Troyer has been suffering from depression and fought against it until his demise.
