Proof that smoking will stunt your growth

With the movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes coming out, I thought I would throw this picture out there.

While it initially looks like a little gorilla kid smoking, its instead actor Billy Curtis – one of the premier midget actors of his day.

From a part in Wizard of Oz, where he is reputed as being one of the sources of the drunken munchkins on set, to Mordecai in High Plains drifter….Billy had a great career that spanned several decades.

One role that he goes un-credited for, and probably held the longest, is the McDonalds character, Mayor McCheese - from its creation until his death in 1989. McDonalds retired the character when Billy died in 1989.