R.I.P. Felix Silla, Actor Who Played Cousin Itt on The Addams Family Dead at 84

April 16, 2021 | 9:39pm ET

Felix Silla, who famously portrayed Cousin Itt on the 1960s TV sitcom The Addams Family, died Friday (April 16th) at the age of 84 from pancreatic cancer.

Silla was never actually seen on The Addams Family during its two-season run between 1964 and 1966. Rather, the 3’11” actor wore a full-body hairpiece, sunglasses, and a bowler hat. He was also unintelligible to the audience, as his rapid gibberish could only be understood by The Addams Family members themselves.

Due to his small stature, Silla also landed roles in Return of the Jedi as an Ewok, in Spaceballs as a Dink, and in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century as the robot Twiki. Silla also voiced Mortimer Got in The Sims 2 video game.

Prior to his career in acting, Silla was a trained circus performer who toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.