Villechaize was born in Nazi-OccupiedParis, France, on April 23, 1943, to English-born Evelyn, 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". Villechaize was bullied at school for his condition and found solace in painting. He also had a brief modeling career. 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.
Career
Villechaize initially worked as an artist, painter and photographer. He began acting in Off-Broadway productions, including The Young Master Dante by Werner Liepolt and a play by Sam Shepard, and he also modeled for photos for National Lampoon before moving on to film. His first film appearance was in Chappaqua. The second film was Edward Summer's Item 72-D: The Adventures of Spa and Fon filmed in 1969. This was followed by several films including Christopher Speeth's and Werner Liepolt's Malatesta's Carnival of Blood; Crazy Joe; Oliver Stone's first film, Seizure; and The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. He was asked to play a role in Alejandro Jodorowsky's film Dune, which had originally begun pre-production in 1971 but was later cancelled. His big break was getting cast in The Man with the Golden Gun, by which time he had become so poor he was living in his car in Los Angeles. Prior to being signed up by Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, he made ends meet by working as a rat catcher's assistant near his South Central home. From what his co-star Christopher Lee saw, The Man with the Golden Gun filming was possibly the happiest time of Villechaize's life: Lee likened it to honey in the sandwich between an insecure past and an uncertain future. In addition to being an actor, Villechaize became an active member of a movement in 1970s and 1980s California to deal with child abuse and neglect, often going to crime scenes himself to help comfort abuse victims. Villechaize's former co-workers recalled that despite his stature, he would often confront and chastise spousal and child abusers when he arrived at crime scenes. In the 1970s, on Sesame Street, Villechaize performed Oscar the Grouch as a pair of legs peeping out from a trash can, for scenes which required the Grouch to be mobile. These appearances began in the second season and included the 1978 Hawaii episodes. Though popular with the public, Villechaize proved a difficult actor on Fantasy Island, where he continually propositioned women and quarreled with the producers. He was eventually fired after demanding a salary on par with that of his co-star Ricardo Montalbán. Villechaize was replaced with Christopher Hewett, of Mr. Belvedere and The Producers fame. In 1980, Cleveland International Records released a single by The Children of the World, featuring Villechaize as vocalist: "Why" with B side "When a Child is Born" He starred in the movie Forbidden Zone, and appeared in , and episodes of Diff'rent Strokes and Taxi. He later played the role of the character Rumpelstiltskin in the Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre episode Rumpelstiltskin. In the 1980s, he became popular in Spain due to his impersonations of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzálezon the television show Viaje con nosotros, with showman Javier Gurruchaga. He made his final appearance in a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of The Ben Stiller Show.
Villechaize was married twice. He met his second wife, Camille Hagen, an actress and stand-in double, on the set of the pilot for Fantasy Island. They resided at a San Fernando Valley ranch which also was home to a menagerie of farm animals and pets. He had a few Hollywood friends, most notably country music singer Johnny Lee, whose concerts Villechaize would often attend in the 1980s. In 1983, for a television program That Teen Show which included messages directed at depressed and suicide-prone teenagers, Haywood Nelson, star of the sitcom What's Happening!!, interviewed Villechaize about his many suicide attempts. Villechaize said then that he had learned to love life, even though the pain was severe and intense. In the early morning hours of September 4, 1993, Villechaize is believed to have first fired a shot through the sliding glass patio door to awaken his longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self, before shooting himself at his North Hollywood home. Self found Villechaize in his backyard, and he was pronounced dead at a North Hollywood facility. Villechaize left a suicide note saying he was despondent over longtime health problems. Villechaize was suffering from chronic pain due to having oversized internal organs putting increasing pressure on his body. According to Self, Villechaize often slept in a kneeling position so he could breathe more easily. At the time of his suicide, Cartoon Network was in negotiations for him to co-star in Space GhostCoast to Coast, which was in pre-production at the time. Villechaize would have voiced Space Ghost's sidekick on the show. His ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean off Point Fermin in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California.
Depictions in media
In a March 2012New York Times interview, Peter Dinklage revealed that he and Sacha Gervasi spent several years writing a script about Villechaize. Gervasi, a director and journalist, conducted a lengthy interview with Villechaize just prior to his suicide; according to Dinklage, "After he killed himself, Sacha realized Hervé's interview was a suicide note". The film, My Dinner with Hervé, which is based on the last few days of Villechaize's life, stars Dinklage in the title role, and premiered on HBO on October 20, 2018.
