Michu Meszaros

Mihaly "Michu" Meszaros (Hungarian: Mészáros Mihály; 1 October 1939 – 12 June 2016) was a Hungarian and American actor, circus performer/entertainer, and stuntman. He was 2 feet 9 inches (0.84 m) tall and weighed 25 pounds. He was best remembered as a performer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and for his role in the NBC sitcom ALF in 1986. He appeared in many films in the late 1980s and early 1990s and also appeared opposite Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial and in the Ozzy Osbourne music video for "Time After Time" in 1992. His last appearance was in Death to Cupid in 2015.

Biography

Early life

Meszaros was born in a small village outside Budapest and was the seventh of nine siblings. He attended a school of circus arts and performed in the circus since age nine, working two or three shows a day, five days a week. He performed in the Liebel Family Circus and toured Eastern Europe. However, a government agent from the Hungarian People's Republic followed him to make sure he did not defect, and the government took most of his money.

Career

Circus producers Irvin Feld and Kenneth Feld had heard of Meszaros, and, after locating him in 1973, signed him to a contract and made arrangements to bring him to the U.S. and have him star in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as the "smallest man in the world".

In 1980, Meszaros, along with his Hungarian guard, defected to the U.S. He became a resident alien in 1984.

As a circus performer, he performed an act with poodles, in which the poodles, standing on their hind legs, appeared much taller than Meszaros, delighting children in the crowd.