Michael was an American actor,
singer, piano prodigy and - with an IQ of 178 - a bit of a genius. What he
lacked was height and he never grew taller than 3 feet 10 inches. Here I am at
the hotel in Chelsea where he was staying while making a film. The 38-year-old appeared
to be asleep in bed but had died.
His mum said his big brain showed evidence of its
power when he was just 3 years old when he claimed he could read. She thought
he was joking but he picked up a nearby newspaper and read it to her. Later on
she wasn't surprised by his achievements as he won countless awards at school.
He lived a normal life despite his physical limitations and went on to earn a
degree in journalism in Miami University. It was a waste of time though - by
the time he’s graduated he wanted to be an actor.
A small percentage of actors make it into films
but Michael was ambitious despite his limitations. He knew the odds were
stacked high against him; he also had chondrodystrophy
(an inherited bone disorder), osteoarthritis, short-sightedness, chronic
shortness of breath and permanently dislocated hips. Despite being in constant
pain he went to New York where he sang in bars and won parts in plays. His
career suddenly took off though and he used his dwarfism as a tool to win parts
in various television shows. Aged 32 he married a model called Joy Talbot but
it was an unhappy and childless union and they divorced a few years later.
By the time he died he was making a historical
film called The Abdication. He’d been
working on set on the day he died. He’d returned to his room at The Cadogan Hotel in Chelsea to freshen up and have a snooze.
When the door went unanswered it was opened by management and the actor was
found dead in bed.
Here I am outside the hotel. It's a five-star
place now and I felt scruffy just looking at it. It looks like it's the kind of
place where a mushroom soup starter costs £26.99. I'd been here before as it's
where Oscar Wilde was arrested in 1895 for sodomy.
From The Daily Mail
newspaper in July 2021...