'Alf' actor Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros, 'Smallest Man on Earth,' dead at 76
LOS ANGELES -- Mihaly "Michu" Meszaros, the longtime circus performer and actor who occasionally played the diminutive alien title character on the NBC sitcom Alf, has died. He was 76.
Standing at 2 feet, 9 inches, the Hungarian-born actor was unofficially known as the "Smallest Man on Earth." Though the character of Alf was predominantly animated via puppeteer, from time to time he was portrayed walking around -- and that's where Meszaros stepped in.
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Meszaros also appeared in a handful of films including Big Top Pee-wee and Look Who's Talking, as well as several other TV shows and music videos.
TMZ first reported Monday that Meszaros had died, citing his longtime manager Dennis Varga. The site said he was hospitalized in a coma more than a week ago after being found unresponsive at his home.
When he was a teenager, Michu joined up with the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus, where Michael Jackson first saw him. The two became fast and longtime friends, and Michu was a regular at Neverland Ranch.
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Josh Dickey is Mashable's Entertainment Editor, leading Mashable's TV, music, gaming and sports reporters as well as writing movie features and reviews.Josh has been the Film Editor at Variety, Entertainment Editor at The Associated Press and Managing Editor at TheWrap.com.A finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club's Best Entertainment Feature in 2015 for "Everyone is Altered: The Secret Hollywood Procedure that Fooled Us for Years," Josh received his BA in Journalism from The University of Minnesota.In between screenings, he can be found skating longboards, shredding guitar and wandering the streets of his beloved downtown Los Angeles.
