Verne Troyer
Troyer at the Chiller Theatre Expo in October 2017
Born	Vernon Jay Troyer (1969-01-01)January 1, 1969 Sturgis, Michigan, U.S.
Died	April 21, 2018(2018-04-21) (aged 49) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Alcohol poisoning
Body discovered	Hospital
Resting place	Cremated
Other names	Vernon Troyer Vernon Jay Troyer Verne Jay Troyer Vernon J. Troyer Verne J. Troyer Verne Troya Vernon Troya Vernon Jay Troya Vernon J. Troya Verne J. Troya Mini-V
Education	Centerville High School
Alma mater	Kellogg Community College
Occupation(s)	Actor, director, stunt performer, Internet personality, voice artist, comedian
Years active	1994–2016
Height	2 ft 8 in (81 cm)
Spouse	Genevieve Gallen ​ ​ (m. 2004; ann. 2004)​
Partner	Brittney Powell (2007–2018)
Parent(s)	Reuben Troyer (father) Susan Troyer (mother)
Signature

Vernon Jay "Verne" Troyer (January 1, 1969 – April 21, 2018) was an American actor, director, stunt performer, Internet personality, voice artist, and comedian, best known for his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers franchise.

He was 2 ft 8 in (81 cm) tall, the result of cartilage–hair hypoplasia;^[2][3] this made him one of the shortest men in the world.

Born in Sturgis, Michigan, Troyer's film career began when he landed a role as a stunt double for Baby Bink in Baby's Day Out (1994). He then went on to co-star as Mini-Me in two of the Austin Powers films. He went on to appear in other films, including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), The Love Guru (2008), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), and Keith Lemon: The Film (2012). In May 2015, he started his own YouTube channel under his own name, consisting of skits, vlogs, cooking videos, mail videos, etc.; his final video describing his various pet peeves was in March 2018.

On April 21, 2018, Troyer died at a hospital of alcohol poisoning in Los Angeles, California at the age of 49.

Early life

Troyer was born Vernon Jay Troyer in Sturgis, Michigan on January 1, 1969, the son of Reuben ("Junior"), a repair technician, and Susan Troyer, a factory worker.^[4] He had two older siblings named Devon and Deborah Schultz. He was only an infant when he was diagnosed with dwarfism.^[5] He stated in an interview on Reddit that his parents "never treated me any different than my other average-sized siblings. I used to have to carry wood, feed the cows and pigs and farm animals".^[6]

Troyer was initially raised Amish, but his parents abandoned the faith when he was a child.^[7] During his childhood, Troyer spent much time visiting his Amish relatives^[8] in Centreville, Michigan. While both sides of his family had lived in the United States since the 1700s, his background was still entirely of German descent with an Amish family background; the Troyer family originates in Emmental, Bern, Switzerland. Troyer told the Guardian, "We grew up Amish, but my parents left the religion when I was a child. The Amish have lots of rules and my dad thought many people in the faith were hypocritical because they'd tell others not to do something and then do it themselves." He continued that he almost died as an infant when he was found unresponsive in his crib, quoted as, "As we were Amish, we only had a horse and buggy [carriage] to get to the hospital, but that wasn't going to be quick enough so we borrowed my aunt's car. My parents were told there was nothing that could be done and Dad whisked me away to another hospital, where I was put in an oxygen tent, and thankfully I recovered."

He told Huffington Post of the incident: "My dad got home from work and he checked up on me, and I was all blue. He lifted up the blanket and my shirt, and my whole chest was caved in. They called it 'cradle death, and all you need is oxygen for a little while, but we were Amish at the time."

College

On June 30, 1999, Troyer threw out the first ball at the San Diego Padre vs. Los Angeles Dodger game.

Troyer graduated from Centreville High School in 1987 and a plaque was dedicated to him in 2003.^[9] Troyer and his date were voted King and Queen at their high school prom.

Career

Acting

Troyer's acting career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone of a "certain size" to serve as a stunt double for Baby Bink in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994).^[10] He gained further work as a stunt double with some minor comedic roles in several films of the 1990s, including Dunston Checks In, Jingle All the Way (both 1996), Men in Black (1997),^[11] and My Giant (1998).^[12] Troyer had to do all of his own stunts in every film because there was not anyone small enough to fill in.

He first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers franchise,^[13] directed by Roach and starring co-creator Mike Myers, before filming for the franchise's second film began. Myers was impressed with Troyer's performance, rewriting the script for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) to give Mini-Me more screen time and remove the character's death.^[14] Troyer reprised his role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru (2008).^[11]

After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed Griphook (with voice-over performed by Warwick Davis) in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)^[15] and portrayed Percy in Terry Gilliam's film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009).^[16] He also made several appearances as himself in reality television series, including The Surreal Life (2005), Welcome to Sweden (2007),^[11] and the sixth series of the British Celebrity Big Brother (2009).^[17] In 2002, Troyer joked with Wolf Blitzer that after gaining fame as Mini-Me, he would go out in public with a hat and sunglasses on, "but it just doesn't seem to work." Troyer was also occasionally referred to as "Mini-V."

Commercials

Troyer had also appeared in several commercials, including GEICO, Apple, World of Warcraft, and Orange.

YouTube channel (2015-2018)

On May 4, 2015, Troyer launched his own YouTube channel. His videos consisted of skits, vlogs, cooking videos, mail videos, gaming videos, and live streams.^[18]

Troyer also had collaborations with other YouTubers, including Tony Cavalero, Roman Atwood, and Logan Paul.

On March 28, 2018, he posted his final video titled "MY PET PEEVES!", in which he had described a list of things that irritate him, as well as explaining his bathroom issues concerning his height. The video ends with Troyer feeling relieved, only to be distracted by a garbage truck's horn.^[19]

Personal life

Marriages

On February 22, 2004, Troyer reportedly married model Genevieve Gallen (who was also his yoga instructor), but filed for an annulment the next day. Though the couple's engagement in the summer of 2003 was much reported, Troyer and his attorney denied the pair ever had any formal wedding plans, saying that Gallen had fabricated the story for her own financial gain.^[20]

On June 25, 2008, a private home video was leaked of Troyer and his former live-in girlfriend Ranae Shrider having sex. The 50-minute video, filmed in 2008 in Beverly Hills, California and Shrider's hometown of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma,^[21] was leaked to the public by Shrider and TMZ.^[22] Kevin Blatt, who was responsible for brokering the deal for Paris Hilton's sex tape in 2003, tried to sell the video. Troyer, through his long-time attorney Ed McPherson, sued TMZ, Blatt, and online rental company SugarDVD for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement.^[23]

In May 2015, Troyer, his girlfriend Brittney Powell, and her son Tyson appeared on Celebrity Wife Swap, where she switched places with Hines Ward's wife.^[24] Troyer had dated Powell from 2007 to April 2018.

Other interests

Troyer had a personal love for college football. His favorite team was the Michigan Wolverines. He had said his second favorite team is "whoever's playing Notre Dame."^[25]

He was also an avid video gamer, which was shown in some of his YouTube videos.

Troyer appeared close to his parents based on his social media posts about them over the years. Troyer posted a photo of his mother on Valentine's Day, writing, "Happy Valentine's Day to my wonderful mother #valentinesday." In November 2017, he posted a photo of himself holding a cheesecake and noted that he called his mother for the recipe.^[26]

On May 29, 2018, it was announced that his estate was worth $160,000 at the time of his death in April.^[27]

Hospitalization and death

In early April 2018, Troyer was admitted to a hospital after an incident at his home.^[28][29] He had previously been admitted to rehab to undergo treatment for alcoholism.^[29][30] He was also baptized by while surrounded by his family.^[31] On April 3, the page posted a statement that read, "Asking you to keep Verne in your thoughts and prayers. He's getting the best care possible and is resting comfortably. Appreciate the support from family, friends, and fans around the world. We will keep you updated here."

At the time of the hospitalization, TMZ reported, "...a friend of Verne's made the call around 7:30 PM, and described him as being extremely upset, drunk and suicidal. We're told cops and fire department paramedics responded, and Verne was transported to a hospital for possible alcohol poisoning."

On April 21, Troyer died at the hospital in Los Angeles, California at the age of 49. His death was announced by his family through his Instagram page, its statement referring to Troyer's battles over the years and saying his family was with him at the end.^[32] TMZ reported of Troyer's death: "We'd been told he was on some form of life support since being taken to the hospital earlier this month after cops got a report he was drunk and suicidal, and was treated for possible alcohol poisoning. He also struggled with alcoholism for years and had been to rehab many times." Troyer's family had not confirmed that account and no cause was immediately released, except that his family had released a lengthy statement, referring to depression and suicide.^[33][34][35] His death was reported as a possible suicide to the coroner, who found very high alcohol levels in his body, suggesting and later confirming alcohol poisoning as the cause.^[36][37] On April 30, Troyer's death certificate revealed that he was cremated and his remains were sent to his hometown in Michigan.^[38]

Tributes

On April 22, one day after Troyer's death, Mike Myers paid tribute to his co-star, referring to him as a "beacon of positivity" and saying he hoped he was in a "better place."^[39]

On May 3, Myers paid another tribute to his co-star in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. He recalled working with Troyer positively and said he worked with Troyer for a long time, adding he was "a great comedian." Myers also said that Mini-Me was almost a prop and was later given more stuff to do. Myers recalled that Troyer was loved by so many that wherever he traveled, fans referenced the Mini-Me character. He explained that when he went to the White House during a state dinner for Justin Trudeau, President Barack Obama and later Trudeau greeted Myers and asked about "Mini-Me". Myers also mentioned that Troyer would travel to different countries for charity work. The Facebook post that announced his death asked for donations to his favorite charities in his name in lieu of sending flowers.^[40]

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Television

Video games

References

Footnotes:

Sources

External links

• Verne Troyer at IMDb
• Verne Troyer at YouTube
• Verne Troyer at Facebook
• Verne Troyer at Twitter
• Verne Troyer at Instagram
• Verne Troyer at Reddit
• Verne Troyer interview, Movieset.com