Origins & Early Life

Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (French: [ɛʁve vilʃɛz]; 23 April 1943 – 4 September 1993) was a French actor. He is best known for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun and as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the American television series Fantasy Island that he played from 1977 to 1983. On Fantasy Island, his shout of "De plane!

Pivotal Works & Achievements

De plane!" became one of the show's signature phrases. He died by suicide in 1993. Villechaize was born in Nazi-occupied Paris on 23 April 1943, to Evelyn Recchionni, an Anglo-Italian socialite who was an ambulance driver during World War II and André Villechaize, a surgeon in Toulon. Villechaize also had German ancestry. 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.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In later years, he insisted on being called a "midget" rather than a "dwarf", which annoyed his acting contemporary with a similar condition, Billy Barty, who was an activist who found that term derogatory. Villechaize was bullied at school for his condition and found solace in painting. In...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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