Tamara Detro (October 21, 1959 – November 28, 1990), known by the stage name Tamara De Treaux, was an American stage and screen actress. She was best known for her role in film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. She stood 31 inches tall and had dwarfism.
Tamara De Treaux | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tamara Detro October 21, 1959 |
| Died | November 28, 1990 (aged 31) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Known for | |
Career
editDe Treaux played one of the three creatures in John Newland's horror TV movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973), which was her first film role.[1][2] Making the prosthetics for De Treaux to play a "gnome-like creature" took some special adaptations, according to John Chambers.[1] After Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, she played on stage in the Dickens Faire and also did commercials.[2] For Little Miss Marker (1980), she worked as a stand-in for the child actress.[3] De Treaux later worked with a singing group in San Francisco called the Medflies in 1980.[4] At one of the Medflies' performance in Los Angeles, she was noticed by Steven Spielberg.[4] She became one of the performers who played E.T. in Spielberg's film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982).[5] De Treaux's work in Ghoulies (1985) was praised by Michael Wilmington in the Los Angeles Times who hated the movie, but enjoyed her performance.[6]
De Treaux went back to the stage, appearing in Divinas Palabras by Ramón del Valle-Inclán in 1989 in Los Angeles in a performance staged by The Bilingual Foundation for the Arts.[7] De Treaux was one of the models in Daphne and Apollo, Los Angeles (1990), photographed by Joel Peter Witkin.[8]
She was a friend of the American writer Armistead Maupin. Her diaries supplied the main influence for the heroine "Cadence Roth" in his novel Maybe the Moon.[9][10]
Personal life
editDe Treaux stood at 31 inches tall and had dwarfism.[11][8] She was the verified shortest ever actress.[12][13][14] She first became interested in acting at age 13.[2]
She was a 1978 graduate of San Leandro High School, San Leandro, California. De Treaux made many of her own clothes.[2]
In 1990, she died at age 31 from respiratory and heart problems at the North Hollywood Medical Center and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).[15]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Don't Be Afraid of the Dark | Creature | TV movie[1] |
| 1980 | Little Miss Marker | [16] | |
| 1983 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | [4] | |
| 1984 | Ghoulies | Greedigut | [17] |
| 1990 | Rockula | Bat Dork | [17] |
| 1991 | The Linguine Incident | Camile | [17] |
| 1991 | Ted & Venus | Park Bench Lover | (final film role) |
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ a b Adelson 2005, p. 174.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value. - San Francisco Focus Magazine]; interview with Maupin about his friendship with Tamara De Treaux (October 1992)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Adelson 2005, p. 221.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 12011). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
- ^ a b c Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
Sources
edit- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2088: attempt to index a boolean value.
External links
edit
 | This article about a United States film actor born in the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |