Verne Troyer

Troyer was born in Sturgis, Michigan, on January 1, 1969,^[3] the son of Susan, a factory worker, and Reuben Troyer, a repair technician.^[4] He had two siblings, Davon and Deborah. He stated 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."^[5] Troyer was initially raised Amish, but his parents left the faith when he was a child.^[6] During his childhood, Troyer spent much time visiting Amish relatives^[7] in Centreville, Michigan. He graduated in 1987 from Centreville High School, where a plaque was dedicated to him in 2003.^[8]

Troyer's film career began when a former president of Little People of America contacted him, looking for someone to serve as a stunt double for the infant character "Baby Bink" in John Hughes' film Baby's Day Out (1994).^[9] 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),^[10] and My Giant (1998).^[11] He is also known for an appearance in an Apple PowerBook G4 advertisement.^[12]

He first met with Jay Roach to discuss portraying Mini-Me in the Austin Powers series,^[13] directed by Roach and starring co-creator Mike Myers, before filming for the series' 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 the role three years later in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), and collaborated again with Myers on The Love Guru (2008).^[10]

After reaching a large audience as Mini-Me, Troyer portrayed Griphook in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001),^[15] and played the role of Percy in Terry Gilliam's fantasy 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),^[10] and the British Celebrity Big Brother 6 (2009), in which he placed fourth.^[17]

On June 25, 2008, a private home video was leaked of Troyer and his former live-in girlfriend Ranae Shrider having sex. The video, recorded in 2008 in Beverly Hills, California, and Shrider's hometown of Fort Cobb, Oklahoma,^[18] was leaked to the public by Shrider and TMZ.^[19] Kevin Blatt, the man 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.^[20]

Troyer was dating actress Brittney Powell, as well as living with her and her son from a previous marriage, at the time of his death.^[21]

In early April 2018, Troyer was admitted to a hospital after an incident in his home.^[22][23] He had previously been admitted to rehab to undergo treatment for alcoholism.^[23][24]

Troyer died at a Los Angeles hospital on April 21, 2018, at age 49. His death was later ruled a suspected suicide by alcohol intoxication. He was interred with his parents in Leonidas Cemetery in St. Joseph County, Michigan.^[25][26]