Rant #2,236: Small World

Verne Troyer, the diminutive actor who played "Mini-Me" in all of those "Austin Powers" movies, died in April.

But it is now October, and after six months, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office finally came out with the cause of death, and really, it wasn't that much of a surpise.

Troyer, 49, died of something called "sequelae of alcohol intoxication," or that he basically drank himself to death, and the case was ruled a suicide because what he did to himself was a consequence of a previous disease or injury.

It is a suicide because he had very high levels of alcohol in his body when he died, so he basically poisoned himself with alcohol.

The diminutive actor, who stood about three feet tall and weighed all of 35 pounds, was featured in more than 30 films and numerous TV shows.

Troyer took his size good naturedly, and said that as a child, he was treated no differently than his normal-sized siblings. He was raised in an Amish family, and had to "carry his weight" at home, doing the same type of chores that everyone in the family did.

He began his entertainment career as a stunt double in "Baby's Day Out" in 1984, and pretty much worked steadily for the next 30-plus years, becoming one of the most famous and successful "little people" in the industry.

Troyer made his size an asset, and his star rose considerably with the "Austin Powers" films, where he was the perfect tiny counterpoint to the other actors in the film.

But his behind the scenes escapades truly made him something of a cultural icon.

He supposedly married once, although the marriage was annulled the very next day, with Troyer insisting that the had never actually married, and that his "wife" fabricated the story for financial gain.

He had many other girlfriends, and there is allegedly a sex tape out there between Troyer and one of these women.

Troyer also had known alcohol abuse, and had checked himself in for rehab any number of times.

He also was a regular at the Playboy Mansion.

You could say that Troyer lived life to the fullest, but his alcohol abuse ended up killing him, so the whole episode is really sad, and reminiscent of the fate a generation earlier of another small person, Herve Villechaize, who also eventually killed himself, in that case by shooting.

It must be tough being a little person to begin with, but when the spotlight of Hollywood shines on you, behind all the glamour and glitz and girls and money, it must be awfully hard to maintain some sort of composure, but others have done it.

Troyer and Villechaize succumbed.

It is too bad, because these stars were very, very popular, in high demand, and both made their diminutive size an asset, not a liability.

With another "Austin Powers" movie a distinct possibility, it simply won't be the same without Troyer in the cast.

He will be missed.