R.I.P. Ed Gale

Today would have been the 62nd birthday of Little Person actor Ed Gale (1963-2025), if he hadn’t passed away back in May.

The Michigan native was 23 years old when cast as the body of the title character in Howard the Duck (1986); the voice was supplied by character actor Chip Zien. His widest exposure was no doubt in playing Chucky in the Child’s Play franchise of horror films (1988-present), though again he was merely the physical performer; the voice was that of Brad Dourif.

Gale was also Dink in Spaceballs (1987), The Doll in Dolly Dearest (1991), and various characters in the 1991 reboot of Land of the Lost. Appropriate to someone with the same surname as Dorothy Gale, he was in the 1990 bio-pic The Dreamer of Oz, about L. Frank Baum. He also bore the cross of every thespian Little Person in having to play Christmas elves in films and on television. You can see him in such things as The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas (1996), The Christmas Secret (2000), Call Me Claus (2001), Santa Jr. (2002), The Polar Express (2004), and Santa Prays for X-Mas (2010). Other films he appeared in include Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991), The Jungle Book (1994), O, Brother Where Are Thou? (2000), The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), Tiptoes (2002), and Speed Dating (2010). He guest starred on episodes of such shows as Weird Science, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Just Shoot Me, My Name is Earl, Bones, et al.

Gale also worked as a stunt double, often for children, in such movies as Honey I Blew Up the Kid (1992),The Little Rascals (1994), Leprechaun III (1995), and Simon Birch (1998).

Around a decade ago, credits for Gale abruptly cease. Whether he stopped working for health reasons or for some other reason is not public knowledge. However, in 2023 some other bad news was made public. Mr. Gale was accused by a group of pedophile hunters known as The Creep Catchers of soliciting sex from minors. He was under investigation for those crimes at the time of his death. “Child’s Play”, indeed.

For more on performing Little People, please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville.