Cousin Itt, Felix Silla pases at 84

silla
Cousin ITT – Actor Felix Silla

The original 1960’s Addams Family lost their beloved, gibberish speaking, exceptionally hairy Cousin Itt. Felix Silla passed on April 16, 2021 from pancreatic cancer at age 84 in Las Vegas, according to a tweet from Gil Gerard, who co-starred with him on the 1979-81 NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

“Felix died just a few hours ago and the only good I can draw from his passing is that he didn’t suffer any longer. I will miss him terribly, especially the great time we had at our panels. Just him telling me to ,” go ‘ f ‘ myself”.



To achieve his unique look, Silla donned a full-body hairpiece, sunglasses and a bowler hat while playing Cousin Itt, who could only be understood by members of the Addams Family, thanks to his strange trilling.

Silla’s face went unseen in many roles, including appearances as robot Twiki on Buck Rogers and as a hang-gliding Ewok in Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, however Silla showed his face as the maniacal, miniature Hitler named Litvak, who took on George Segal’s Sam Spade Jr. in The Maltese Falcon sequel The Black Bird (1975).

Born in Italy on January 11, 1937, He came to the US in 1955 and toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a trapeze artist and tumbler. He came to Hollywood in 1962 and worked as a stuntman.

Silla was just under 4 feet tall and weighed 70 pounds. His skills and slight stature led to a number of roles, including the Gig Young-Shirley Jones comedy film A Ticklish Affair, the Bonanza episode Hoss and the Leprechauns, and in the Star Trek pilot The Cage in 1965.

He later appeared in Planet of the Apes (1968), Demon Seed (1977) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). He did stunt work in a number of big pictures, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, The Golden Child and Batman Returns (1992), just to name a few. 

He appeared regularly on the Children’s TV shows H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville and Silla provided the voice of Mortimer Goth in The Sims 2, the best-selling video game in 2005

Silla debuted on The Addams Family in 1965 in an episode where a zookeeper wanted to put him in a cage. The character was created by a producer and was not in the Charles Addams cartoons that were the inspiration for the TV series. Cousin Itt’s voice was also not Silla, instead, it was provided by sound engineer Tony Magro in post-production.

He went on to appear as Cousin Itt 17 times on the show, which became a fan favorite largely in its endless syndication run.

He is survived by his wife, Sue, whom he married in 1965, and their children, Bonnie and Michael. No memorial plans have been announced at this time.

silla
Cousin ITT – Actor Felix Silla

The original 1960’s Addams Family lost their beloved, gibberish speaking, exceptionally hairy Cousin Itt. Felix Silla passed on April 16, 2021 from pancreatic cancer at age 84 in Las Vegas, according to a tweet from Gil Gerard, who co-starred with him on the 1979-81 NBC series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.

“Felix died just a few hours ago and the only good I can draw from his passing is that he didn’t suffer any longer. I will miss him terribly, especially the great time we had at our panels. Just him telling me to ,” go ‘ f ‘ myself”.



To achieve his unique look, Silla donned a full-body hairpiece, sunglasses and a bowler hat while playing Cousin Itt, who could only be understood by members of the Addams Family, thanks to his strange trilling.

Silla’s face went unseen in many roles, including appearances as robot Twiki on Buck Rogers and as a hang-gliding Ewok in Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, however Silla showed his face as the maniacal, miniature Hitler named Litvak, who took on George Segal’s Sam Spade Jr. in The Maltese Falcon sequel The Black Bird (1975).

Born in Italy on January 11, 1937, He came to the US in 1955 and toured with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus as a trapeze artist and tumbler. He came to Hollywood in 1962 and worked as a stuntman.

Silla was just under 4 feet tall and weighed 70 pounds. His skills and slight stature led to a number of roles, including the Gig Young-Shirley Jones comedy film A Ticklish Affair, the Bonanza episode Hoss and the Leprechauns, and in the Star Trek pilot The Cage in 1965.

He later appeared in Planet of the Apes (1968), Demon Seed (1977) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). He did stunt work in a number of big pictures, including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, The Golden Child and Batman Returns (1992), just to name a few. 

He appeared regularly on the Children’s TV shows H.R. Pufnstuf and Lidsville and Silla provided the voice of Mortimer Goth in The Sims 2, the best-selling video game in 2005

Silla debuted on The Addams Family in 1965 in an episode where a zookeeper wanted to put him in a cage. The character was created by a producer and was not in the Charles Addams cartoons that were the inspiration for the TV series. Cousin Itt’s voice was also not Silla, instead, it was provided by sound engineer Tony Magro in post-production.

He went on to appear as Cousin Itt 17 times on the show, which became a fan favorite largely in its endless syndication run.

He is survived by his wife, Sue, whom he married in 1965, and their children, Bonnie and Michael. No memorial plans have been announced at this time.