Who played the alien "Alf" and how the 83 cm tall actor became famous all over the world. Photo.

Mihai Meszaros was an American actor and circus performer of Hungarian descent, whose face is unknown to many. However, the character he portrayed on screen needs no introduction - a friendly alien named Alf from the comedy series of the same name. At that time, in the late 1980s, computer graphics were not yet so widespread, so a real person had to play the alien covered with long red hair.

The difficulty was that Alf, although a 229-year-old creature, was the height of a child. Mesaros was perfect for the role, as he was no more than 83 centimeters tall as an adult. OBOZREVATEL decided to tell you how the midget actor became famous all over the world (to see photos and videos, scroll to the bottom of the page).

Meszaros was born on September 20, 1939 in Budapest, Hungary. As a child, he began working as a circus performer and performed at the Hungarian National Circus until 1980.

For a long time, Meszaros was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the smallest person on the planet. The shortest street in Horton, California, USA, was even named in his honor.

Alf ran for four seasons between 1986 and 1990 and was broadcast in 80 countries. In total, viewers watched 102 episodes. However, it's worth noting that not all episodes featured Mesaros playing the alien. Filming with a live actor was too expensive and time-consuming, so the project authors soon switched to a puppet, directed and voiced by the series creator Paul Fusco.

According to the story, Alf lived with the Tanner family in California, where he came after the destruction of his planet Melmac. It was the earthlings who nicknamed the alien Alf, from the English Alien Life Form. The real name of the funny character is Gordon Shumway. The episodes about how he tried to adapt to life among people were enjoyed by millions of viewers around the world.

As for Mesarosh, he was not as popular as his character. And Alf is not the only role in the actor's filmography. He also starred in the following projects: "Shorty the Big Shot, Freaks, The Conjuring: Armageddon" and others. The main thing that the artist managed to do is to become an inspiring example for thousands of his fans and proof that appearance does not matter with a great desire and hard work.

The 83-centimeter tall actor died on June 14, 2016, at the age of 76. He was found unconscious at his home and was immediately hospitalized. Mesaros spent about a week after that in a coma, but never regained consciousness. It is known that in the last years of his life, the performer of the iconic role was seriously ill and did not work.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote about the world's shortest model. Drew Presta was born with achondroplasia, which manifests itself in dwarfism, in the small town of Reno in Nevada, USA. Because of her height, she was bullied by her peers. Today, however, Drew is a successful model and blogger who has managed to prove to the world that nothing is impossible.

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