Actor Ed Gale, 61, died in Los Angeles on May 27. At 3’ 4” tall, Gale knew he was never going to be a leading man, but, he said, “at the age of 20, I left my home in Plainwell, Michigan, with $41 in my pocket and hitched a ride to California. I always knew in my heart that I would become an actor in Hollywood—I just wasn't sure how. I never dreamed of being a movie star. I always dreamed of being a steady working actor in Hollywood.” His first role was as the title character in the notorious flop Howard the Duck (“Howard was my very first. He will always hold a special place in my memories and on my resume”). Gale went on to appear (too often in “human punchline” roles) in Spaceballs (“Mel Brooks was exactly as you would imagine him, exactly as you see him on TV and the big screen: a kind, genuine, sincere, funny, and extremely brilliant human being”), Child’s Play (as Chucky), Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Land of the Lost, Baywatch, Tad (as Tom Thumb), 3rd Rock from the Sun, Weird Science, Just Shoot Me!, My Name is Earl, and others.
