The Sad Saga of the Other David Steinberg

I say “the other” because the better known David Steinberg was a Canadian stand-up comedian who was popular in the 1970s. The one who concerns us today was David J. Steinberg (1965-2010).

This David Steinberg was a Little Person actor who stood just over three feet tall, and was raised in Queens by adoptive parents were also Little People. His profile was quite a bit unlike most others of his body type who wind up in show business. Most who choose a career in the biz go directly into film and television. Steinberg actually had a college education and did quite a bit of live theatre at places like the Guthrie and Joe Papp’s New York Shakespeare Festival. He toured with a production of The Wizard of Oz, and was in Baz Luhrman’s live production of the opera La Boheme.

Steinberg’s best known screen credit was in the 1988 film Willow, as the best friend of the title character. Unlike Warwick Davis though, he did not work extensively in films following that appearance. He also had small roles in The Hebrew Hammer (2003), Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006), and Epic Movie (2007, as an Oompa-Loompa). He had guest shots on TV shows like The Equalizer and Ugly Betty. In 2008 he appeared in Warwick Davis’s spy spoof Agent One Half.

From what I can gather, Steinberg was a widely loved character, popular at his local bar, and a garrulous storyteller. He was vehemently self-reliant, he didn’t want special favors or treatment, and this attitude manifested itself politically (he was a Republican). He voiced his desire to be taken seriously as an actor, having been trained in the art form. But you see the kind of roles he got. His last part was in a low-budget independent horror spoof called Translymania (2009).

Then, sadly, in March, 2010, Steinberg hanged himself. It would be presumptuous to speculate as to motive. I’ll point out though that it seems pretty rare for small-statured actors to die by suicide. Verne Troyer is the only one who springs to mind at the moment, and that is debatable. There seems to be plenty of work for actors of this rare type, though it’s not all dignified by a long way. Just a few months after he passed though they’d be casting for Game of Thrones, which may have altered the landscape some for Little People in terms of public perception. But, like I say, who knows? A life is more than a career. It may have been something else that triggered his sad act. The world can be cruel on many fronts.

You’ll find a very nice tribute to Steinberg by his friends here.

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