Guy Big

{{Short description|Canadian actor}} {{about|the Canadian actor|the range of lorries known as Guy Big J|Guy Motors}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Use Canadian English|date=October 2012}} {{Infobox person | name = Guy Big | image = Guy Big (Actor).jpg | caption = | birth_name = Alan Herbert Hoffman | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1946|2|26}} | birth_place = Ebenezer, Saskatchewan<ref name=EncSk>{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/hoffman_alan_c1946-78.html | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan | title=Hoffman, Alan | publisher=University of Regina | accessdate=5 April 2008 }}</ref> | death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1978|5|2|1946|2|26}} | death_place = Toronto, Ontario | other_names = | occupation = Actor, social worker | years_active = 1970s | spouse = | partner = | website = | awards = }} '''Alan Herbert Hoffman''' (26 February 1946 – 2 May 1978),<ref name=TorStar>{{cite news | newspaper=Toronto Star | date=9 May 1978 | page=A15 | title='Guy Big', 32, had several acting roles (obituary) }}</ref> known by the stage name '''Guy Big''', was a Canadian actor. He was most noted for his role in the children's television series ''The Hilarious House of Frightenstein'' as the Midget Count,<ref name=chtv>{{cite web | title=Spacecast: The Hilarious House of Frightenstein | url=http://www.spacecast.com/shows_2680.aspx | publisher=Space |accessdate=13 May 2007 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070228160208/http://www.spacecast.com/shows_2680.aspx  |archivedate = 28 February 2007}} Select cast subpage for cast member details, including Guy Big.</ref> although he also appeared in the movie ''Find the Lady'' as Miniature Man, in the ''King of Kensington'' episode "Tiny's Job" as the character Tiny Russell, and a guest on ''The Tommy Hunter Show''. Before his death he filmed a television adaptation of Isaac Asimov's "The Ugly Little Boy" which aired in 1977 on TVOntario.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19771104&id=HNAyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2687,2810966 | title=Kate Reid wins Silver Star Award | newspaper=Ottawa Citizen | date=5 November 1977 | page=TV40 | accessdate=17 December 2011}}</ref>

Hoffman spent his childhood in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, then attended the University of Alberta. During his years in Toronto, he also became a social worker and earned a relevant degree at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. He had originally been slated to play the lead role of The Count in ''Hilarious House of Frightenstein'', as the original character concept had been based on the sight gag of a diminutive count contrasted against the height and weight of Fishka Rais as the Count's assistant Igor; however, as a novice actor Big struggled with the Count's accent, so a new role was written for him as the Midget Count while the role of the main Count was given to Billy Van.<ref name=crouse>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5l8rht6Sss "Mitch Markowitz on the Hilarious House of Frightenstein"]. RichardCrouse.ca, 26 October 2013.</ref>

He died aged 32 in Toronto from an unspecified cause, although he was reportedly treated for throat cancer in 1977.<ref name=TorStar />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|name=Guy Big|id=0081699}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big, Guy}} Category:1946 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Canadian male television actors Category:Male actors from Saskatchewan Category:People from Yorkton Category:Toronto Metropolitan University alumni Category:University of Alberta alumni Category:Actors with dwarfism Category:20th-century Canadian male actors