Actor Felix Silla has passed away at the age of 84 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, the sad news was confirmed by Silla's long-time friend Gil Gerard, who was also the late actor's co-star on the NBC series Buck Rogers In The 25th Century.
Taking to Twitter on Friday (April 16), Gerard wrote: "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 most, Silla will be remembered best for his portrayal as the lovable Cousin Itt in the 1960s ABC comedy The Addams Family.
Cousin Itt was instantly recognizable thanks to his floor-length hair - and was brought to life thanks to Silla's memorable performance.
Hours prior to Silla's passing, Gerard told fans on Twitter: "It is with a heavy heart that I tell you all that my dear friend of over forty years, Felix Silla, is dying of pancreatic cancer. I spoke briefly with him and his family last night and they tell me that he’s going into hospice care today. Prayers."
Silla stood just shy of 4 feet tall, and first appeared in The Addams Family back in 1965, in the show's 20th episode, in which a zookeeper mistakes Cousin Itt for a wild animal and wants to cage him.
In an interview with the LA Times back in 2014, Silla revealed that his Cousin Itt costume was originally made out of human hair - which led to several fire hazard issues.
"All the guys on the set smoked," he recalled. "They just dropped their butts and stepped on them. The producers worried that I might step on a smoldering cigarette and go up in flames. They gave me synthetic hair, which was flame-retardant."
The actor will also be remembered by die-hard Star Wars fans for his role as the hang-gliding Ewok in Return Of The Jedi.
Some of his other notable roles include the robot sidekick Twiki on Buck Rogers and the maniacal Litvak in The Black Bird.
According to the Metro, Silla was also a trained stuntman - and performed stunt work in The Towering Inferno, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, Howard the Duck, Batman Returns, and many more.
He is survived by his wife, Sue, whom he married in 1965, and their two daughters, Bonnie and Diana. Their son, Michael, passed away back in 2020.
Our thoughts are with his family, friends, and fans at this time.
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