Matthew Roloff
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matthew Roloff (b. 1961), is an author, actor, farmer, and businessman, best known for appearing with his family in the reality television program Little People, Big World seen on TLC. Roloff is a dwarf, or little person, as is his wife Amy and one of his four children.
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[edit] Family
The Roloff family includes Matt, his wife Amy, also a little person, and four children: fraternal twins Jeremy and Zach (born 1990), Molly (born 1993), and Jacob (born 1996). Both Amy and Zach are little people; Matt has diastrophic dysplasia, while Amy and Zach have achondroplasia. The rest of the children are average size.
[edit] Career
Roloff had a relatively lucrative career as a software salesman in the 1990s, enabling him to purchase the 34 acre farm on which the family lives. After being laid off, he has embarked on a number of business ventures in an effort to try to make a living from his investment in the farm.
On Little People, Big World he is shown running the business he co-founded, Direct Access Solutions, a company that provides accessiblity products for little people to the hospitality industry.
The family's 34-acre farm outside Portland, Oregon also serves as a business venture. It includes a farm, an Old West town, a pirate ship and other attractions, some of which are open to the public.
At the end of the first season on Little People, Big World, Roloff again took a job in computer sales. It appears, however, that he decided to give that job up after a short time to devote full-time to the farm.
The Roloffs also receive compensation from TLC for participating in the reality series, though the exact amount is not revealed. Despite financial struggle being a constant theme of the program, the last episode of the first season dealt with a major renovation of the kitchen in the family's home.
In 1999, Roloff authored the book Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World.
Little People, Big World has been renewed for a second season. Episodes began airing on October 7, 2006. So far, Matt has arranged for cleanup crews, a new grill, a new deck for the new addition, a trip to Hawaii (3 episodes) and trips to Milwaukee (at least 2 episodes).
[edit] Acting roles
Roloff played an ewok in the Star Wars movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor.
[edit] Books
Roloff, Matt & Summer, Tracy (1999). "Against Tall Odds: Being a David in a Goliath World" Multnomah Publishing. ISBN 1-57673-583-4.
[edit] External links
- Roloff family official web site
- Little People, Big World official web site
- Matt's book "Against Tall Odds" is available from Amazon.com through Ideascape, Inc.
- Matthew Roloff at the Internet Movie Database
- Direct Access Solutions
- http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net/MattRoloff.html
- A Dream Lives in a Grand Design The New York Times, September 30, 1999