Josh Ryan Evans
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Joshua Ryan Evans (January 10, 1982 – August 5, 2002) was an actor who became known for his role of "Timmy" in the soap opera Passions. Though he was 17 years old when Passions debuted, Evans had the appearance and voice of a small child due to achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. [1] He was 3'2".
Evans also played the role of the young Grinch (Jim Carrey's character) in the 2000 Jim Carrey film Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. He also appeared as Tom Thumb in the A&E miniseries P.T. Barnum. He had notable guest spots on Ally McBeal as an attorney, on The WB's 7th Heaven, and on Poltergeist: The Legacy.
On Passions, Evans' character Timmy was a doll that the evil witch Tabitha Lenox brought to life with magic. During the course of the series, it was common for egregious bodily harm to befall Timmy, but the audience would see the character replaced with a stuffed doll at these times. It was understood that characters on the show always saw Timmy as a doll. Timmy loved Tabitha but rejected her evil ways. For this reason, an angel eventually granted Timmy's wish to be a living boy, whom Tabitha then claimed as the great-nephew upon whom she had based the design of her Timmy doll. (It was never made clear if the new, living Timmy was a young child or a teenager with dwarfism.) When Timmy went on a quest to save Charity from imprisonment in a block of ice, he and Charity were severely injured in a blast of magical energy. Because Timmy was now human, he died of his injuries, and his heart was transplanted into Charity, saving her life.
Evans' diminutive size caused him several health problems, and he underwent open heart surgery three times. He died following a severe complication from his last heart operation. Coincidently, the death scene which he had previously taped aired the same day that he died; the episode was dedicated to him. The character of Timmy was intended to become an angel and remain a presence on the show, but this entire storyline was quickly rewritten to excise the character (although one already-filmed scene was eventually aired, showing Timmy in Heaven, as a sort of coda).
Evans had two brothers, James and Timothy. Timothy died before Josh was born. James is 6'4"— exactly twice Josh's height.
