<i> Actor Shows Pupils What Stature Means </i>

Last year, while still in first grade at Telfair Elementary in Pacoima, 8-year-old Gabriel Pimentel told his mother that he didn’t want to go to school anymore.

The 2 1/2-foot-tall Pacoima boy complained that his schoolmates treated him as if he were a toy. Some would pick him up and try to throw him. Others would pat him on the head or tease him about going to work in the circus.

And the abuse has continued for Gabriel, now in the second grade, who has fought back by kicking and hitting, said John Hall, his school counselor. Sometimes, Gabriel has felt lonely and confused, said his mother, Maria Vega. And his school attendance has suffered.

But, on Wednesday, a beaming Gabriel--who stands a foot shorter than his fellow classmates--said he felt like a movie star. He seemed to have forgotten about the taunts and basked in the glory of his new-found friend, actor Billy Barty.

Barty, a well-known television and screen actor-comedian, had come to the school for National Handicap Awareness Week to talk about what it is like to be little.

“Little people are just like everybody else,” said Barty, who stands 3 feet, 9 inches. “Because they’re small, we shouldn’t pat them on the head and baby them.”

Barty, who founded Little People of America in 1957, spoke at the school at Hall’s request. The counselor was concerned that Gabriel, the only dwarf among the 1,480 students at the school, would not have a role model. He was also worried about the teasing Gabriel has had to endure.

Barty had met Gabriel through Hall last year and invited the boy and his mother to the premiere of “Rumpelstiltskin,” a movie in which he was starring.

“Ever since he met Billy Barty, it’s made a lot of difference. He feels very happy and important,” Vega said. “Even if the kids tease him, he feels OK now.”

On Wednesday, Barty, 63, advised students to “treat people like people. This is very important because there’s a lot of different kinds of people in the world.”

The actor said there are 1.5 million little people in the United States and 200 types of dwarfism. He noted that he and Gabriel share the same kind of dwarfism, cartilage-hair hypoplasia.

Children Entertained

Barty, a self-described “ham,” entertained the children by growling, dancing and singing. But, most of all, he patiently answered questions like, “Can you drive a car?” “Do you have a family?” “Can you swim?” and “Why are your feet twisted?”

Barty responded with patience and humor.

“Little people can do almost anything that big people do,” he said. “If you have to reach something, you get a chair or a ladder, right? We do the same thing, only we get a bigger chair or a longer ladder.”

Barty explained how he manages tasks that are difficult for a little person. He drives a Dodge with extensions on the pedals and rides a small-frame Schwinn bicycle.

He talked about the myriad jobs that little people have mastered, about little people who have become accomplished pilots or famous painters.

The students seemed to catch on.

“I learned to be kind to short people today,” said student Cecilia Ballejos. “They have feelings like us, too.”

“Gabriel’s the same as me,” said 7-year-old Richard Aldana. “He’s my friend.”

Playground Flip

As the students filed past Barty, they called his name and clamored to shake his hand.

Meanwhile, Gabriel, a brown-eyed boy dressed in a tiny beige Lacoste shirt, gray sweat pants and tennis shoes, stood close to Barty whenever he could. He did a back flip on the playground for Barty’s benefit and spoke about becoming a police detective--”a narc”--and driving a red Ferrari when he grows up.

Just as it was time for Barty to leave, the actor reached out and tousled Gabriel’s wispy blond hair, then abruptly stopped.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to do that,” Barty said, his brow wrinkling. “See the mistake I made.”

But Gabriel didn’t seem to mind this time. The two shook hands, and then Gabriel put his arms around Barty and hugged him.