“It is with a heavy heart and a surprisingly light coffin (see what I did there?) that we announce the sudden passing of our uncle… Ed Gale has taken his final bow and is now headlining in the afterlife,” Kayse Gale posted on Facebook. “Ed hitched a ride to California when he was twenty years old, with $41 and a dream, and he never looked back. He lit up the silver screens in cult classic films like Howard The Duck and Chopper Chicks In Zombie Town, earning himself some serious street cred at every con he attended. Which he never stopped bragging about. Ever. Over the course of his career he appeared in over 130 movies, TV shows, and commercials. With this wide ranging body of work, he leaves behind legacy full of questionable lighting and amazing one-liners. Ed’s favorite role was that of the ‘fun uncle.’ His love language was sharing his love of the entertainment industry and the magic of Hollywood with his nieces.”
A Michigan native, Gale was born with dwarfism in 1963. After moving to Hollywood, he played the physical roles of Howard the Duck and Chucky in Child’s Play (both roles were voiced by other actors). He had roles in Spaceballs and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, as well as appearances on TV shows like 3rd Rock From The Sun, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, and My Name Is Earl. In 2023, he admitted to a child advocacy group that he had attempted to solicit sex from minors online, according to The Los Angeles Times. Gale was reportedly under investigation with the LAPD at the time of his death.
“Ed loved 7 eleven hotdogs with disgusting amounts of ketchup. He enjoyed reminiscing about his glory days DJing at the Plainwell roller rink. He hated Bill Maher for no good reason,” his niece wrote in her tribute on Facebook. “He delighted in the slow build up of telling a good story, and cheating at cribbage. He had one hell of a laugh, and he will be missed. Rest in love you cranky bastard.”
