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Josh Ryan Evans' career was built on his size.
Born in Northern California in 1982, he spent his childhood recovering from one surgery after another to replace a heart valve. The fragile condition of his body was, in part, due to him being born with achondroplasia - a rare form of dwarfism that gave him the appearance and sound of a small child.
At his tallest, he reached 96.5 centimetres.
Most of Evans' days were filled with watching TV shows and movies, and playing board games.
"It was all I could do besides read books," he told the LA Times in 2000. "I thought, if it's all pretend, why can't I do that?"
By the age of 12, Evans decided to pursue acting.
Watch Josh Ryan Evans play the Young Grinch in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Post continues after video.
"I was feeling better. I realised my life was not going to be, per se, normal. I had already spent lots of time in the hospitals," he said.
Evans printed business cards referring to himself as "kid" and handed them out to anyone who might be an actor.
"My mum is really into musicals, so I would take her to musicals and go backstage and meet the actors," he recalled at the time. Eventually, his persistence paid off.