A Diminutive Man Who Became Full-grown
I REMEMBER the first time that I met Andrew; I was fascinated. Etched on his face was the wisdom of many years of world travel, intensive study and human experience. He spoke many languages and was a talented artist—both a painter and a sculptor. He was a renowned entertainer and actor. Remarkably, he stands only forty-three inches (109 centimeters) tall, one of the smallest people in the whole world.
Born in Port Arthur, Manchuria, in 1903, Andrew’s physical development halted when he was six years old, though mentally he was far above normal. His parents were poor peasant farmers who spent most of their time toiling in the fields. As the years passed, it became obvious that he would not grow up in a normal way.
At an early age his parents moved to Siberia, where his childhood memories were filled with lonely spaces in the great forests. The terrain was desolate, swept by cold winds and snow.
His parents were faced with the difficult decision of what to do with him. “My mother told me that she and my father did not have the time or resources to care for me properly and watch over me,” he said. “I was so tiny.”
So they decided to give Andrew up. They knew they could not afford to keep him. He required too much care, and the times were hard. In 1915, at the age of twelve, he was adopted by a couple with no children of their own.
“My stepmother had once wished that she could have a child who would never grow up.” Smiling, he said, “She got her wish.”
A Career Begins
Andrew’s new parents were Russian actors dedicated to the Shakespearean theater. Due to ill health, his stepfather was forced to leave the stage. So now he directed his attention to his son and started seeking other small persons to perform with him in order to establish a dramatic company. They came from many parts of the world, and were called Nicholas Ratoucheff’s “Famous Little Midgets.” They all were extraordinarily small.
In his spare time the young man devoted himself to painting, and his Russian landscapes, villages, forests and wildlife were both delicate and beautiful. His early paintings were based on childhood memories of the lonely, desolate Siberian landscape. Yet his portraits and still lifes revealed the influence of a sunny disposition and a philosophical mind.
A New Life in a New Land
Eventually, the Russian revolution in 1917 forced the family to leave their native land and they moved to Paris, which became their European base. From here the midget troupe toured the world, journeying from Europe to Asia and back. In 1922 Andrew’s stepfather bought a home in Paris for all the midgets. Shortly afterward the group found their way to the United States and embarked upon a career in vaudeville in New York.
As a singing, dancing and comedy troupe, they appeared in a variety of productions, playing to capacity audiences. They were featured in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1924. Andrew enjoyed his life because he was among others like himself.
After appearing on the Broadway stage for many years, he was faced with an important decision. His parents had died, and members of the company were returning to Europe. It was 1939, and he decided to stay in the United States. He became a citizen and settled on Long Island, New York.
His career now quickly changed, and he started performing as an individual. His talents became more diversified. He appeared with Talullah Bankhead in “Skin of Our Teeth,” and was featured in Olsen and Johnson’s “Hellzapoppin” for six years. His popularity zoomed.
Meanwhile, Andrew’s paintings were shown in galleries both in the United States and abroad, and he studied art on both continents. In Paris he studied at the Institute with Bonet and Kolesnikoff, and later in New York with Vastchiloff. His paintings were shown in the Galerie Nationale and the Institute D’Esthetique Contemporaine in Paris and in many of the New York galleries—where they were reviewed as “universally appealing and astonishing.”
His career spanned the stage, motion pictures, television, commercial advertising, fairs and circuses. Children’s programs were his specialty, and his elflike face and figure appeared on screens in millions of homes.
“I had reached the pinnacle or zenith of my potential as a performer,” he said.
Life Remained Without Purpose
Despite fame and success, he felt unfulfilled. “After the performances were over and the crowds had dispersed, I felt alone,” Andrew continued. “It did not seem lasting or rewarding.”
So many things in his life were frustrating—unnatural. Everything was fashioned for normal-sized people, and the little people seemed out of place. The life of a little person is vastly different from that of normal people. Everything in his home requires special consideration. The telephone is just three feet above floor level. Wooden benches are used to reach everything, and bookcases and high shelves require a ladder.
Children represent a constant hazard. Not realizing his age (now 73), they sometimes consider him a small child, and being pushed or shoved could be dangerous. Strangers opening their doors to him frequently do not see him. Often he has to say, “I’m down here!” They look down in astonishment.
But even more frustrating was the fact that while he was “cute, clever and entertaining,” no one ever took him seriously on subjects of concern and importance.
A Change in His Life
Andrew’s life changed one day in 1957 at a shopping center in Elmhurst, New York.
“A woman stopped me as I struggled with a huge bag of groceries and offered assistance. I observed that I had a lot of food for such a small person. She said, ‘Yes, you do. But do you have any spiritual food?’
“I had no particular religious beliefs at that time, and the question caused me to ponder a reply. ‘What do you mean, spiritual food?’ I asked her. That started an exchange of conversation which led me to a whole new way of life,” he said.
She introduced him to the Bible. After a comprehensive study program, he was determined to use the time and energy that he possessed to help others. He became a man devoted to Christian works and service, and was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses on January 1, 1958.
A Life of Christian Service
“Life was now rewarding to me,” he said, “and the greatest joy was in seeing other people respond and develop a hope for the future. The Bible holds out the only real hope for people living today.”
He appreciates the words of the apostle Paul when he said: “Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in cases of need, in persecutions and difficulties, for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.”—2 Cor. 12:10.
Andrew frequently discusses with others the bright prospects that God’s kingdom holds out to humankind—how it will eliminate all causes of suffering and imperfection and restore true peace to the earth. “Being a midget means being imperfect,” he says, “and it is a life that is unnatural—contrary to proper development. It is just one of the many imperfections and hardships that God’s kingdom will soon eliminate.”
Revelation 21:1-4 expresses his deepest feelings. There the apostle John describes this inspired vision: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more. . . . With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: ‘Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’”
Andrew’s days on the stage and before the camera are over, but his talents are not lost. He uses them daily in glorifying his Creator, Jehovah God, telling others about His purposes for the earth. He is ready to talk, to anyone who will listen, about the grand blessings God has in store for all who will serve Him.—1 John 2:17; Ps. 145:16.
“I am a very small man,” he said, with a wry grin. “But God does not look at outward appearances, as to how big or how small one is. People are not small because of stature,” he said, “but because they fail to appreciate spiritual things—develop spiritual insight. You are not mature until you are mature in this sense.”
Retired in Florida, this diligent worker is seen pedaling his three-wheel miniature bicycle through the streets of his neighborhood as he goes about making available to others the Bible’s promises and hopes. Andrew is small only in stature. In every other way, this diminutive man has become full-grown.