Ian Michael Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1987-05-05)May 5, 1987 (age 37) Elmhurst, Illinois, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor,Software engineer |
| Height | 3 ft 1 in (0.94 m) |
Ian Michael Smith (born May 5, 1987) is a formerAmerican actor, known for his sole starring role inSimon Birch.[1][2]
His short physical stature (3 ft 1 in (0.94 m)) is a result ofMorquio syndrome,[3] a rare enzymatic disorder affecting the circulatory, muscular and skeletal systems.
Smith was born inElmhurst, Illinois. A Chicago-area hospital worker approached his parents about him auditioning for the leading role inThe Mighty, a feature film about a character with Morquio Syndrome.Kieran Culkin was cast instead, but Smith was recommended for the title role ofSimon Birch (1998), a film based loosely on John Irving's novelA Prayer for Owen Meany, which also called for a small child actor.
He graduated fromYork Community High School in Elmhurst in 2005. He has undergone several operations including aspinal fusion and two bilateral osteotomies. He graduated from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, andGallaudet University in 2012 and now works as a software engineer. He is a co-founder of a nonprofit organization, Project Alloy, that gives assistance to underrepresented people in tech fields.[4][5] In 2019, he joined a class action lawsuit against the City of Oakland for excluding people with disabilities from the city’s rent control program.[6][7]
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