The Untold Story of Michael Dunn, ‘The Wild Wild West’s Dr. Loveless
What To Know
- Michael Dunn, who played the iconic villain Dr. Loveless on The Wild Wild West, was a talented actor whose compelling backstory and performance often outshone the show’s leads.
- Born with dwarfism, Dunn was a child prodigy who entered university at 15, excelled in music, and formed a successful nightclub act with singer Phoebe Dorin, who later co-starred with him on the show.
- Dunn was admired for his courage and kindness, notably saving Dorin from a dangerous on-set accident and inspiring countless children facing similar challenges through his personal outreach and example.
The Wild Wild West is one of those shows that just defies description, and trying to explain the premise causes many to dismiss it, thinking that the show is too silly and not worth their time. But those that haven’t seen this crazy show starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin as U.S. Secret Service agents during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant are really missing out. However, as good as the actors who played James West and Artemus Gordon were, Michael Dunn — who played their arch-nemesis, a crazy and utterly insane genius named Dr. Miguelito Loveless — was even better
As with any really good bad guy, he had a great backstory. His family had been taken advantage of by the U.S. government … or so he felt. Land that was destined to belong to the Loveless family was lost when California was granted statehood. Over the course of 10 episodes across four seasons, Dr. Loveless did his very best to exact sweet revenge — and of course, these efforts were always thwarted by Jim and Artie.
The surprising story of how Michael Dunn began his acting career
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Now with all that said, the story of the actor who played this fan-favorite villain is every bit as interesting as any episode of the show. From a very young age, Michael (born Gary Miller) was something of a child prodigy. Born with dwarfism, Michael never let that affect how he saw himself. Of course, much of that had to do with very supportive parents, but it was also his infectious smile, the way he embraced life, his willingness to laugh at adversity, and never, ever let anything slow him down.
And while he may not have been a genius at the same level as Dr. Loveless, Michael was incredibly smart, learning to read and starting to play piano at a very early age, somewhere around the age of three.
According to The New York Times, Michael “was especially bright and unusually talented. He entered the University of Michigan at 15 and moved to the University of Miami when his illness required a warmer climate.”
However, somewhere along the way, academics proved less exciting for Michael, especially after meeting singer Phoebe Dorin. The two began performing together and eventually started a nightclub act of songs mixed with conversational patter titled “Michael Dunn and Phoebe.” When Michael was cast as Dr. Loveless, it only made sense that Phoebe would join him as Dr. Loveless’ devoted assistant, Antoinette.
Michael Dunn’s time on TV
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According to Phoebe, Michael saved her from drowning during the filming of an episode titled “The Night of the Murderous Spring.” When her costume became entangled in machinery used to sink a boat on the set, Michael plunged underwater to tear her free. Maybe she could have broken free on her own, but whether or not it was truly a life-or-death situation for her isn’t really the point. What is the point is that Michael didn’t pause for a second to think about his size or whether or not he had the strength to save her. He just knew that he had to act.
There were other memorable television performances by Michael outside of The Wild Wild West. One of my favorites was on the original Star Trek TV series in an episode titled “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Aside from Michael’s great performance as a court jester, this episode is also notable for Kirk and Uhura’s kiss. Not much of a big deal now, but way back then, that simple act of interracial affection was pretty darn controversial.
Everett Collection
Over the years, Michael would get hundreds of letters from children who were dealing with similar challenges to his own.
In 2023, Bill Schmidt writing on his blog OnWord shared something that Phoebe had said about Michael years earlier. Talking about the children, she said “They would write to him and tell him how lonely they were, and they wanted to die…and he would write to them, and he would even go to see some of them.”
Sadly, on August 30th, 1973, Michael died in his sleep while filming a movie in London at the age of 38. Due to his dwarfism, he had a distorted rib cage that restricted his lung growth and function; the resulting respiratory insufficiency caused an overload of his heart’s right chamber. His life was a short one, but it was meaningful in that he brought joy to everyone that he ever came in contact with. And for those of us who only knew him through our TV screens, it’s good to know that there was so much more to this man than the villainous character that he played to perfection on The Wild Wild West.
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