He is best known for his roles as the evil henchman Nick Nack in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun and as Mr. Roarke's assistant, Tattoo, on the American television series Fantasy Island that he played from 1977 to 1983.

[4][5] The youngest of four sons,[5] Villechaize was born with dwarfism, likely due to an endocrine disorder, which his surgeon father tried unsuccessfully to cure in several institutions.

[6] In later years, he insisted on being called a "midget" rather than a "dwarf",[5] which annoyed his acting contemporary with a similar condition, Billy Barty, who was an activist who found that term derogatory.

He began acting in Off-Broadway productions, including Werner Liepolt's The Young Master Dante and a play by Sam Shepard, and he also modelled for photos for National Lampoon before moving on to film.

Villechaize's big break was being cast in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), by which time he had become so poor that he was living in his car in Los Angeles.

Prior to being signed by Bond producer Albert R. Broccoli, he made ends meet by working as a rat catcher's assistant near his South Central home.

In 1980, Cleveland International Records released a single by the Children of the World, featuring Villechaize as vocalist: "Why", with B-side "When a Child Is Born".

Villechaize also starred in the movie Forbidden Zone (1980), and appeared in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), and episodes of Diff'rent Strokes and Taxi.

In the 1980s, he became popular in Spain due to his impersonations of Prime Minister Felipe González on the television show Viaje con nosotros (Travel with Us), with showman Javier Gurruchaga.

[5] In the early morning hours of September 4, 1993, at his North Hollywood home, Villechaize, aged 50, is believed to have first fired a shot through the sliding-glass patio door to awaken his longtime girlfriend, Kathy Self, before shooting himself.

[19] The film My Dinner with Hervé,[20] which is based on the last few days of Villechaize's life, stars Peter Dinklage in the title role,[21] and premiered on HBO on October 20, 2018.