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Show BHHHBBBBBBJMaBBHBBBaBBBaBaaaaBlBBBaaaaF c V" y'.i I Buck's tiny pal In the tradition of Robby the Robot from 'Forbidden Planet' and C3PO from 'Star Wars,' Felix Silla stars as Twiki, Buck Rogers' robotic pal, in NBC-TV's hit series 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.' Felix doesn't even mind that his face isn't seen on screen every week. Once he's inside the Twiki costume, his metallic appearance hides the real Felix Silla. "I'm used to that," explains Felix, "from when I starred as Cousin Itt on 'The Addams Family,' the walking ball of hair that was so funny on that series. I was also an ape in 'Planet of the Apes,' so I'm accustomed to being on screen but not being seen." Felix was born in a small town outside Rome, and trained for many years as a circus performer. He emigrated to the United States in 1955 and toured the country with the Ringling Brothers and Bamum & Bailey Circus. "I rode bareback, clowned, swung on the trapeze and did practically everything there is to do in thd circus." Two of Felix's most memorable performances were in 'Little Cigars,' in which he played a member of a gang of tiny thieves. In 'The Black Bird' with George Segal, Felix played an evil diminutive Nazi. Felix says wearing the Twiki costume is like wearing a suit of armor. "The outside 'metal' parts come in seven fiberglass pieces which weigh seven or eight pounds total. It's very light, and it takes five to ten minutes to snap the sections together." When he's not -on the set of 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,' Felix is home with his wife, Suson, a Burbank, Calif, schoolteacher, and their children (Bonnie is 12 and Michael is 5). Felix relaxes with photography and leathercrafting, and he's formed his own band The Original Harmonica Band, which has played Las Vegas and Reno. tv comnKoc stavicn, iwc |