Luigi Francis Shorty Rossi

Shorty, grew up in two different worlds - one a middle/upper-class almost completely white suburban neighborhood of Los Angeles with his dwarf parents and the other in Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects in Watts, a section of South Central Los Angeles, where he lived with a family friend to avoid conflict at home. By the age of 15, Shorty was living on his own. When he was 18 years old, he was involved in a gang-related shooting and convicted of several felonies. He was sent to a youth facility and later to Folsom State Prison to serve a total sentence of 10 years, 10 months and 10 days. While in prison, Shorty turned his life around, and by the time he was released, he was determined to make something better out of his life. Looking to make a fresh start, Shorty turned to entertainment jobs and soon learned he could earn lucrative gigs as a little person. Shorty landed his first job in show business at Universal Studios Hollywood as "Alvin" for an Alvin and the Chipmunks stage show.