Lee Arenberg: The World’s Greatest Dwarf-Pirate
You might remember that Grumpy was the name of one of Snow White’s Seven Dwarf friends in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). And all throughout the film, Grumpy despises Snow White and the fact the she “invades” his and his brothers’ cottage. For all he knows, she’s really the Evil Queen in disguise and could wreak her “vengeance” on them at any time. But…he warms up to Snow White when she is on the verge of death (thanks to the real Evil Queen’s poisoned apple, only to be awoken by “True Love’s Kiss.”) In the film he was voiced by Pinto Colvig, who also voiced Sleepy, and provided the hiccup noises for Dopey. Since Colvig’s original voice-over performance, Grumpy has been reincarnated many times in animation and live-action for Disney, and for the last six seasons, Grumpy the Dwarf (who is known as Leroy the Miner in Storybrooke, Maine) has been brilliantly portrayed by Lee Arenberg, on ABC’s Once Upon a Time (2011-present). Besides Grumpy, however, Lee Arenberg has an intriguing history with the studio.
Lee Arenberg played Pintel in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). (You’ll recognize one of his big moments in “Pirates”-he greets Kiera Knightley’s character with “Hello, Puppet!”). Arenberg reprised that role for the first two sequels in the “Pirates” franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), along with Mackenzie Crook who played Ragetti, the pirate with the glass eye. Arenberg also acted in the Hollywood Pictures film, V.I. Warshawski (1991), reprised the role of Grumpy in the “Once Upon a Time,” spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013-2014), appeared in an episode of the Disney Channel Original Series, Good Luck Charlie (2010-2014), and played Pintel again in the Disney video game, Disney INFINITY (2013).
I had the rare privilege of getting to meet Mr. Arenberg at a recent “Once Upon a Time,” Convention in Chicago, IL and he was there. Along with several other members of the cast, he signed autographs, participated in the Q&A Panels, and entertained with music. At one point, he performed his famous “Hello Puppet” line for the entire audience and played his harmonica (which was quite remarkable!) and acknowledged that he had had good experiences making both “Once,” and “Pirates.” He and fellow cast mate, Michael Coleman (who plays Happy the Dwarf) both also talked about how they’re both hoping to return to season seven of “Once” with the other dwarfs.
Lee Arenberg will forever be remembered as Pintel the Pirate in the “Pirates of the Caribbean,” series and as Grumpy/Leroy in “Once Upon a Time.” His performance as Grumpy is a most modern portrayal of the character, but when you see him on your television screen, you really can’t think of anyone else in the part. What the writers/producers of “Once,” have in-store for the Dwarfs in season seven remains to be seen, but whatever it is, the actors who play their characters, especially Lee Arenberg, will most certainly be worth-watching.
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