Controversial German variety act The Short Man With Long Socks – Der kleine Mann mit langen Socken – yesterday reportedly died in a weather-related accident in Trondheim. He was little-known outside Germany and Scandinavia, but became a cult there in the 1990s. The act was silent but was not, in the traditional sense, a mime act.
His fame arguably peaked after two appearances in 2001 – at Leipzig club Bimbo Town and at the International Mime Festival in Moers, where he failed to be nominated for the Best Show Award as the jury decided he was no so much performing a show as “just standing looking at the audience for 55 minutes”.
The act was started in the 1980s on German TV’s “Vier gegen Willi”, a bizarre variety show which was co-presented by a hamster.
The real name of the man who performed as Der kleine Mann mit langen Socken was never revealed and Trondheim police say they continue to investigate what happened and who he was.