Josh Ryan Evans played the eight-year-old "Grinch". As a young child Evans was diagnosed with a form of dwarfism, which is why he was only 97 centimeters tall. In 1996 he had his first acting role in "Family Matters". He also appeared in "Ally McBeal" and "7th Heaven". Evans suffered from health problems throughout his life and had to undergo open-heart surgery three times. He died from complications resulting form the third of these operations in August 2002.