E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is one of the most beloved films in cinema history — a timeless story of friendship, wonder, and childhood innocence. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison, the movie tells the story of a gentle alien who becomes stranded on Earth and befriends a young boy named Elliott, played by Henry Thomas. Alongside his siblings Michael (Robert MacNaughton) and Gertie (a young Drew Barrymore), Elliott hides and protects the alien, whom he names E.T., from government agents while trying to help him “phone home.”
Carlo Rambaldi, who designed the aliens for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was hired to design the animatronics for E.T. Rambaldi’s own painting Women of Delta led him to give the creature a unique, extendable neck. Its face was inspired by those of Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and Ernest Hemingway.
In the film, the character E.T. was physically portrayed by three actors: Pat Bilon and Tamara De Treaux, both under 3-feet (91-cm) tall, as well as 12-year-old Matthew DeMeritt, who was born without legs.
Pat Bilon (1947–1983)
Pat Bilon was the primary performer inside the E.T. suit for much of the film. Standing 2'10", he was a deeply thoughtful actor and motivational speaker from Ohio. Bilon had an extraordinary sense of movement and timing that made E.T. seem alive in scenes like the kitchen exploration and walking through the forest.
He worked closely with Rambaldi’s team to understand how to move within the mechanical body, which had dozens of cables and servos controlling E.T.’s eyes, neck, and fingers.
Spielberg praised him for capturing E.T.’s “innocence and wonder.” Bilon reportedly lost weight from the intense heat inside the costume and described the experience as “physically draining but spiritually uplifting.”
Sadly, he passed away less than a year after the film’s release, at age 35, before fully seeing how beloved E.T. had become.
Tamara De Treaux (1959–1990)
Tamara De Treaux was a 2'7" actress and stunt performer from California. She wore one of the specialized E.T. suits designed for scenes requiring E.T. to walk or interact with Elliot and Gertie.
De Treaux had to operate inside the heavy, rubberized costume with limited visibility and airflow, performing E.T.’s gentle waddles and curious gestures. Spielberg was impressed by her ability to make E.T. feel childlike and emotionally expressive through movement.
She later joked that she was “the woman behind the alien,” and she often said that the role was both magical and exhausting—she could only work inside the costume for a few minutes at a time before overheating.
Outside E.T., she appeared in Under the Rainbow (1981) and even became friends with author Armistead Maupin, who based a character in Tales of the City partly on her.
Matthew DeMeritt (1970)
Matthew DeMeritt was a 12-year-old boy born without legs. He played E.T. in scenes where the alien needed to walk on his hands, such as when E.T. stumbles through the kitchen wrapped in a towel.
DeMeritt only got the role because of a chance physical therapy casting call in California. Spielberg’s team measured him and filmed him walking on his hands, though even Matthew later recalled thinking, “I’d never demonstrated... walking on my hands... how they could think I could fit inside a costume... but it kind of worked out that way.”
His physical ability gave the character a realistic, slightly clumsy gait that fit E.T.’s awkward charm perfectly. Spielberg personally chose DeMeritt for his agility and cheerful spirit, and the boy’s mother often said he came home every day covered in sweat but thrilled to “be the alien everyone loved.” DeMeritt recalled Spielberg regularly checking in on his safety: “Spielberg came up to me and asked if I was all right… ‘Is there any way you could just walk straight into that cabinet… fall smack on your face?’”
Today, Matthew DeMeritt is the only living actor to have donned the E.T. suit. His contribution remained largely uncelebrated until anniversary screenings and fan retrospectives brought him back into the spotlight.
E.T. was a true hybrid of puppetry, animatronics, and human performance. The animatronic head and hands provided emotional nuance. The actors in suits gave him believable movement. Spielberg’s direction stitched those elements together with empathy and timing.
Together, De Treaux, Bilon, and DeMeritt helped create one of cinema’s most beloved characters—so lifelike that audiences forgot it wasn’t real. As Spielberg once said: “There were many E.T.s, but only one spirit—and it came from the people inside.”
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