// BBC ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS — MODA & SOCIETÀ
Oompa Loompa, doompety done: Actor takes final bow
Rusty Goffe is playing an Oompa Loompa for the final time — 55 years after his debut in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
An original Oompa Loompa actor from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory has retired after reprising the role one final time.
Rusty Goffe began his film career in the Gene Wilder movie, before later appearing in the original Star Wars, the Harry Potter films and Doctor Who.
Last year, Netflix flew the 77-year-old from his home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, to Brisbane, Australia, where he once again donned a green wig and overalls for the TV competition Wonka's The Golden Ticket.
He said: "I started on Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, and now Wonka's The Golden Ticket is my swan song. I've just ended my career on Willy Wonka. Isn't that wonderful?"
Goffe (facing the camera on the left) appeared in the 1971 film based on Roald Dahl's book, which starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka
The 1971 film was the first screen adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, written by Roald Dahl at his home in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
It followed Charlie Bucket, a child who is one of five winners who find "golden tickets" inside a Wonka bar and are invited to tour the mysterious chocolate factory run by the eccentric Willy Wonka.
Filmed mainly in Munich, Germany, it featured 10 actors of restricted growth who played the Oompa Loompas - the factory's workers.
Netflix bought the rights to Dahl's children's books from the author's family in 2021. Its new competition series sees 12 pairs of contestants compete for a cash prize inside a chocolate factory inspired by the original film.