Shallow Hal star Rene Kirby died on July 11 after spending two months in the hospital battling infections and health issues with his esophagus, bladder, and kidneys. He was 70. He played his most prominent Hollywood role in the 2001 romantic comedy as Walt, Hal’s close friend and a hospital volunteer who, like Kirby, was born with spina bifida, a spinal cord defect that meant Kirby could not use his legs. Instead, he traveled by walking on his hands and maneuvering a three-wheeled bike using a hand crank, making him a local celebrity in his hometown of Burlington, Vermont. Kirby also didn’t let his disability stop him from skiing, swimming, and even winning state titles in gymnastics. Kirby had met Shallow Haldirector Peter Farrelly at a bar in Burlington in 1999, according to the Vermont-focused YouTube series Seven Days, and they became good friends. Farrelly eventually wrote the role of Walt for Kirby. “He’s got a zest for life that is contagious, and he’s extremely funny,” Farrelly said of Kirby to the Burlington Free Press. “You don’t have to stand up to stand out,” Kirby’s youngest sibling, Jon, recalled his brother saying. Kirby is survived by his mother and six siblings.
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