General Tom Thumb

By late 1842 (4 years old), Stratton had grown only one inch from when he was six months old. Apart from this, he was a completely normal, healthy child, with several siblings who were of average size. His body was proportionate and functional.

A year later, Barnum took young Stratton on a tour of Europe, making him an international celebrity. Stratton appeared twice before Queen Victoria. He also met the three-year-old future King Edward VII, at that time the Prince of Wales. In 1845, he triumphed at the Théâtre du Vaudeville (France) in the play Le petit Poucet of Dumanoir and Clairville. The tour was a huge success, with crowds mobbing him wherever he went. After his three-year tour in Europe, Stratton began his rise to stardom in the United States. Stratton's fame grew at an astonishing rate, and his popularity and celebrity surpassed that of any actor within his lifetime.

In 1846 he started to grow for the first time since the first few months of his life, but extremely slowly. In January 1851 Stratton stood exactly 2 feet 5 inches (74 cm) tall. On his 18th birthday, he was measured at 2 feet 8.5 inches (82.6 cm) tall. On his 21st birthday he was 86 cm tall. Stratton became a Freemason on October 3, 1862. Stratton, by now 2 feet 11 inches (89 cm) tall, was initiated to be a Freemason alongside a man who was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm).

On his return home from his second tour in 1847, aboard the SS Cambria, he attracted the attention of the explorer John Palliser who "was not a little surprised, on entering the state-cabin, to hear the most unnatural shrill little pipe exclaiming, 'Waiter! bring me a Welsh rabbit'." During the voyage, General Tom Thumb contributed to a collection for the relief of famine victims in Ireland.

Phineas T. Barnum heard about Stratton and after contacting his parents, taught the boy how to sing, dance, mime, and impersonate famous people. Barnum also went into business with Stratton's father, who died in 1855. Stratton made his first tour of America at the age of five, with routines that included impersonating characters such as Cupid and Napoleon Bonaparte as well as singing, dancing, and comical banter with another performer who acted as a straight man. It was a huge success and the tour expanded.

His marriage in 1863 to Lavinia Warren, also a little person, became front-page news. The wedding took place at Grace Episcopal Church, and the wedding reception was held at New York City's Metropolitan Hotel. The couple stood atop a grand piano at the reception to greet some 10,000 guests. The best man at the wedding was George Washington Morrison ("Commodore") Nutt, another dwarf performer in Barnum's employ. The maid of honor was Minnie Warren, Lavinia's sister. Following the wedding, the couple was received by President Lincoln at the White House. Stratton and his wife toured together in Europe as well as British India, in particular the area that would later become Bangladesh.

Under Barnum's management, Stratton became a wealthy man. He owned a house in the fashionable part of New York and a steam yacht, and he had a wardrobe of fine clothes. He also owned a specially adapted home on one of Connecticut's Thimble Islands. When Barnum got into financial difficulty, Stratton bailed him out. Later, they became business partners. Stratton made his final appearance in England in 1878.

On January 19, 1883, Stratton was staying at John F. Antisdel's Newhall House in Milwaukee when a fire broke out, which Milwaukee historian John Gurda would call "one of the worst hotel fires in American history". More than 71 people died, but Tom and Lavinia were saved by their manager, Sylvester Bleeker.

George Brasno portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1934 film The Mighty Barnum.

In 1959, vandals smashed the statue of Tom Thumb. It was restored by the Barnum Festival Society and Mountain Grove Cemetery Association with funds raised by public subscription.

Jimmy Clitheroe portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1967 film Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon.

Paul Miller portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1986 TV film Barnum!.

Sandor Raski portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1986 TV film Barnum.

Ed Gale portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1995 TV film Tad.

Josh Ryan Evans portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 1999 TV film P.T. Barnum.

Sam Humphrey portrayed General Tom Thumb in the 2017 musical film The Greatest Showman.