TINY Verne Troyer is a BIG joker whose first love was a pet SHEEP, his doting mum has revealed.

The 2ft 8in Austin Powers actor adored the animal, called Ed, which he kept as a child.

Mum Susan unveiled a more vulnerable side to the Celeb BB star-known for his boozing and sex addiction-telling how he couldn't resist playing the fool growing up in a religious AMISH family, yet was bullied because of his tiny frame.

In an exclusive interview she said: "He is the kindest, sweetest, most loving man you can meet."

Verne, 40, has become a favourite on the Channel 4 show. "No doubt he's making everyone laugh in there," smiled Susan. "He's so lovable, viewers won't be able to take their eyes off him."

And as she and husband Reuben opened their family album on Verne's early life, she also told how the star:

• PRAYED that his tormentors would stop
• MOCKED his own height by once hiding in a WASHING MACHINE, and even
• SKIVED off school to visit strip clubs.

Speaking from her home in Colon, Michigan, factory worker Susan described the shock when doctors told her Verne had been born, weighing 6lb 10oz, with a form of dwarfism.

"I knew he was a tiny child," she said, "but I loved him."

Reuben added: "His arms and legs just weren't long enough. But we said to each other, 'It doesn't matter. He is our boy.'"

Living as Amish people-a religous sect that shuns technology and modern ways of life-the couple brought Verne home in a HORSE and CARRIAGE, and lived without TV, phones or electricity.

But the family left the community- made famous by Harrison Ford's movie Witness-when Verne was eight months. "We had started going to a different church where the rules weren't so strict and the kids were learning more," Susan explained. "It was for the best."

As Verne grew up, his parents treated him just the same as his brother Davon now bushy bearded and 41, and little sister Deborah-both regular height. "He never resented them," Susan recalled fondly. "They were his best friends."

The couple made sure he shared in the chores too. Reuben added: "He helped with the gardening. He couldn't mow the lawn but he could do stuff low down."

Verne also doted on his pet sheep, Ed. Susan said: "He was such a sensitive child. He adored that sheep. It lived in the house sometimes and he would play and hug it like a dog."

But away from home other children were less understanding and started bulling Verne. His mum explained: "He would come home very upset. I would tell him, 'God made you this way for a reason.' We would kneel by his bed and pray."

The torment eased when Verne went to High School and found playing the joker made him popular. "Suddenly everyone wanted to help him," said Reuben, 63. "There was the odd bit of bullying. They would shut him in lockers and things like that, but he would just laugh about it."

Verne saved some of his biggest pranks for home though.

Susan said: "He would hide in the washing machine and jump out. Another time I was shortening a pair of trousers for a 6ft guy and Verne hid inside one of the LEGS."

He idolised his sports-mad 5ft 8in brother-even dressing up in a mini American football outfit to pose with him. (You can see more fun family shots here) And he would watch him wrestle, sometimes joining in with younger kids his size. Verne became skilful at adapting-even saving up to buy his own car. His dad said: "He was desperate to have his own independence. He had the car converted to fit him and just jumped in."

Once he got his licence, Verne became more rebellious. "He skipped school and would go to the strip club," Reuben chuckled. "And of course he always loved the girls."

His mum, 63, added: "They adored him, but he'd say to me, 'What I really want is someone who loves me. I want to have kids one day.'"

When he was 18, Verne moved to Texas with Davon, started work as a stunt man and in 1999 got his big break in Austin Powers, starring as Mini-Me alongside Mike Myers.

With that money he helped his parents build their dream three-bedroom barn in Michigan. But Susan admitted Hollywood has taken its toll on their son. She said: "Everyone knows Verne has had a problem with alcohol. Beer would bloat his tiny tummy so much that he turned to the hard stuff. It was a very difficult and upsetting time for us.

"But we felt blessed that we were the first people he would call when he was turning to the bottle."

They insist he is on the road to recovery now. But, referring to his brief marriage to Playboy model Genevieve Gallen, Susan sighed: "There are things he has done which has made us butt heads, for instance when he got married. We refuse to even talk about that episode.

"But all in all he is an amazing family man and we're so very proud of him."

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