Peter Dinklage’s Childhood Torture: ‘Thrones’ Star Put On The Rack

Peter Dinklage — the cunning Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s “Game of Thrones” — suffered through a torturous childhood!

The young dwarf’s limbs were stretched in the hopes he’d grow, and cruel classmates treated him more like a mascot than a friend. “When I gave birth to him I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know what,” recalled his mother, Diane Dinklage (shown here with his violinist brother Jonathan).

Diane said the now four-foot-five star underwent disturbing medical procedures before he could even walk! “They used to stretch out his little arms and legs like a Stretch Armstrong doll,” Diane told a source for The National ENQUIRER.

The torment, designed to encourage future "GoT" star’s limbs to lengthen, preceded his being diagnosed with achondroplasia, a common form of dwarfism. One doctor described the process as “unheard of” and “probably malpractice.”

Peter’s former drama teacher Diane Lopez saw the darker side of his school days and said, “Kids say stupid things … Some children saw him as a novelty.” Hervé Villechaize — the "Fantasy Island" star of whom Peter portrays in the HBO biopic "My Dinner With Hervé"

Peter acknowledged his youth was difficult and said, “As an adolescent, I was bitter and angry and I put up these walls. But the older you get, you realize you have to have a sense of humor.”