- Jerry Maren
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Jerry Maren 
Jerry Maren attending the premiere of "Dahmer Vs. Gacy", Hollywood, CA on January 15, 2010Born Gerard Marenghi
January 24, 1920
Boston, Massachusetts,
United StatesJerry Maren (born January 24, 1920) is an American actor and one of only three confirmed surviving dwarf munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The other two surviving munchkin cast members are Margaret Williams Pellegrini and Ruth Robinson Duccini, making Maren the last surviving male principal Munchkin cast member.
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Life and career
Maren was born Gerard Marenghi in Boston, Massachusetts. He acted in The Wizard of Oz playing a member of the Lollipop Guild (center in green), handing the lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland). When Maren acted in The Wizard of Oz he stood three foot four inches (100 cm). As a young man he appeared in a local act known as "Three Steps and One Half."
The same year as The Wizard of Oz, Maren also appeared in an Our Gang feature, 'Tiny Troubles', playing criminal 'Light-Fingered Lester'.
After The Wizard of Oz Maren continued acting and appeared in many movies and television shows. Some of these appearances were in the Our Gang comedy shorts, the Marx Brothers At The Circus (1939) and as an ape in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). He is also featured, along with fellow munchkin Billy Curtis, in American International Pictures' release Little Cigars (1973), about a gang of "midgets" on a crime spree.
In the 1950s Maren worked as a Little Oscar for the Oscar Mayer Company and as Buster Brown in television and radio commercials. Later he joined his friend Billy Barty in organizing Little People of America. Maren has also portrayed Mayor McCheese and The Hamburglar in commercials for McDonald's.
In the late 1970s he was the dapper little man on The Gong Show, heralding each show's big finish with an onslaught of confetti as Milton Delugg's band played "Hoop Dee Doo".
Maren also made a notable appearance in The Odd Couple episode 'Felix the Horseplayer' as Harry Tallman, a racehorse exerciser who was giving Oscar tips on winning horses.
Maren continues to occasionally act in movies and television shows as well as traveling around America appearing at Wizard of Oz festivals and autograph signings. Maren had a walk-on role in an episode of Seinfeld "The Yada Yada" and plays a mime in the 2010 released comedy horror movie Dahmer Vs. Gacy. Maren stars also in the Eric Swelstad directed horror flick Frankenstein Rising (2009).[1]
Personal appearances
Maren has made many personal appearances along with the other surviving members of the Munchkins. He has appeared at county and state fairs and at film festivals and memorabilia shows.
On November 21, 2007, Maren appeared with six other surviving Munchkin actors including Meinhardt Raabe (who died on April 9, 2010) at the unveiling of a Hollywood Star for the Wizard of Oz Munchkins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[2]
On June 3. 2010, Maren appeared at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona,NY. He was there to promote a new Wizard of Oz slot machine.[3]
Personal life
Maren was married to Elizabeth Barrington from 1975, until her death at age 69, on January 27, 2011. He continues to reside in southern California.[4]
Further reading
- Stephen Cox, "The Munchkins of Oz" Cumberland House ISBN 1-58182-269-3
- Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin (Paperback) by Jerry Maren (Author) Pub. Date: June 2008 ISBN 9781581825435
References
- ^ Gore Filled Trailer: Frankenstein Rising
- ^ Munchkin Star on the Walk of Fame
- ^ http://www.wktv.com/news/local/95615094.html
- ^ Potempa, Philip (2011-01-31). "'Wizard of Oz' Munchkin's wife, Elizabeth Maren, dead at 69". nwi.com. http://www.nwitimes.com/entertainment/columnists/offbeat/article_0d30beff-4719-5852-a813-0659e9cf1d39.html. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
External links
Categories:- 1920 births
- Actors with dwarfism
- Actors from Massachusetts
- American film actors
- American memoirists
- American television actors
- Living people
- People from Boston, Massachusetts
- Writers from Boston, Massachusetts
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