Jerry Maren (born Gerard Marenghi; January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018) was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz. He became the last surviving adult Munchkin[a] following the death of Ruth Duccini in 2014, and was also the last surviving cast member with a specifically identifiable speaking or singing role.[2][3]
Early life
Gerard Marenghi, eventually known as Jerry Maren, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, the youngest of eleven or twelve children.[1][4] His father, Emil Marenghi, worked at a shoe factory. His four brothers were six feet (182.88 cm) or taller by 1939.[5]
At the age of 12, Maren started taking dancing lessons with his sister. He toured around New England with his dance instructor with an act called Three Steps and a Hop and was noticed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts who were looking for three little people who could sing and dance.
Career
Maren received a telegram, just after graduating from high school, asking him to come to California to work on a film. He was offered nearly $100 per week plus expenses.[6]
In The Wizard of Oz, he played the green-garbed member of the Lollipop Guild (between Jakob "Jackie" Gerlich and Harry Earles), handing a lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland). Maren was 18 or 19 years old when he shot his scenes for The Wizard of Oz in the latter part of 1938 and early 1939. At that time he stood just 3 ft 6 in (107 cm). (Hormone treatments allowed Maren to reach a height of 4 ft 6 in (137 cm) later in life.)[1]
Maren began to cultivate his performance talents by creating a persona as a thirteen-year-old during school vacations.[citation needed] He began attending singing and dancing lessons in his early teens, and enjoyed them so much that he opted to team up with his teacher in an act known as "Three Steps and a Hop." The idea was a success on stage, and the group toured the New England circuit for a considerable length of time. In the same year as The Wizard of Oz, Maren appeared in an Our Gang short Tiny Troubles as the criminal "Light-Fingered Lester", and was an extra in the Western film The Terror of Tiny Town.[citation needed]
From 1969 until 1971, Maren appeared on The Andy Williams Show on a regular basis as the Little General. In the late 1970s, Maren was the dapper little man in top hat and tuxedo on The Gong Show, heralding each show's big finish with an onslaught of confetti as Milton DeLugg's band played "Hoop Dee Doo". He made a notable appearance in the episode "Felix the Horseplayer" of The Odd Couple as Harry Tallman, a racehorse exerciser who gives Oscar tips on winning horses. In 1982 he played Morris the bellboy, a regular character in the ABC sitcom No Soap, Radio.[citation needed]
Maren had a walk-on role in an episode of Seinfeld ("The Yada Yada") and played a mime in the 2010-released comedy horror movie Dahmer vs. Gacy. He also starred in the Eric Swelstad-directed horror movie Frankenstein Rising (2009).[8] In February 2009, Maren performed in Project Lodestar Sagas as Thaddeus, opposite former MGM child actress Margaret O'Brien in the lead role of Livia Wells.[citation needed]
After 2011, Maren stopped traveling or appearing at any of the Oz Festivals held throughout the country, but he did appear for a handprint and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on September 18, 2013.[11]
Personal life
Maren was married to Elizabeth Barrington from 1975 until her death at age 69 on January 27, 2011. He lived in southern California.[12]
On February 29, 2016, it was reported that Maren had died of pancreatic cancer, but these reports were false.[13] He posted a video on Instagram to say that he was alive and well, and according to friend Steve Cox, he didn't have cancer.[14]
When The Hollywood Reporter attempted to contact Maren for a story on little people in Hollywood in August 2016, Maren's caretakers informed the reporter that he was too frail to make further appearances or conduct interviews.[15]
Death
Maren died at a nursing facility center in La Jolla, California on May 24, 2018, at the age of 98, from a combination of old age-related diseases including cachexia, heart failure and senile dementia. He outlived all the major cast members as well as the original Tin Man Buddy Ebsen.[16][1][17][18][19] Maren left no immediate survivors.
^A small number of female extras who portrayed Munchkins are known to survive, but they were children, rather than adults with dwarfism.[1] Two stunt doubles, Ambrose Schindler (who died seven months after Maren) and Caren Marsh, also outlasted Maren at the time of his death.
