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Jerry Maren
Born	Gerard Marenghi January 24, 1920 (1920-01-24) (age 89) Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Jerry Maren (born 24 January 1920) is an American actor and one of the last surviving munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

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 Jerry acted in The Wizard of Oz he stood three foot four inches. As a young man he appeared in a local act known as "Three Steps and One Half."

After The Wizard of Oz Jerry continued acting and appeared in many movies and television shows (including a walk-on role in an episode of Seinfeld "The Yada Yada"). 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' 1973 release, Little Cigars, 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".

Jerry Maren continues to occasionally act in movies and television shows as well as traveling the country appearing at Wizard of Oz festivals and autograph signings. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Barrington), currently reside in southern California.

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 at the unveiling of a Hollywood Star for the Wizard of Oz Munchkins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[1]

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-13: 9781581825435

References

External links

• Jerry Maren at the Internet Movie Database