Jerry Maren, Last Living ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Munchkin, Dies At 98

Actor Jerry Maren, whose real name is Gerard Marenghi, has died at 98 years old. His most well-known role was in the iconic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

JERRY MAREN, THE WIZARD OF OZ‘S LAST SURVIVING MUNCHKIN, DIES

When Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) was whisked away to the fantastical Land of Oz, she landed in Munchkinland, which was inhabited by its namesake Munchkin citizens. Maren was cast as one of the 124 Munchkins, where he gave Dorothy a lollipop, a part that earned him the nickname “lollipop kid.” Maren was the last surviving actor who portrayed a Munchkin.

Maren continued acting after The Wizard of Oz, working on projects like the comedic Our Gang skits and 1973’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Nevertheless, he confessed that working with his fellow Munchkin Lollipop Guild members remained one of his career’s highlights in a discussion with The Independent in 2009, saying, “I’d never met any little people. I was the only small person in my family. Making the film was the greatest fun I ever had in my life.”

Maren was born in 1920, and he married actress Elizabeth Barrington in 1975. They remained an item until her passing in 2011. Maren’s funeral occurred at the Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood Hills on June 2. He had been suffering from dementia in recent years. Fellow actress Pam DuBois honored her friend’s passing on Facebook, describing him as “a kind, and loving man, who never let his stature get in the way of his eternal strive for happiness.”