Follow Us
Like Us
Historical records matching Jerry Maren
view all 14
Immediate Family
-
wife -
father -
mother
-
Privatesibling -
Privatesibling
-
sister -
brother -
brother
-
brother
-
sister
-
sister
-
brother
About Jerry Maren
Jerry Maren was the last surviving Wizard of Oz munchkin. He died during the last week of May, 2018 at a San Diego nursing care facility, according to multiple news sources. He was 98.
Born on January 24, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts, Maren aspired to acting from a young age. In 1938, he joined up with a group of other New York munchkin aspirants and rode a bus to Hollywood, where he achieved lifelong fame as the munchkin who hands Dorothy a welcome Lollipop from the Lollipop Guild.
Maren was featured in the center of the trio of Lollipop Guild munchkins.
After "The Wizard of Oz," many smaller movie roles followed, such as the Our Gang comedy “Tiny Troubles” and the Marx Brothers film “At the Circus,” but Maren focused mainly on television and commercial work, with appearances on “The Gong Show, " "The Odd Couple," "Beverly Hillbillies," and "Seinfeld." He was particularly famous for his advertising work, including roles as Buster Brown in the Buster Brown shoe ads, Little Oscar in the Oscar Meyer commercials, and McDonalds’ Mayor McCheese.
Maren was honored in September 2013 with in a hand and footprint ceremony outside Hollywood’s famed Chinese Theatre.
According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, after his wife’s death in 2011, Maren stopped performance work. The couple had no children. Actor and dancer. Last surviving cast member of the largely uncredited group of actors who portrayed the Munchkins in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." In the classic hit movie, he was part of the group, dubbed the Lollipop Guild, that danced and sang in front of Judy Garland's character, Dorothy Gale, before she headed off to see the Wizard. In the fondly memorable scene, he hands her a large lollipop, welcoming her to Munchkinland. He was the youngest of the 11 children born to Italian immigrants Emilio Marenghi and Raffaela Scanzillo. His siblings were all of average height. At the time he appeared as a Muchkin, he stood just three feet, six inches tall. Hormone treatments would allow him to achieve a height of four feet, six inches later in life. At age 13, he started taking dance and acting lessons. He later changed his name to Jerry Maren and at 18 he was cast in "The Wizard of Oz". He continued acting in "Our Gang" comedy shorts, in the Marx Brothers' "At The Circus", and as an ape in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes". 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 also portrayed Mayor McCheese and The Hamburglar in commercials for McDonald's. During his lifetime, he appeared in over 100 movies and television shows. While he was in hospice care, Maren died in his sleep of cardiopulmonary failure. He was preceded in death by his wife of 43 years, Elizabeth (Barrington) Maren; they had no children.
- Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 8 2018, 14:03:20 UTC
view all
Jerry Maren's Timeline
| 1920 |
January 24, 1920
|
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
|
|
| 2018 |
May 24, 2018
Age 98
|
San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States
|
|
| ???? |
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) (Plot Court of Remembrance Sanctuary of Enduring Protection GPS (lat/lon) 34.14977 -118.31956), Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
|