Jerry Maren presents Judy Garland’s Dorothy with a lollipop in the film “The Wizard of Oz.”.

Jerry had a bunch of small roles in Tinseltown ... but being a member of the Lollipop Guild was his most memorable. Maren, who felt a responsibility with his fame, would often offer other little people money when he saw them at “Oz” reunions. Get TMZ breaking news sent right to your browser! “Rest in eternal peace Mr. Maren.

Actor Jerry Maren, the green-clad tough guy of the Lollipop Guild who famously handed Dorothy (Judy Garland) a giant lollipop in the 1939 film classic “The Wizard of Oz,” has died at 98.

He wasn't cheated. Meanwhile, just two years ago, bogus reports claimed he died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Standing at 4 feet 3, Maren was the longest-living member of the munchkins and the last surviving little person to appear in the iconic film. Aside from his role as a munchkin from the Lollipop Guild in The Wizard Of Oz, he also starred in a variety of small roles. Actor Kevin Thompson, a longtime friend of Maren’s and also a member of Little People of America, met Maren while they played on the Hollywood Shorties baseball team for little people when Thompson was 11 years old.

According to TMZ, he passed away at a San Diego nursing care facility.

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Of the 124 munchkins who appeared in the film, Cox said about 96% were pituitary dwarves. All of us little people are,” Maren told The Times in 1993. Cradle to grave, Hector Albert Padilla, who passed last week at age 90, was a fixture on the L.A. football scene and the lives of the players he coached. https://www.tmz.com/2018/06/06/last-wizard-of-oz-munchkin-jerry-maren-dead “Jerry was sometimes a quirky little guy,” Cox said.

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His work includes his appearance in Tinseltown and Little Cigars. He was diagnosed shortly after his wife, Elizabeth, died in 2011.

Jerry still had a couple of years left in him. newspaper archive.

All of us little people are. Maren moved beyond society’s stereotypes of shortness to make a successful living as an actor and spokesman. Get all the day's most vital news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. He was a regular on “The Andy Williams Show” in the 1960s and showered bad performers with paper as “The Gong Show’s” Confetti Man in the 1970s. Express. I may not have fought … , but I served.

In 1973, Jerry also featured in Little Cigars alongside his fellow Munchkin Billy Curtis. All the world is represented in little people.”. Jerry Maren Birthday and Date of Death.

Maren portrayed a member of the Lollipop Guild, a group of Munchkins which greets Dorothy Gale when she arrives in Munchkin Land.

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See Jerry Maren in our Wizard of Oz photo gallery.

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Jerry Maren, who danced into pop culture in 1939 as the tartan-costumed, candy-toting Munchkin leader of the Lollipop Guildin “The Wizard of Oz,” a role that overshadowed a lifetime of quiet offscreen work to bring dignity to dwarfs, died on May 24 in San Diego. “Hey, I’m a normal human being.

“Some are wise guys. The group had small success on stage and toured New England. The actor's cause of death is not yet known, but he had been suffering from dementia for years. “He would say, ‘I served.

The diminutive actor paved the way for many like him who followed him to Tinseltown and helped found Little People of America, an organization devoted to improving the status of little people. “And that’s the type of little people that MGM sought when they were making ‘The Wizard of Oz.’”.

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‘Les Misérables’ producer Cameron Mackintosh said Kretzmer was instrumental in bringing Victor Hugo’s tale of defiance and redemption to the stage. He died on May 24 in a San Diego nursing home, his niece Stacy Michelle Barrington confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. The film was based upon little people who went on a crime spree. He was also chosen for the part due to his unique abilities to sing and dance. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters.

He liked those ponies … he was a downright nice guy, always had a cigar in his mouth like George Burns.”. He wanted to see them succeed and stay afloat and he didn’t want to hear about his friends being in crisis.”. Obituary.

When MGM put out a search for little people for “The Wizard of Oz,” Maren packed up and moved to Hollywood at 18 to make his film debut.

Birthday: January 24, 1920 Date of Death: May 24, 2018 Age at Death: 98 Maren is survived by nieces, nephews and cousins. According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, after his wife’s death in 2011, Maren …

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Services for Maren were held at Forest Lawn in Hollywood over the weekend, according to TMZ, which was first to report his death on Wednesday. News of his death only began circulating on Wednesday. In his early teens, Jerry reportedly put a band together called Three Steps and a Hop with his teacher.

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Cox said Maren certainly made a lot of money in film and television but also reaped the benefits of successful real estate investments in Southern California as well as lucrative ad campaigns.

Steve Cox, a friend of the star, slammed the false claims shortly after, according to TMZ. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights. The actor had a handprint and footprint ceremony at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood three years later. He was 99. He was hospitalized last week with the coronavirus. You are very much loved by my family,” a third penned. “He got the job because he was one of the few who knew how to tap dance,” Thompson said. Dean, who helped San Francisco win two Super Bowls, was 68. In 2010, Jerry appeared at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in New York to promote a new Wizard of Oz slot machine. He also played McDonald’s Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese, as well as Buster Brown and Little Oscar in Oscar Mayer’s 1950s ad campaigns. Rhonda Fleming, an actress and singer who starred opposite such leading men as Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Ronald Reagan, has died at 97. Home of the Daily and Sunday Express. Jerry Maren and the munchkins from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz” were honored in 2007 with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The latter film follows a gang of little people on a crime spree. Jerry Maren -- the world's last living 'Wizard of Oz' munchkin -- is now somewhere over the rainbow ... TMZ has learned. Lodwrick Cook, epitome of L.A.’s bygone era of corporate engagement, dies. Best known as the last surviving Munchkin from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Stephen Cox — who co-authored Maren’s 2008 autobiography, “Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin,” and “The Munchkins of Oz” — tracked down all the munchkins years after “The Wizard of Oz” debuted. “He was extremely generous, especially with other little people. Jerry Maren, the last surviving munchkin from the classic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz," died at a San Diego nursing home, his niece said. One user commented: “He lived a great life! Herbert Kretzmer, lyricist for the hit musical ‘Les Misérables,’ dies at 95. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Born Gerard Marenghi in Boston on Jan. 24, 1920, Maren was the last of 10 children born into an Italian American family of average-sized people.

He was especially chosen to be the central figure in the male Munchkin trio and had the duty of handing the complimentary lollipop over to Dorothy Gale (played by Judy Garland).

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“If he wasn’t working, he was down at the Santa Anita racetrack. JERRY MAREN, who played one of The Wizard of Oz’s Lollipop Guild and was the last surviving 'munchkin” from in 1939 film, has died aged 98, according to reports, but what was his cause of death? “Forever a #munchkin RIP,” another penned.

We're told ... Jerry died over a week ago.

He worked in vaudeville with friends and family while growing up, learning to sing and tap dance onstage in Boston. RIP Jerry Maren aka middle munchkin of the Lollipop Guild.”.

Some are a pain in the ass, just like the bigger folks. Maren suffered from dementia for the past several years.

He passed away at a San Diego nursing care facility. Jerry Maren was born on January 24, 1920 and died on May 24, 2018.

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“He was proud of that.”.

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Jerry Maren, the last surviving munchkin in the "Wizard of Oz" has died at 98.

Thompson, who appeared alongside Maren in several pilots, noted that Maren “worked eight days a week as an actor, extra, stand-in or stunt double.”, “Everybody knew Jerry Maren on every set I ever went to,” Thompson said. There were multiple reports he died back in March 2016 after a battle with pancreatic cancer ... but a close friend of Jerry's told us those reports were not true. Actor Jerry Maren, the green-clad tough guy of the Lollipop Guild who famously handed Dorothy (Judy Garland) a giant lollipop in the 1939 film classic “The Wizard of Oz,” has died at 98.

I played at every single hospital no matter where it was,’” Thompson said. Nardine Saad covers entertainment, celebrities and their kin for the Los Angeles Times.

Jerry was married to Elizabeth Barrington from 1975 until her death aged 69 in 2011.

During World War II, he took time off to perform for wounded soldiers at hospitals on USO tours, Thompson recalled. Search Obituaries & Guest Books on Legacy.com, Honor a loved one, place an obituary notice, Tony nominee and L.A. stage regular Anthony Chisholm dies at 77.

“He was one of the few pituitary dwarves, meaning they are proportionally correct, only miniature,” Cox told The Times on Wednesday.

Jerry was 18-years-old when he shot his scenes for The Wizard of Oz in 1938.