The surviving actors who portrayed the Munchkins of Munchkinland in the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of OZ” received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday.
Only nine actors of the 124 that portrayed the Munchkin population of Munchkin Country in the 1939 film are believed to still be alive and seven of them were present Monday evening at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
A special screening of the beloved film took place and before that, the diminutive actors were interviewed by comedian and film archivist Stan Taffel, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The following morning, the Munchkin actors received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, inscribed “The Munchkins.”
The event was organized by an “Oz” enthusiast named Ted Bulthaup, an Illinois movie theater owner. He and several companies sponsored the event and helped pay for the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, according to the Times.
The little performers, now 68 years older, traveled from across the United States to see their special star at the end of “the yellow brick road.” They dressed in colored costumes and were driven to their commemorative plaque in a horse-drawn carriage.
The seven actors present were Jerry Maren, who portrayed a member of the Lollipop Guild, Mickey Carroll, the town crier, Margaret Pellegrini, one of the Munchkin sleepyheads, Karl Slover, the main trumpeter, Clarence Swensen, a Munchkin soldier and Meinhardt Raabe, who played the coroner.
“It feels great to be here,” said Maren, as quoted by Reuters. He was waving a lollipop in recognition of his role.
Bulthaup was helped in his project by a petition drive and support from Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Mickey Rooney, who was a friend of Judy Garland, reports Reuters.
The 1939 Metro Goldwyn Mayer film was based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and starred an adolescent Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale. Her performance of “Over the Rainbow” earned an Academy Award for Best Song.
“The Wizard of Oz” was nominated for several Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, which it lost to another Hollywood classic, “Gone with the Wind.” It did receive the Academy Award for Best Original Score, while Judy Garland was given a special honorary Oscar that year, for Best Performances by a Juvenile, which included all her roles over the year, not just “Oz.”