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Arts & Entertainment

Part 2 in Munchkinland: Patch's Conversation with Jerry Maren

The 91-year old actor looks back on his life and the making of one of the world's most famous movies.

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Jerry Maren. .

Though Maren participated fully in the filming of the famous Munchkin scene, he had no idea what the rest of the film entailed, and like most of the world, he was awestruck when he first saw it. Invited to the premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater on August 15, 1939, he was more than a guest, however: he and four fellow little people were made up as Munchkins to “ballyhoo the picture on the outside of the theater.” Maren was dressed as the Mayor of Munchkinland.

But when he finally saw the film, he was simply overwhelmed. Here was the most amazing Technicolor dream ever captured in the cinema, and he was in the dream. To this day it astounds him. “I was thrilled,” he said. “I remember watching our sequence. It is probably ten of the greatest minutes of motion picture history. I’m not bragging – from beginning to end, it’s so entertaining. It never stopped. Not just that I was in it. When it goes from black & white to color everyone goes, ‘Aaahhh.’ And then the rest of the movie – the Lion! The Strawman! The Tin Man! They all went through their routines and were terrific. Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, and Bert Lahr, he was so damn funny as the Lion. I was laughing like hell when he was the lion.

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“I thought, ‘This is quite a build-up,’” he continued. “And we were only at the beginning of the movie! Everything was a big scene – the field of poppies. I couldn’t believe how they did it. And I was there! I was there and I couldn’t believe it.”

After Oz, Maren had no immediate plans to remain in Hollywood, and was ready to head back home to Boston when he got a call from MGM. They wanted him to stay. Not only was he uniquely sized, he was also uniquely talented. Of all the Munchkins, he was one of the most expressive, able to project character and attitude even through the layers of makeup and prosthetics [which is, no doubt, why he was chosen as a featured player.] The studio recognized what they had, and insisted he stay. They were making an Our Gang movie called Tiny Troubles starring a midget, and he got the role.

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Filming on his second movie lasted two weeks while he joined the famous cast of Alfalfa Sweitzer, Spanky McFarland and the others to perfect the character of Light-Fingered Lester, a little wise guy who would pretend to be a kid in his mother’s lap while she sold newspapers. He’d steal people’s wallets and watch-fobs as they bent down.

His next film was in At The Circus with yet another world-famous comedy-team, The Marx Brothers. He played the part of Professor Atom, a circus performer who drove around in a tiny car. “[The Marx Brothers] were so funny,” Maren remembered with a smile. “They made me laugh all the time – I would get in trouble! The director would tell me to stop laughing, this is serious. I was sorry, but with Groucho Marx there making jokes, it’s impossible not to laugh. Anytime I would say the word ‘can’t’ with my Boston accent – ‘cahnt’ – Groucho would go off on me. I had to watch my language.”

“Groucho,” he recalled, “was absolutely the funniest. Chico was always on the phone, talking to his bookie, making bets. Groucho had me to dinner once, and it was a wonderful evening. There was a Swedish chef and we had chicken and dumplings.”

In addition to portraying Charlie McCarthy from a distance in movies, he also appeared frequently on Edgar Bergen’s radio show with Charlie McCarthy, playing the part of Gopher-puss, Charlie’s intellectual friend. They did the show live at the former NBC Studios at Vine & Sunset. He also performed the role on Edgar Bergen’s TV show, which began broadcasting in the dawning years of television. Maren’s first-ever line on coast-to-coast TV was “Due to the phrenological development of the occipital bone.” “It means pointed head,” he explained.

Maren also did several recurring characters in commercials, but none more famous than his role as mascot for Oscar Meyer hot-dogs, “Little Oscar, the World’s Smallest Chef.” He also portrayed Buster Brown for Buster Brown shoes in commercials which ran for five years.

Those roles provided residuals, which Maren put to good use, buying homes in both Hollywood and Agoura. And nothing ever made Maren happier than time spent with his wife and biggest fan, Elizabeth Barrington Marenghi Maren. They performed together in two movies, Under the Rainbow (1981) and The Dreamer of Oz (1990), and in Seinfeld, and Elizabeth alone was in Annie (1982).

Maren and Elizabeth spent most of their time in Hollywood, where they had a beautiful home appointed with memorabilia from decades in the movies, and especially souvenirs from his magical time in Oz, including the famous lollipop. Each year they’d travel to Oz festivals around the world, signing pictures and souvenirs, with Elizabeth inevitably wearing a “Munchkin Wife” cap and/or a “Munchkin by Marriage” t-shirt. Laughter was always abundant in their home, and their spirits were so expansive that any lack of stature was unnoticeable after moments in their presence.

Now with the passing of his beloved partner, Maren is gradually adjusting to his new life, helped by the presence of nearby nieces and nephews, as well as by friends and fans of Oz, who never fail to find him and ask him what it was like to be in one of the world’s most beloved and magical motion pictures. “There were 124 Munchkins,” he said, “and there’s only three of us left. Elizabeth always insisted I would be the last one. And I think she’s probably right.”    

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