Jerry Maren

Jerry Maren
Maren attending the premiere of "Dahmer Vs. Gacy", Hollywood, CA on January 15, 2010.
Born	Gerard Marenghi (1920-01-24) January 24, 1920 (age 97) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1938–2013
Known for	Last surviving Munchkin of The Wizard of Oz
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Barrington (m. 1975; d. 2011)

Gerard Marenghi (born January 24, 1920) known as Jerry Maren, is an American actor and the last surviving Munchkin of the classic 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz, in which he portrayed a member of the Lollipop Guild. He became the last survivor of the Munchkin cast (there may be some child actors who played Munchkins who also are still alive), following the death of fellow Munchkin Ruth Duccini on January 16, 2014.

Gerard Marenghi, eventually known as Jerry Maren, was born on January 24, 1920 in Boston, Massachusetts. In The Wizard of Oz, he played the green-garbed member of the Lollipop Guild (between Jakob "Jackie" Gerlich and Harry Earles), handing a lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland). Maren was eighteen years of age when he shot his scenes for the The Wizard of Oz in the latter part of 1938 and early 1939. At that time he stood just three feet six inches (106 cm). He was especially chosen to be the central figure in the male Munchkin trio, and this afforded him the distinct privilege of handing the complimentary sweet to Dorothy. It was because of his unique abilities to sing and dance well that he was selected for the role heretofore mentioned.

The reason behind his talents for performing stemmed from a persona he had built up years earlier as a thirteen-year-old during school vacations. He began attending lessons for singing and dancing in his early teens and enjoyed them so much that he opted to band together with his teacher in order to create an act known as "Three Steps and a hop." This idea proved to be a small success on stage that toured the New England circuit for a considerable length of time thereafter. In the same year as The Wizard of Oz, Maren also appeared in an Our Gang feature, Tiny Troubles, playing criminal 'Light-Fingered Lester'.

After The Wizard of Oz Maren continued acting and appeared in many movies and television shows. Some of these appearances were in the Our Gang comedy shorts, in the Marx Brothers' At The Circus (1939), and as an ape in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). He is also featured, along with fellow Munchkin Billy Curtis, in American International Pictures' release Little Cigars (1973), about a gang of "midgets" on a crime spree.