Zelda Rubinstein

Zelda Rubinstein
Rubinstein in the film Poltergeist II
Born	Zelda May Rubinstein May 28, 1933 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	January 27, 2010(2010-01-27) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Kidney and lung failure
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–2010

Zelda May Rubinstein (May 28, 1933 – January 27, 2010) was an American actress and human rights activist, known as eccentric medium Tangina Barrons in the Poltergeist film series. Playing "Ginny", she was a regular on David E. Kelley's Emmy Award-winning television series Picket Fences for two seasons. She also made guest appearances in the TV show Poltergeist: The Legacy (1996), as seer Christina, and was the voice of Skittles candies in their long-running "Taste the Rainbow" ad campaign. Rubinstein was also known for her outspoken activism for little people and her early participation in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Rubinstein was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 28 May 1933 to Jewish immigrant parents from Poland, Dolores and George Rubinstein. She was the youngest of three children and the only dwarf in her family. Rubinstein did not become comfortable with her short stature until she was an adult. In a 1992 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Rubinstein told the newspaper that she "had a rough childhood, [but] I became very verbally facile... I learned to meet everyone head-on."

She stood just 4 feet 3 inches (1.30 m) tall due to a deficiency of the anterior pituitary gland, which produces growth hormone. Commenting in 2002 on the challenges of being a very short-statured person, Rubinstein said, "Midgets are societally handicapped. They have about two minutes to present themselves as equals—and if they don’t take advantage of that chance, then people fall back on the common assumption that 'less' is less."