not a short life.
On Nov 16, 10:44 am, t bedford <[email protected]> wrote: > 11/16/11 06:30 AM ET Associated Press > DUBLIN, Ga. -- Karl Slover, one of the last surviving actors who played > Munchkins in the 1939 classic film, "The Wizard of Oz," has died. He was 93. > > The 4-foot-5 Slover died of cardiopulmonary arrest Tuesday afternoon in a > central Georgia hospital, said Laurens County Deputy Coroner Nathan > Stanley. According to friends, as recently as last weekend, Slover appeared > at events in the suburban Chicago area. > > Slover was best known for playing the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins' band > but also had roles as a townsman and soldier in the film, said John Fricke, > author of "100 Years of Oz" and five other books on the movie and its star, > Judy Garland. Slover was one of the tiniest male Munchkins in the movie. > > Long after Slover retired, he continued to appear around the country at > festivals and events related to the movie. He was one of seven Munchkins at > the 2007 unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame dedicated to the > little people in the movie. Only three remain of the 124 diminutive actors > who played the beloved Munchkins. > > "He has a genuine immortality," Fricke said. "Of the 124 little people, > he's one of the handful who got to enjoy this latter-day fame, to have > people know who he was and be able to pick him out of the crowd in the > movie." > > Slover is the first of the three trumpeters to herald the Munchkin mayor > when he makes his entrance. Slover had been cast to play the second > trumpeter but switched when another actor got stage fright during filming, > said longtime friend Allen Pease, the co-founder of the former Munchkinland > Market Days outside Chesterton, Ind. > > "Karl didn't know what stage fright meant," he said. > > Slover was born Karl Kosiczky in what is now the Czech Republic and he was > the only child in his family to be dwarf sized. > > "In those uninformed days, his father tried witch doctor treatments to make > him grow," Fricke said. "Knowing Karl and his triumph over his early life, > you can't help but celebrate the man at a time like this." > > He was buried in the backyard, immersed in heated oil until his skin > blistered and then attached to a stretching machine at a hospital, all in > the attempt to make him become taller. Eventually he was sold by his father > at age 9 to a traveling show in Europe, Fricke said. > > Slover continued to perform into his late 20s, when he moved to the United > States, changed his name and appeared in circuses as part of a vaudeville > group known as the Singer Midgets. The group's 30 performers became the > nucleus of the Munchkins. > > He was paid $50 a week for the movie and told friends that Garland's dog in > the movie, "Toto," made more money. > > The surviving Munchkin actors found new generations of fans in the late > 1980s when they began making appearances around the country. > > "It wasn't until the Munchkins started making their appearances in 1989 > that they call came to realize how potent the film had become and > remained," Fricke said. "He was wonderfully articulate about his memories, > he had anecdotes to share."
