Good-bye to Another Munchkin

We lost another one of the last surviving Oz munchkins on Tuesday. Karl Slover, 93, one of the smallest Munchkin actors at the time of the filming of The Wizard of Oz, played the first trompeter who came out to celebrate the demise of the Wicked Witch of the East in Munchkinland. I met Mr. Slover on June 4, 2011, at the Ozfest in Chittenango, NY. Chittenango is known as the birthplace of L. Frank Baum, who wrote the Oz books. Karl was a delightful person who sang "We're Off to See the Wizard" for us. He was the last surviving member of the Singer Midgets who are credited as the munchkins in the movie. Leo Singer handled the contracts for the "little people" and used members of his own troupe and recruited many others to go to Hollywood for the film shoot.

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