Mickey Carroll, one of the last surviving Munchkins from the 1939 beloved film "The Wizard of Oz," died Thursday. Carroll was one of more than 100 adults and children who were recruited to play the movie natives of what author L. Frank Baum called Munchkin Country in his 1900 book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."
"The Wizard of Oz" was Carroll's only movie. When it appeared on television in the 1960s, he found a new career at charitable events, retail events and Oz-related events.
"It's not me; it's the movie," Carroll said. Carroll was born Michael Finocchiaro on July 8, 1919, in St. Louis. Carroll played the part of the Munchkinland "Town Crier," marched as a "Munchkin Soldier" and was the candy-striped "Fiddler" who escorted the movie's wide-eyed orphan, Dorothy Gale, played by Judy Garland, down the yellow brick road toward Emerald City.
In the mid-1940s, Carroll returned to St. Louis to run the family business making cemetery monuments. In November 2007, Carroll and six other surviving Munchkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Carroll was joined on that occasion by former Munchkin colleagues Ruth Duccini, Jerry Maren, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl Slover and Clarence Swensen. Swensen died in February.
At a special screening of the film in 2005 in Los Angeles, Carroll said talking to longtime fans about the movie brought back their childhoods.
Death Summary: Mickey Carroll died on May 7, 2009. The exact cause of death is unknown at this time.
Who was Mickey Carroll: Carroll was an actor and one of the last surviving munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.
He began taking dance lessons at the age of 7 at the Fox Theater in St. Louis, Missouri. It was there that he met Jack Haley and the two eventually went to Hollywood and appeared in a few Spanky and Our Gang episodes.
He signed a contract with MGM and was in school when he met Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. Garland herself offered Carroll his roll in The Wizard of Oz. He was cast as the Munchkinland "Town Crier".
His Wizard of Oz costume consisted of yellow flowers sticking out of a striped vest with a purple cloak. Along with the town crier roll he also played a "Munchkin Solider" and a candy-striped "Fiddler" who escorted Dorothy down the yellow brick road on her way to the Emerald City.
Soon after The Wizard of Oz was done filming, Carroll quit acting because he knew his height would become a factor in getting roles.
In 2007 the "Munchkins" received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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