MUNCHKIN ~
Karl Slover, One of the Last Surviving ‘Oz’ Munchkins, Dies at 93
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 16, 2011
DUBLIN, Ga. (AP) — Karl Slover, one of the last surviving actors who played Munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz,” died on Tuesday in a central Georgia hospital. He was 93.
The cause was cardiopulmonary arrest, said the Laurens County deputy coroner, Nathan Stanley.
Mr. Slover was best known for playing the lead trumpeter in the Munchkins’ band, but he also played an Oz townsman and soldier, according to John Fricke, author of “100 Years of Oz.”
Long after the 4-foot-5 Mr. Slover retired, he appeared around the country at festivals and events related to “The Wizard of Oz.” He was one of seven Munchkins at the 2007 unveiling of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame dedicated to the film’s little people. Only 3 of the 124 actors playing Munchkins remain.
Mr. Slover was born Karl Kosiczky on Sept. 21, 1918, in what is now the Czech Republic.
“In those uninformed days his father tried witch doctor treatments to make him grow,” Mr. Fricke said. Young Karl was immersed in heated oil until his skin blistered and then attached to a stretching machine at a hospital, all in an attempt to make him taller. When he was 9, he was sold by his father to a traveling show in Europe, Mr. Fricke said.
Mr. Slover was paid $50 a week for “Oz” and told friends that Toto, Judy Garland’s canine co-star, made more money.
photo: MGM
article: ny times
JOHNNY ANGEL ~
(Lee Pockriss, songwriter)
Shelley Fabares
Lee Pockriss (1924-2011)
Johnny Angel was written by Pockriss & Lyn Duddy (1962)
Shelley Fabares is still very much with us
