Karl Slover (September 21, 1918 – November 15, 2011) was a Slovak-born American actor best known as one of the munchkin actors in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Only three other munchkin performers remained alive at the time of Slover's death.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Slover was born as Karl Kosiczky on September 21, 1918 in Prakovce, Slovakia (then Prakfalva, Kingdom of Hungary). Diagnosed at an early age with pituitary dwarfism, Slover was barely two feet tall by his eighth birthday. Dwarfism was not a family trait; his father stood six feet six inches, and his mother was just a few inches shorter. Slover's father went to great lengths to make Slover taller, including making and taking him to Hungary, where doctors fixed stretchers to his arms and legs.

Career[link]

When Slover was just nine years old, his father sent him to work for a traveling midget show based out of Berlin, Germany. After working with the show for several years, Slover moved to the United States where he joined another traveling show.^[1] It wasn't long before Slover began appearing as midgets in films like The Terror of Tiny Town, Block-Heads, Bringing Up Baby, and They Gave Him a Gun.^[2]

Slover was working in Hawaii when his circus manager sent him to Hollywood, where 'little people' were needed for an upcoming film called The Wizard of Oz. At the age of 21 and standing just 4 feet 4 inches, Slover played the parts of four munchkins in the movie; the first trumpeter, a soldier, one of the sleepy heads, and was among those who sang "Follow the Yellow Brick Road".^[3]

After filming Oz, Slover began working for the 'Original World Famous Singers Midget Show' where he sang and danced throughout the United States. When the show ended in 1942, Slover joined the Royal American Carnival in Tampa, Florida. At this time he took the last name Slover, the last name of his stage manager.^[4]

Later years[link]

Slover remained very active in his later years and participated in several celebrations related to The Wizard of Oz. Every June, Slover attended festivities celebrating Judy Garland's birthday at the Judy Garland Museum & Birthplace in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.^[5] In November 2007, Slover joined seven other surviving munchkins in Hollywood where honorary mayor Johnny Grant unveiled a star dedicated to the munchkins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[6]

Slover died on November 15, 2011, at age 93. He was a lifelong bachelor, and resided in Dublin, Georgia, until his death.^[7] His interment was in Rentz's cemetery. At the time of Slover's death, three other munchkin actors were still alive from Oz: Jerry Maren, Margaret Williams Pellegrini and Ruth Robinson Duccini.

References[link]

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Richard Crouse (April 2011)

Richard Crouse (born May 26, 1963) in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada) is a television personality and host on Canadian television and news. He currently hosts In Short on Bravo!^[1], and was the host of Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running television show about movies, from 1998 to 2008 and is the regular film critic for CTV's Canada AM and 24 hour news source CTV News Channel.

Crouse is a regular pundit for Star TV's Best! Movies! Ever! and the host of The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen on Rogers Television. He is also a frequent guest on many Canadian radio and television shows including CBC Radio One's Go. In April 2008, his new Saturday afternoon radio show, featuring movie reviews and news, began its run on Newstalk 1010 in Toronto.

Crouse can be heard twice a week as the in-house movie critic on Newstalk 1010's morning show Moore in the Morning. He is also the author of six books on pop culture history including Who Wrote the Book of Love, the best-selling The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen and Reel Winners. His work has been featured in The Globe and Mail and The National Post, as well as several literary and music magazines.

In September 2008, his new book, The Son of the 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen was released through ECW Press. Reel to Real aired weekly on Rogers Television and the Independent Film Channel until August 2008, when Rogers TV discontinued production of the program.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Richard Crouse at Rogers Television
• Official Site

Margaret
Margaret Pellegrini in June 2006
Born	Margaret Williams (1923-09-23) September 23, 1923 (age 88) Tuscumbia, Alabama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1939, 1971

Margaret Pellegrini (born September 23, 1923) is an American actress and one of three surviving munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz,^[1][2] the other two being Jerry Maren and Ruth Robinson Duccini. She was born Margaret Williams in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was helping a relative in a potato chip booth at the Tennessee State Fair, a group of little people came by and asked if she wanted to join their show, Henry Kramer's Midgets. "At that time I didn't think I was a midget," says Pellegrini (who then stood about 3 ft. 4 inches).

In the film, Pellegrini played a "sleepyhead" and munchkin villager. After the film, she married Willie Pellegrini (an average-sized ex-fighter) and had two children.

Through the years, Pellegrini has frequently accompanied surviving Munchkins to Oz festivities. As of November 2011, she is a widowed great-grandmother living in Glendale, Arizona, with a room in her house devoted to her treasured Oz collectibles.

References[link]