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Whispers have long circulated, primarily fueled by the cast members themselves, about the off-screen antics of the actors who portrayed the residents of Munchkinland in the classic film. Allegedly, these performers indulged in wild behavior during their downtime.
Judy Garland, the iconic star of “The Wizard of Oz,” famously remarked during a 1967 interview with Jack Paar, “They were little drunks. They got smashed every night and the police used to scoop them up in butterfly nets.”
However, Jerry Maren, famed for his role as the green plaid-wearing member of the Lollipop Guild and the last surviving Munchkin until his passing at 98 in 2018, contested this portrayal. He addressed the claims in his 2006 memoir, “Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin,” co-authored with Stephen Cox.
“Judy was telling it according to her pills and booze that day,” Maren wrote, suggesting that Garland’s statements were skewed by her own struggles. “She left behind a legacy of untruths about us,” he added, defending both himself and his fellow cast members.
Among the approximately 120 little people featured in the film, Maren noted, “There were a couple of kids from Germany who liked to drink beer.” These individuals, he explained, enjoyed beer at all hours and occasionally found themselves in minor trouble, but according to Maren, they were the exception rather than the rule.
Margaret Pellegrini, who played a Munchkin villager, had fond memories of the experience. “My father worked in a hotel and earned about $5 a week. I got paid $50 a week,” she recalled. “It took eight weeks to make the Munchkinland scenes, after which I stayed in Hollywood for a month to sightsee.”