![]() ![]() “Her long, brown hair cascaded down to her shoulders and she had the sweetest smile I had ever seen,” he recalled. His curiosity piqued, Raabe went to the hotel and saw 4-foot-6 Marie Hartline in the lobby. Howard St.Ī butcher told him about a little woman who worked at the Mayflower. Raabe had grown a foot since “The Wizard of Oz.” He stood 4-foot-7 and wore a chef’s uniform and white hat as he promoted canned meat in the store at 25-27 S. He toured the nation with the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Meinhardt Raabe portrays Little Oscar, the “World's Smallest Chef," in 1938. Famous lines in ‘Oz’Īfter Dorothy’s house falls from the sky and crushes the Wicked Witch of the East, it’s Raabe’s character, through a dubbed voice, who announces: Made up to look like an old man, he wore an orange wig, beard and mustache, all fashioned from dyed yak hair. The 23-year-old actor landed a role as one of 124 Munchkins in “The Wizard of Oz,” and one of only nine to have a speaking part.Īs the coroner, Raabe donned a purple felt costume and a distinctive purple hat with curled edges. Raabe (pronounced “Robby”) had been touring the country with the Wienermobile since 1937, giving in-store demonstrations of Oscar Mayer products, when he answered a casting call for little people at MGM Studios in California. “I was at a complete loss for words from the moment I saw that young girl in the hotel lobby,” Raabe recalled in his 2005 memoir “Memories of a Munchkin.” “I must aver that she was the most drop-dead gorgeous girl I had ever seen (luckily, I didn’t have far to drop), and I instantly fell in love with her.” ![]() More: Staff profile: Meet the Beacon Journal’s Mark J. More: Local history: Futuristic bank machines offered 24-hour service in 1970s More: Vintage photos: 50 memorable Cleveland TV personalities He was traveling with the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, portraying Little Oscar, the “World’s Smallest Chef,” in 1941 when he met the cigarette girl at the Mayflower Hotel in Akron. Wisconsin native Meinhardt Raabe, a 3-foot-6 actor who played the coroner of Munchkinland in the 1939 Hollywood musical, fell head over heels in love with former vaudeville star Marie Hartline, also a little person, during a business trip to Ohio. Perhaps more than most movies, The Wizard of Oz was sadly home to many regrettable moviemaking decisions that would never be allowed to happen today.Meinhardt Raabe, portraying the coroner of Munchkinland, stands next to Judy Garland in this publicity photo for “The Wizard of Oz." The other actors, from left, are Jack Glicken, Johnny Winters, Bobby Rhodes, Charles Becker, Matthew Raia and Jakob Hofbauer.Ī Munchkin from “The Wizard of Oz” followed the yellow brick road to Akron and found his heart’s desire. Ironically, as the movie’s reputation as a classic movie has increased, stories about the film’s production - and the appalling treatment of cast and crew, including Garland - have complicated its legacy.Įven the movie’s iconic makeup designs - which helped create indelible characters like the Tin Man and the Wicked Witch of the West - have wreaked havoc on the film’s stars. While the family-friendly musical fantasy plays well for all ages, The Wizard of Oz wasn’t as pristine in real life as it appears on screen. Judy Garland and Billie Burke | FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is famous for its problematic production But its production is mired with dark rumors, including one about a potential suicide on set. Over the years and especially the rise of home video, it became one of cinema’s greatest landmarks. The 1939 movie - which stars Judy Garland as a Kansas girl who gets literally swept up on an adventure to the magical land of Oz - was a sensation upon its initial release. For generations, The Wizard of Oz has been a beloved classic. ![]()
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