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You may not recognize the name of Jerry Maren, but everyone knows who he is. Jerry was the Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz who handed the lollipop to Dorothy. He was one of the three tough-acting little people who sang, "We represent the Lollipop Guild." But you also know Jerry as Buster Brown of Buster Brown shoes, and Little Oscar, the world's littlest chef, who traveled with the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile.    Over his career, Jerry has worked with many of the greats of Hollywood - the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball, Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, Andy Williams, Buddy Ebsen, George (Superman) Reeves, and many others. Jerry recalls acting with the Marx Brothers in At The Circus. He played Professor Atom. "The Marx Brothers were a lovely group of guys. Working with them was a blast. I was laughing all the time because they were so funny. The director finally came over and told me, ‘You can't laugh,' because I was playing a suspect in a murder case." Groucho even invited Jerry to his house for dinner one evening. "He probably thought I was the typical starving vaudevillian who hadn't had a decent meal. When he invited me to dinner, he said (in typical Groucho fashion), ‘Maybe you'll grow.'"  Jerry has acted in 39 movies over his career, many of them uncredited, such as in Samson and Delilah, Planet of the Apes, Tron and Spaceballs. In addition to movies, you have seen Jerry on TV quite a bit. He was a regular on The Andy Williams Show, and he acted in episodes of The Lucy Show, The Odd Couple, The Twilight Zone, Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Gong Show, and more. Before Jerry's most famous scene with Dorothy when he was just 19, he was "discovered" while touring New England with a song and dance act, "Three Steps and One-Half." Actually, Jerry's mother deserves much credit for starting his career when she encouraged him to attend dance lessons with his sister. Jerry impressed the three teachers of his class with his talent and they invited him to go on tour with them. After a show at the Bonn Hotel in Hartford, CT, a man came back stage and complimented Jerry on his talent. He then told him about the upcoming Wizard of Oz movie to be shot in LA and offered him a part. The pay was $50 per week plus all expenses paid. Did he want the job?  "Sure. I'd have gone for nothing." Jerry spent six weeks on the set making movie history. "I didn't know anything about The Wizard of Oz before we shot the movie. I thought it was going to be a typical MGM musical, but when I got on the set, there were two camera crews, two audio crews, guys from the music department were there, and everyone had an assistant. I could see they were spending a lot of money on this picture." Even though $50 a week was good money in the 1930's, there was no union at the time, so there were no residuals. There were also no commissions from the movie's memorabilia. The regular actors did well, though. Judy Garland was paid $500/wk; Clara Blandick (Aunt Em), $750/wk; Billie Burke (Glinda, the Good Witch) $766.67/wk; Margaret Hamilton (Wicked Witch of the West) $1000/wk; Bert Lahr (Cowardly Lion) and Frank Morgan (five roles, including the Wizard) $2500/wk; Ray Bolger (Scarecrow) and Jack Haley (Tin Woodsman), $3000/wk; Terry (Toto) and her trainer, $125. The Munchkin actors were discouraged from socializing with Judy Garland because as soon as her scenes were done, she was whisked away to her dressing room to be tutored. The studio would not let her miss any schooling.  "Judy Garland was a lovely gal, the typical American teenager. She got a bigger kick in working with us than we did with her. Every morning, she would come out and go goo-goo eyed when she saw us - 124 midgets on the set. I didn't have any contact with her after the movie, but before we left, she gave all of us an autographed picture." Jerry will tell you that, without a doubt, the scenes in Munchkin Land are the best in movie history. The visual effects of going from black and white to color (in 1939 no less), Glinda arriving in a soap bubble, Dorothy's house falling on the Wicked Witch of the West when she tries to get the ruby slippers, and the great songs all make it the greatest. "All those songs - not just mine from the Lollipop Guild, but the Lullaby League, ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road,' and ‘Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead,' are all great songs." Jerry helped make the Oscar Mayer Company a household name and the world's leading meat producer at that time. As Oscar, the World's Smallest Chef, Jerry traveled with the Weinermobile for events at stores.  "We started with two or three stores a day, and then it grew to four, eight, and 16. I was finally visiting 32 stores a day. I finally had to quit because the work was too tough. I didn't have time to eat." But working as Oscar had its light memories, too. "I gave our wiener whistles to the kids during the stops. After a while, the store managers would come out and yell at me to stop giving them out because the kids were all blowing them in the store." Another contributing factor to Jerry giving up his role as Oscar was the problems with the Weinermobile. "Every Saturday night on our way home, the Weinermobile would break down," sighed Jerry. FILMOGRAPHY: Jerry has starred in Bit Players (2000) .... Oompa Loompa Dreamer of Oz, The (1990) (TV) .... Mr. Munchkin ... aka Dreamer of Oz: The L. Frank Baum Story, The (1990) (TV) Great Outdoors, The (1988) (uncredited) Spaceballs (1987) (uncredited) House (1986) .... Little Critter ... aka House: Ding Dong, You're Dead (1986) (USA: video title) Hot Moves (1985) .... Arcade Vendor It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (1984) (TV) .... Elf 3 Being, The (1983) .... The Monster ... aka Easter Sunday (1983) ... aka Freak (1983) ... aka Pottsville Horror, The (1983) High School U.S.A. (1983) (TV) .... Robot Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) (uncredited) Tron (1982) (uncredited) "No Soap, Radio" (1982) TV Series .... Morris Under the Rainbow (1981) .... Hotel Rainbow Guest Side Show (1981) (TV) .... Tom Tiny Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) .... Bell Man Bad News Bears Go to Japan, The (1978) .... Page Boy "Gong Show, The" (1976) TV Series .... Confetti Thrower (1976) Little Cigars (1973) .... Cadillac Bigfoot (1970) .... Child Bigfoot Planet of the Apes (1968) (uncredited) .... Bit part ... aka Monkey Planet (1968) "Andy's Gang" (1955) TV Series (voice) .... Buster Brown Superman and the Mole Men (1951) .... Mole Man ... aka Superman and the Strange People (1951) Samson and Delilah (1949) (uncredited) .... Bit Part When My Baby Smiles at Me (1948) .... Midget Are You with It? (1948) (uncredited) .... Midget Three Wise Fools (1946) (uncredited) .... Sir Boulder Duffy's Tavern (1945) (uncredited) .... Midget That's the Spirit (1945) (uncredited) .... Midget Great John L., The (1945) ... aka Man Called Sullivan, A (1945) (UK) Show Business (1944) (uncredited) .... Midget Johnny Doesn't Live Here Any More (1944) .... Gremlin ... aka And So They Were Married (1944) (USA: reissue title) Silent Partner (1944) (uncredited) Flesh and Fantasy (1943) (uncredited) .... Midget ... aka Six Destinies (1943) Beyond the Blue Horizon (1942) (uncredited) Fingers at the Window (1942) (uncredited) .... Small Boy True to the Army (1942) (uncredited) Maisie Was a Lady (1941) (uncredited) .... Midget At the Circus (1939) (as Jerry Marenghi) .... Little Prof. Atom ... aka Marx Brothers at the Circus, The (1939) (USA: promotional title) Wizard of Oz, The (1939) (uncredited) .... Lollipop Guild Tiny Troubles (1939) .... Light Fingered Lester.
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