MGM Munchkin Ruth Duccini has died.

I don't have a link yet, but I just learned that Ruth Robinson Duccini passed away today at 95. She was the only cast member to attend the recent IMAX 3D screening of "The Wizard of Oz" at the Chinese Theatre.

Now only Jerry Maren survives as a little person who played a Munchkin in the 1939 film.

RIP, dear Ruth. I will always remember your smile.

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She was my favorite of all the remaining Munchkins I met at the 2009 Emerald Gala for the 70th Anniversary of the film at the old Tavern on the Green.

Here's a picture of her (on the right) with Lorna Luft and in front of her from left to right Jerry Maren, Margaret Pellegrini, Reinhardt Raabe, Karl Slover and Ruth.



I had a lovely chat with Ruth and it all felt so fragile: the Munchkins were dying and Tavern on the Green was closing.

But the movie would live on.

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Updated On: 1/16/14 at 02:20 PM

A very sweet post.

I don't mean this harshly, but what in God's name is Lorna wearing?

I don't mean this harshly, but what in God's name is Lorna wearing

That's what Lorna was wondering!



It was the Emerald Gala. All the women were outfitted in emerald dresses and emeral jewelry and emerald shoes by name designers.

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Lorna gave me a pot holder from the event. I still have it somewhere!

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PJ, that photo made me laugh out loud. Her expression is priceless!

Reg, that's a wonderful, magical story. How special you could share it with them.

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Wizard of Oz cast member Dorothy Barrett is still alive!

http://youtu.be/ICrIeNOlJPQ

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Oh, lovely!

I thought Bobbie Koshay was Judy's stand-in.

Bobbie Koshay was Judy's double. She is actually seen on film in several key instances: falling into the pigpen, the famous shot opening the farmhouse door into Munchkinland (it's Bobbie, wearing Sepia-tone makeup and dress who opens the door, steps out of the frame, then Judy, in a color dress, walks through the door in the same shot), and Bobbie also is lifted off the ground by the flying monkeys.

Caren Marsh-Doll was Judy's stand-in. She spent many hours under the hot lights while they tested the Technicolor film exposure using a "lily." She also rehearsed all of the dancing and the Munchkinland sequence with the Munchkins for days, plotting it all out with the cameras, before Judy stepped in and filmed it. Caren also spent quite a while testing all of the tornado sequence staging with the giant fans. It was filmed and reviewed before they shot the final footage with Judy, so they could test what worked and what didn't. A gingham dress and ruby slippers were made for Caren as well, since she was used for so much of the testing and lighting. But Caren does not appear in the final film, like Bobbie Koshay.

That's the difference between a stand-in and a double (at least in this case).

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WOW thanks for that info Besty...very interesting.

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You're welcome!

The doubles are used in some key moments in the film. It's Betty Danko, not Margaret Hamilton that we first see as the Wicked Witch in Munchkinland after the red smoke clears. She was the one catapulted up to "ground level" to suddenly appear in the shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnXAl1ntt_4

And there are several instances of the doubles on-camera for the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Lion.

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The reason Caren was hired for the job was that she was a dancer, so they used her to try out out all the choreography and staging, both in studio rehearsal space and on-set run-throughs with the cameras.

Dorothy doesn't dance much in the film, but it was all tested and rehearsed with Caren first (with choreographer Bobby Connolly and assistant choreographer Donna Massin).

Caren is also 4'11", same as Judy.

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