Actor Karl Slover died 15 November 2011. Born Karl Kosiczky on 21 September 1918 in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Slovakia), he was one of the last surviving “Munchkin” performers from The Wizard of Oz (1939). In the film, he played four roles: the first trumpeter, a soldier, a sleepy head, and one of the singers who led Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road.
His 6’6″ tall father, ashamed to have a dwarf for a son, tried to have him stretched as a child, and then sent Karl to work in a traveling midget show when he was nine years old. Several years later, he joined another traveling show in the US, which was performing in Hawaii when his manager heard the call for little people needed for the film. His five other film appearances included The Terror of Tiny Town (1938).
In his later years, he remained active in Oz reunions, and was present for the unveiling of the Munchkins’ star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (see this article).
Slover was a lifelong bachelor, and died in his adopted home of Dublin, Georgia. His death leaves three remaining Munchkin actors: Jerry Maren, Margaret Williams Pellegrini, and Ruth Robinson Duccini.