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<p>LOS ANGELES &#8212; Jerry Maren, the last surviving munchkin from the classic 1939 film &#8220;The Wizard of Oz&#8221; and the one who famously welcomed Dorothy to Munchkin Land, has died at age 99.</p><p>Maren died May 24 at a San Diego nursing home, his niece, Stacy Michelle Barrington, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.</p><p>In an entertainment career that spanned more than 70 years, he portrayed The Hamburglar and Mayor McCheese in McDonald&#8217;s commercials, appeared in scores of films and TV shows and made personal appearances as Little Oscar for Oscar Mayer hot dogs.</p><p>But it was his role as one of the Lollipop Kids in &#8220;The Wizard of Oz&#8221; that always held a special place in his heart. He would show up regularly at film conventions, munchkin gatherings and other events honoring the cast over the years.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve done so many things in show business but people say, &#8216;You were in The Wizard of Oz?&#8217; It takes people&#8217;s breath away,&#8221; he told writer Paul Zollo during a 2011 interview for the publication North Hollywood Patch.</p><p>&#8220;But then I realized,&#8221; he added, &#8220;Geez, it must have been a hell of a picture, because everyone remembers it everywhere I go.&#8221;</p><p>Maren, who stood just 4-feet-3, was one of more than 100 little people recruited to play munchkins in the movie.</p><p>He stood out from almost all the others, however, as the &#8220;Lollipop Kid&#8221; who sang and danced his way to front and center before the film&#8217;s star, Judy Garland as Dorothy, and then, with a flourish, handed her an oversized lollipop.</p><p>Maren said he ad-libbed that lollipop handoff in an early take and the director liked it so much he told him to keep doing it.</p><p>Just before the presentation he danced between two other Lollipop Kids as they moved toward Garland singing, &#8220;We represent the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild, the Lollipop Guild. And in the name of the Lollipop Guild, we wish to welcome you to Munchkin Land.&#8221;</p><p>More than half a century later he&#8217;d adlib the song&#8217;s lyrics, concluding, &#8220;We wish to welcome you to Smithsonian Institute,&#8221; as he helped lead the unveiling of a 2006 exhibition of the movie&#8217;s memorabilia at Washington&#8217;s Smithsonian Institution.</p><p>&#8220;He was a very sweet person and he was very approachable if you were a fan,&#8221; his niece said Wednesday. &#8220;He was the kind of person who would always take time to talk to you.&#8221;</p><p>Born Gerald Marenghi in Boston on Jan. 24, 1919, Maren was singing and dancing at a show at a Connecticut hotel in 1938 when MGM talent scouts saw the diminutive teenage actor and invited him to Hollywood to join the munchkin cast. Having dreamed since childhood of a being a Hollywood film actor, he jumped at the chance. He would later recall being paid $50 a week for the role, twice what his father was making.</p><p>He&#8217;d go on to appear in dozens of other films, TV show and commercials.</p><p>But Maren&#8217;s connection to &#8220;The Wizard of Oz&#8221; never faded.</p><p>He attended munchkin reunion gatherings frequently, and with the 2014 death of fellow munchkin Ruth Robinson Duccini he became the group&#8217;s final survivor.</p><p>Maren was preceded in death by his wife, Elizabeth Maren. The couple had no children.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In this Sept. 24, 2009 file photo, Jerry Maren attends the &#8220;Wizard of Oz&#8221; 70th Anniversary Emerald Gala in New York. Maren, the last surviving munchkin from the classic 1939 film &#8220;The Wizard of Oz,&#8221; died on May 24, 2018, at a San Diego nursing home. He was 99. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_120604464-9317e26a411643909a0c56ac0d11505a.jpg</photo0><caption0>In this Sept. 24, 2009 file photo, Jerry Maren attends the &#8220;Wizard of Oz&#8221; 70th Anniversary Emerald Gala in New York. Maren, the last surviving munchkin from the classic 1939 film &#8220;The Wizard of Oz,&#8221; died on May 24, 2018, at a San Diego nursing home. He was 99. </caption0><photoCredit0>Charles Sykes | AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Rogers</p><p>Associated Press</p></bylineMeta></div>

Last surviving ‘Wizard of Oz’ munchkin dies at 99