Ruth Leone Duccini ( Robinson; July 23, 1918 – January 16, 2014) was an American actress.

Biography

Ruth is best known as the penultimate surviving

Munchkin A Munchkin is a native of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. They first appear in the classic children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900) where they welcome Dorothy Gale to their city in ...

from the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. Her role in the film as a Munchkin villager was not credited. Her most recent appearances were when she and the other surviving Munchkins were presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 21, 2007, and attending the premiere of the film's 75th anniversary at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre. She also was seen in ''

Under the Rainbow ''Under the Rainbow'' is a 1981 American comedy film directed by Steve Rash and starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and Billy Barty. Set in 1938, the film's plot is loosely based on the gathering of little people in a Hollywood hot ...

'' (1981) and ''Memories of Oz'' (2001). While Duccini could not recall in 2013 what she earned filming ''Oz'', the Munchkin village actors were paid $50 a week during filming, plus room/board. She said of her

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

work: Duccini made the news again when

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

died, and critics of the former British premier tried to propel "

Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" is a song in the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. It is the centrepiece of several individual songs in an extended set-piece performed by the Munchkins, Glinda (Billie Burke) and Dorothy Gale. Highlighted by the Lol ...

" onto the chart to celebrate her passing. Duccini and

Jerry Maren Jerry Maren (born Gerard Marenghi; January 24, 1920 – May 24, 2018) was an American actor who played a Munchkin member of the Lollipop Guild in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film '' The Wizard of Oz.'' He became the last surviving adult Munchki ...

(who would become the last surviving adult Munchkin) said the song was never to be used in such a way, stating:

Death

Duccini died of natural causes in Las Vegas, aged 95, on January 16, 2014. She outlived every major cast member of ''The Wizard of Oz''.

Filmography

References

External links

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''The Wizard of Oz'' Special Screening Honoring the Munchkins Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duccini, Ruth 1918 births 2014 deaths Actors with dwarfism Actresses from Minnesota American film actresses People from Chisago County, Minnesota 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women