Karl Becker (November 24, 1887 – December 28, 1968), billed as Charlie Becker, was a

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

actor. He was 3'9" in height, and is best known for appearing as the Mayor of Munchkinland in ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'' (1939). Billy Bletcher dubbed the Mayor's vocals in the film.

Biography

Becker was born near

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the town of Muschenheim. As a teenager, he worked as a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesale ...

, but often struggled to use the knives and other equipment, and was ridiculed by his fellow workers. When he was about 19, he began performing in travelling "

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...

shows", and eventually joined the Singer Midgets, a famous troupe led by Leo Singer of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. The Singer Midgets moved to the United States during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and became popular on the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

circuits. Becker became friends with

George Burns George Burns (born Nathan Birnbaum; January 20, 1896March 9, 1996) was an American comedian, actor, writer, and singer, and one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, radio, film, and television. His arched eyeb ...

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, and other stars of the time. Becker appeared in a few films during the 1920s and 1930s. These included '' Spangles'' (1926), '' The Terror of Tiny Town'' (1938), and, most notably, ''

'' (1939), in which he played the Mayor of Munchkinland. He was chosen for the role because of his large belly, round face, and facial hair, which were thought to be mayoral features. Because of his thick German accent, however, his voice had to be dubbed. On the set of ''The Wizard of Oz'', Becker met his future wife, Jessie Kelley, who played another Munchkin. She was originally from Mahaska, Kansas. The two married in 1940, moved to

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

for a short time and later settled in California, where they sometimes worked as

stand-in A stand-in, sometimes a lighting double, for film and television is a person who substitutes for the actor before filming, for technical purposes such as lighting and camera setup. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of film and tele ...

s for child actors. Later in his life, Becker opened his own sausage business.Cox, 171-173. Becker died of a stroke in California at the end of 1968. His interment (and his wife's) was in Lone Tree Cemetery in Fairview, near Hayward. Some controversy emerged in 1984 when obituaries for the actor Prince Denis stated that he had played the Mayor of Munchkinland. In reality, Denis had played the Sergeant-at-Arms.

Honours

In 2007, all 124 Munchkin actors in Oz were honored with a Star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

. For Becker this was a posthumous honor. Seven surviving Munchkin actors attended the ceremony: Mickey Carroll, Ruth Duccini, Jerry Maren, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe,

Karl Slover Karl Slover (September 21, 1918 – November 15, 2011) was a Slovakian-born American actor best known as one of the Munchkins in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). Only three other adult Munchkin performers remained alive at the time of Slover's ...

and Clarence Swensen."Munchkins of 'Oz' get a star on Walk of Fame". USA Today. 11/21/2007. Retrieved 08/08/2013.

Filmography

His performances in ''All Over Town'' and ''The Wizard of Oz'' were uncredited.

Notes

References

* Stephen Cox. ''The Munchkins of Oz''. Cumberland House Publishing. 2002. * Jerry Maren and Stephen Cox. ''Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin''. Cumberland House Publishing, 2006. * Meinhardt Raabe and Daniel Kinske. ''Memories of a Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down the Yellow Brick Road''. Back Stage Books, 2005.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Charlie 1887 births 1968 deaths Actors with dwarfism American actors with disabilities Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Male actors from Hesse German vaudeville performers American vaudeville performers 20th-century American male actors People from Washington County, Kansas Burials at Lone Tree Cemetery (Fairview, California)