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 Americans, 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 thei ...
from the 1939 film ''
The Wizard of Oz
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' or ''The Wizard of Oz'' most commonly refers to:
*'' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', a 1900 American novel by L. Frank Baum often reprinted as ''The Wizard of Oz''
** Wizard of Oz (character), from the Baum novel serie ...
''. 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
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
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 hotel ...
'' (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.]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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
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 Munchkin ...
(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
*
''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