‘Wizard of Oz’ Munchkin Makes Final Bow

Mickey Carroll, one of the last surviving actors who played a Munchkin in the Judy Garland classic The Wizard of Oz, has passed away. He was 89 and died after a period of declining health, a BBC report said.
In keeping with Carroll's own background, his was a multi-talented resident of Munchkinland. He was a Munchkinland town crier, a Munchkin soldier and a Munchkin Fiddler. It was as the last of these that Carroll earned recognition for saying the famous line, "Follow the yellow brick road".
The Wizard of Oz (1939) was the second and last film that Carroll is credited with appearing in. The othermovie was the 1938 Warner Brother's musical Gold Diggers in Paris that starred Rudy Vallee, Rosemary Lane and was directed by Busby Berkeley.
Mickey Carroll was born on July 8, 1919 to Italian immigrant parents. As a child he took dance lessons at the St. Louis Fox Theater. He later worked in vaudeville as a singer and dancer and he acted in radio advertisements and plays. In some of the latter his co-stars included George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny and Al Jolson. He also worked as a nightclub emcee, in which capacity he performed at some of Al Capone's clubs in Chicago. Carroll's other appearances included being the opening act for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman in cross-country appearances during their Presidential campaigns.
In 2007 Carroll received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with six other actors who played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz. Although the classic status the film achieved contributed greatly to Carroll's fame, he was modest about his contribution to it.
"It's not me, it's the movie," he is quoted as saying. "When they see me, they think of their childhood, and it makes them smile."
The following announcement of Mickey Carroll's death was published on his website.
We are very sad to inform everyone that on the morning of May 7, 2009, St. Louisan Mickey Carroll, child star and entertainer, beloved Munchkin soldier, violinist, and proclaimer of the famous line: "Follow the yellow brick road!" passed away peacefully after a period of declining health. Mickey would have been 90 on July 8th, 2009.
Mickey, a lifelong resident of St. Louis, Missouri, spent his retirement years contributing to fund-raisers for the benefit of policemen, their families, and any and all causes related to children, such as the St. Louis Children's Hospital, where he often visited to entertain and cheer the children.