JERRY Maren, 18 when he made “The Wizard of Oz” in 1939, is one of five Munchkins who will appear when a newly restored version of the classic is shown tomorrow at the New York Film Festival. The Post chatted with Maren, who is interviewed in new DVD and Blu-ray releases out next Tuesday.
You play the leader of the Lollipop Guild that welcomes Dorothy to Oz. How did you get the part?
I was just out of high school in Massachusetts and appearing in vaudeville Times Square with an act called Three and a Half Steps. I was approached by a casting agent who said, “We need little people who can sing and dance.”
I’ve heard you had never met another little person.
No, not until I got to MGM and there were 124 of us — young boys, young girls, old guys and old women. We were all paid $50 a week because we didn’t have agents. They thought we were stupid, but we knew we were getting the shaft. Toto was getting $150 a week.
What was it like filming your number?
It was so simple, for me anyway, because I was a dancer. The two other guys weren’t, and I felt sorry for them. Director Victor Fleming was up on a crane, and I remember him telling us, “You’re supposed to be tough guys,” and he demonstrated that thing we did with our mouths. We wore rubber caps on our heads, which was very hot under the Technicolor lights.
How long did you work on the picture?
About two weeks. Whenever they needed a Munchkin extra in another scene, I was in there. I loved Judy Garland. She was an angel to work with.
Did you think “The Wizard of Oz” would become a classic?
Never for a minute. We thought it was just a typical MGM musical.
You played a Munchkin again in “Over the Rainbow,” a 1981 Chevy Chase comedy that shows little people drinking and carrying on during “The Wizard of Oz.”
That movie’s a piece of s – – – . There were a couple of German guys who kept getting plastered when we made “The Wizard of Oz,” but none of the other stories are true. Including the one about the dead Munchkin hanging in the window of the cottage in the forest. I also played a Munchkin in a TV movie, “The Dreamer of Oz,” which is included in the new DVD release. I even got billing for that one.