Margaret Pellegrini

Margaret Pellegrini ( Williams; September 23, 1923 – August 7, 2013) was an American actress, vaudeville performer and dancer, best known for playing one of the Munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Until her death in 2013, she was one of the three surviving munchkins, the other two being Jerry Maren and Ruth Robinson Duccini.

Life and career Pellegrini was born Margaret Williams in Tuscumbia, Alabama on September 23, 1923. When she was helping a relative in a potato chip booth at the Tennessee State Fair, a group of little people came by and asked if she wanted to join their show, Henry Kramer's Midgets. "At that time I didn't think I was a midget," says Pellegrini (who then stood about ). In the film, Pellegrini played a "sleepyhead" flower pot and Munchkin villager. After the film, she married Willie Pellegrini (an average-sized ex-fighter) and had two children. Through the years, Pellegrini frequently appeared at surviving Munchkins of Oz festivities.

Hollywood Walk of Fame

Pellegrini was present on November 21, 2007, when the remaining Munchkins were given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also named the Grand Marshal of that year's annual "Oz-Stravaganza" parade in Chittenango, New York, but health issues prevented her from attending. Near the time of her death, she was described as a widowed great-great-grandmother living in Glendale, Arizona, with a room in her house devoted to her treasured Oz collectibles.

Death Pellegrini died in Glendale, Arizona on August 7, 2013, due to complications from a stroke she had two days earlier. She outlived every major cast member of The Wizard of Oz. Her burial is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Avondale, Arizona.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1939 The Wizard of Oz Munchkin Villager/Sleepyhead Uncredited 1971 Johnny Got His Gun 1990 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic Acknowledgement credit 1993 We're Off to See the Munchkins 1994 I Married a Munchkin Sleepyhead 1997 Biography Herself 1 episode 2001 Memories of Oz 2005 Entertainment Tonight 1 episode Because of the Wonderful Things It Does: The Legacy of Oz 2009 The Yellow Brick Road and Beyond Herself/Munchkin Also special thanks credit Hollywood Celebrates Its Biggest Little Stars! Herself 2013 The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz