Mickey Carroll, one of the last surviving cast members from the Wizard of Oz, died in his sleep at age 89 on Thursday. According to his caretaker, Linda Dodge, Carroll had heart problems and received a pacemaker in February, but she attributes his death to natural causes.
Carroll, born Michael Finocchiaro, was the son of Italian immigrants. He worked in Chicago clubs and on the Orpheum Theater vaudeville circuit in the 1920’s.
Known for his gift of gab and comedic timing, Carroll warmed up crowds for President Franklin Roosevelt while campaigning in New York City and worked as a crowd-getter in President Harry Truman‘s whistle-stop campaign.
The Wizard of Oz was Carroll’s only movie. He played the part of the Munchkinland Town Crier, as well as the candy-striped fiddler who led Dorothy down the yellow brick road, and a Munchkin Soldier.
In the mid-1940’s, Carroll returned home to St. Louis, MO, to run the family’s cemetery monument business which he eventually sold.
Carroll and six other surviving Munchkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in November 2007. See their video interview below.