Elly Schneider, 90, an Original Munchkin
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Elly Annie Schneider, a midget and actress who played a Munchkin villager in the “Wizard of Oz,” has died. She was 90 and lived in Sarasota, Fla.
Born in Stolpen, Germany, as the youngest of nine children, Schneider moved to the United States in 1925 to join three siblings who were also midgets. She was 39 inches tall and weighed 46 pounds.
The four siblings traveled to California to appear in the “Wizard of Oz” and were among the little people who welcomed Judy Garland’s Dorothy to Munchkinland in a memorable 10-minute scene. They also appeared in “Sailors, Beware,” a 1927 Laurel and Hardy short, and the cult classic “Freaks” in 1932.
Her death leaves nine of the original 124 Munchkins surviving.
