Last Female From Wizard of Oz Dies

The last of the original female munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has died at the age of 95.

Ruth Robinson Duccini’s death means that only one other actor who played one of the 124 munchkins is still alive.

Cast members receiving a star on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood in 2007

Mrs Duccini, who was four feet tall, died of natural causes in a Las Vegas hospital on Thursday.
She was cast in the MGM fantasy film starring Judy Garland after travelling to California from her home in Minnesota.
Stephen Cox, author of The Munchkins of Oz, provided a recent statement made by Mrs Duccini about her experience on the set of the movie.

She said: "It was long hours and heavy costumes. We didn't have much time for ourselves. It was all new to me then, and I loved being a part of what is now a classic."
Ms Duccini met her husband while working at MGM, and the two had a son and daughter.
During World War Two, she worked as a riveter making planes and used her short stature to squeeze into parts of the aircraft that most people could not reach.

In 1981, she appeared in the spoof Under the Rainbow starring Chevy Chase and Carrie Fisher.
The only surviving original Munchkin is Jerry Maren, 93, of Los Angeles, who portrayed a member of the Lollipop Guild.