Short and Sweet: The Life and Times of the Lollipop Munchkin

Jerry Maren Edited by Steve Cox

Jerry Maren is perhaps the most famous little person alive. When he came from Boston to California's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios to work as the Lollipop Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz, he was just over three feet tall. Short and Sweet is the memoir of the sixty-plus-year career — from Superman to Seinfeld — in which he carved out his own niche in Hollywood.

Short and Sweet is a lavishly illustrated treasury of old Hollywood that will amaze and entertain anyone who loves popular culture. It features candid commentary, mostly unpublished photographs, and a tell-all attitude. Readers will learn such information as:

• How Jerry Maren ended up in Hollywood to make The Wizard of Oz while still in his teens


• Life on the set with Judy Garland and 120 little people


• The truth about the rumors of drunken midget orgies and wild parties at the Culver Hotel


• What it was like to work with the Marx Brothers and to have dinner at Groucho's home


• USE tours during World War II with the midget wrestling act


• Being hired to dress as a baby and pee on Jimmy Stewart at the actor's bachelor party


• Watching Superman (George Reeves) plunge to the sound stage floor when a cable broke


• Touring as Little Oscar in the Weinermobile, complete with its breakdowns on the highways

His experiences as Buster Brown on television in the 1950s

• Working with the greats in radio and television: the Our Gang comedies, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, Lucille Ball, Edgar Bergen, Andy Williams — and even Tiny Tim


• Appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies, Star Trek, Superman, Bewitched, The Odd Couple, Get Smart, Laugh-In, Night Court, Seinfeld, and many more


• Performing at the White House dressed as Freddy the Frog


• Headaches in the makeup chair on the set for The Planet of the Apes


• Working with Ronald McDonald in scores of colorful McDonald's commercials in the 1970s


• Playing Mayor McCheese and the Hamburglar to millions of children




JERRY MAREN continues to travel the country to make appearances at Oz-related events, film conventions, nostalgia shows, and Little People of America conventions. He lives in Los Angeles, California.




STEPHEN COX is a freelance writer currently living in Los Angeles. He has written more than a dozen successful books on film and television, including The Munchkins of Oz, Here’s Johnny! The Munsters, The Addams Chronicles, The Abbott & Costello Story, Dreaming of Jeannie, and Here on Gilligan’s Isle. Cox worked closely with Buddy Ebsen as researcher and editor for the actor’s autobiography, The Other Side of Oz, in 1993.

$21.95, Paperback
ISBN-10: 1-58182-543-9 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-58182-543-5 (Paperback)
Paperback Available May 2008