Jerry Maren (January 24, 1920) is an actor of diminutive stature. Jerry was born Gerard Marenghi, in Boston, Massachusetts. He acted in The Wizard of Oz playing a member of the Lollipop Guild, handing the lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland). When Jerry acted in The Wizard of Oz he stood three foot four inches. As a young man he appeared in a local act known as "Three Steps and One Half."
After The Wizard of Oz Jerry continued acting and appeared in many movies and television shows (including an episode of Seinfeld). Some of these were several of the Our Gang comedy shorts, the Marx Brothers At The Circus and as an ape in Battle For The Planet of The Apes.
In the 1950's Jerry worked as a Little Oscar for the Oscar Mayer Company and as Buster Brown on television and radio commercials. Later he joined his friend Billy Barty in organizing Little People of America. Jerry has also portrayed Mayor McCheese and The Hamburglar in commercials for McDonald's.
In the late 1970s Jerry was the dapper little man on The Gong Show, heralding each show's big finish with an onslaught of confetti as Milton Delugg's band played "Hoop Dee Doo."
Jerry continues to occasionally act in movies and television shows as well as traveling the country appearing at Wizard of Oz festivals and autograph signings. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Barrington), currently reside in southern California.
He took dancing lessons when he was young and aspired to be an actor. In November 1938, standing just three foot four, he met up with the Oz-bound group of little people in New York and went by bus to California. There he was chosen to be the Munchkin who hand Dorothy a welcoming lollipop.
