Margaret Pellegrini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
September 23, 1923
- Actress
- vaudeville performer
- dancer
Margaret Pellegrini | |
|---|---|
 Pellegrini in 2006 | |
| Born | Margaret Williams September 23, 1923 Tuscumbia, Alabama, U.S. |
| Died | August 7, 2013 (aged 89) Glendale, Arizona, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1938–2013 |
| Spouse | Willie Pellegrini |
| Children | 2 |
Margaret Pellegrini (née Williams; September 23, 1923 – August 7, 2013) was an American actress, vaudeville performer and dancer, best known for playing one of the Munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.[1][2] Until her death in 2013, she was one of the three surviving munchkins, the other two being Jerry Maren and Ruth Robinson Duccini.[3]
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Pellegrini was born Margaret Williams in Tuscumbia, Alabama on September 23, 1923. When she was helping a relative in a potato chip booth at the Tennessee State Fair, a group of little people came by and asked if she wanted to join their show, Henry Kramer's Midgets. "At that time I didn't think I was a midget," says Pellegrini (who then stood about 3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)). In the film, Pellegrini played a "sleepyhead" flower pot and Munchkin villager. After the film, she married Willie Pellegrini (an average-sized ex-fighter) and had two children. Through the years, Pellegrini frequently appeared at surviving Munchkins of Oz festivities.
Pellegrini was present on November 21, 2007, when the remaining Munchkins were given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She was also named the Grand Marshal of that year's annual "Oz-Stravaganza" parade in Chittenango, New York, but health issues prevented her from attending. Near the time of her death, she was described as a widowed great-great-grandmother living in Glendale, Arizona, with a room in her house devoted to her treasured Oz collectibles.
Death
Pellegrini died in Glendale, Arizona on August 7, 2013, due to complications from a stroke she had two days earlier. She outlived every major cast member of The Wizard of Oz.[3] She was 89.[4] Her burial is at Holy Cross Cemetery in Avondale, Arizona.