Meinhardt Raabe

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Meinhardt Raabe (born September 2, 1915, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin) is one of the oldest surviving Munchkin-actors from The Wizard of Oz, and is now the only surviving cast member with any significant dialogue in the film.

He appeared in an October 2005 episode of Entertainment Tonight with eight more surviving Munchkins, and made a guest appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on April 11, 2005. In addition to his role in the film, wherein he played the coroner who pronounced the death of the Wicked Witch of the East, Raabe worked for many decades as a spokesman for Oscar Mayer.

Raabe graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1937, and appeared in The Wizard of Oz in 1939. His only lines in the film were:

As coroner, I must aver

I thoroughly examined her

And she's not only merely dead

She's really, most sincerely dead!

These lines, like most of those delivered by the Munchkins, were dubbed over with the speeded-up voices of other performers.

[edit] Post Oz

He joined the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, he earned an MBA, and married a cigarette girl who was his height; Margaret Marie Raabe (1915-1997).^[1] They were married for fifty years until her death in a car accident in 1997. As of 2007 he lives alone at the Penney Retirement Community in Penney Farms, Florida.^{[2] [3]}

He recently published an autobiography titled Memories of a Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down the Yellow Brick Road. (ISBN 0-8230-9193-7).

Despite his age Raabe still makes occasional appearances at Wizard of Oz conventions and celebrations across the country.

[edit] External links

• Meinhardt Raabe at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] References

1. ^ Margaret Marie Raabe (1915-1997) was born on February 25, 1915 and died on 22 October 1997 according to the Florida Death Index
2. ^ Barry, Dan. "He Confirmed It, Yes He Did: The Wicked Witch Was Dead", New York Times, February 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-14.
3. ^ Barry, Dan. "No Ordinary Coroner, No Ordinary Life", Seattle Times, February 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-02-19.