The Doll Family
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Doll Family was a group of four dwarf siblings from Germany who were popular performers in circuses and sideshows in the United States from the 1920s until their retirement in the mid 1950s.
They were:
- Gracie (born Frieda A. Schneider, March 12, 1899 – November 8, 1970)
- Harry (born Kurt Fritz Schneider, April 3, 1902 – May 4, 1985)
- Daisy (born Hilda Emma Schneider, April 29, 1907 – March 15, 1980)
- Tiny (born Elly Annie Schneider, July 23, 1914 – September 6, 2004)
The Dolls were four out of a family of seven children (the rest being of average size) born to Emma and Gustav Schneider in Stolpen, Germany. Harry and Grace were the first of the quartet to begin performing in sideshows, as "Hans and Gretel". In 1914 they were seen by an American, Bert W. Earles, who brought them to the United States to tour with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. The siblings lived in Pasadena, California, with the Earles family. Earles also brought Daisy and Tiny to the United States (in 1922 and 1926 respectively) where they joined Harry and Grace in their act.
At this time, the Dolls began touring with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, where they sang, danced, and rode horses. They would work on the Ringling sideshow for the next thirty seasons, with the exception of the 1952 season when they were replaced by members of Nate Eagle's Midgets. Daisy in particular earned the nickname of and was often billed as "The Midget Mae West." By this time, the entire family had adopted the Earles' surname; they would retain that name until Mr. Earles died during the 1930s, when the tiny performers became the Dolls - a name which reflected comments overheard from their audiences.
Harry was the first to begin his film career, with director Tod Browning for the Lon Chaney vehicle The Unholy Three (1925) as the ruthless midget Tweedledee. He later reprised the role for the 1930 sound remake, again with Chaney but this time directed by Jack Conway. The family also began appearing in films together, almost always as circus performers, and acted in some comedies with Laurel & Hardy. Harry and Daisy were cast in major roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's 1932 film Freaks, while Tiny had a small bit part. In fact it was Harry himself who brought to Tod Browning's attention the Tod Robbins story "Spurs" on which the film was based. All four siblings played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz (1939 movie), with Harry playing a small featured part as one of the members of the "Lollipop Guild" who welcome Dorothy upon her arrival in Oz. The Dolls racked up quite an impressive number of film credits, which allowed them in later years to dub themselves "The Moving Picture Midgets."
The Dolls were a close-knit family who always lived, ate, and worked together -- with the exception of Daisy's brief marriage in 1942 to an average-sized man, Louis E. Runyan, which ended in divorce less than a year later. The family's opportunities as film actors had always been limited, and they stopped appearing in films, although Daisy later played a small part in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). They returned to the travelling sideshows, where they were staple attractions through the late 1950's. When the Ringling train shows ended in 1956, the Dolls started touring with the Christiani Circus, living in a trailer they pulled behind their car. The Dolls found this to be an unacceptable situation, so in 1958 they jointly retired.
Their decades with the circus had provided them with a good living, and they bought a house in Sarasota, Florida, in which all four lived. The house was often featured in magazines, and was furnished with custom built, reduced size furniture. In the grounds of the house was a "Doll's House", which the family opened to the public. Each of the four remained living in the house until their deaths. Tiny, the last survivor, lived there for many years before dying, following a long illness.
