| Birth: | Sep. 2, 1915 | | Death: | Apr. 9, 2010 | 
American Actor. One of the last surviving Munchkin-actors in The Wizard of Oz, he was also the last surviving cast member with any dialogue in the film. At 4'7", he played the coroner in The Wizard of Oz in 1939, with his lines being: "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. In addition to his role in the film, Raabe worked for many decades as a spokesman for Oscar Mayer, where he was known as "Little Oscar, World's Smallest Chef". He traveled in the first Wienermobile, produced in 1936. Raabe joined the Civil Air Patrol during World War II. After the war he earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Wisconsin and, years later, a master's degree in business administration from Drexel University. He married a cigarette girl who was his height, Margaret Marie Raabe (1915-1997). They were married for 50 years until her death in a car accident in 1997. Raabe published an autobiography, Memories of a Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down the Yellow Brick Road. He appeared in an October 2005 episode of Entertainment Tonight with eight other surviving Munchkins, and made a guest appearance on The Jimmy Kimmel Show on April 11, 2005. On November 21, 2007, he appeared with six other surviving Munchkin actors, including Jerry Maren at the unveiling of a Hollywood Star for the Wizard of Oz Munchkins on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On September 19, 2009 he appeared on National Public Radio program Weekend Edition Saturday. Raabe still made occasional appearances at Wizard of Oz conventions and celebrations across the country. In 2008 he was honored by the International Wizard of Oz Club with the organization's L. Frank Baum Memorial Award. (bio courtesy of: Wikipedia)
Family links:
Spouse:
Marie Raabe (____ - 1997)
Search Amazon for Meinhardt Raabe | | | Burial:
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery
Farmington
Jefferson County
Wisconsin, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: J. Rumage
Record added: Apr 10, 2010
Find A Grave Memorial# 50907156 |
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