One of the last surviving actors in “The Wizard of Oz” is dead at age 94.
Elaine Merk Binder, who played a Munchkin in the 1939 movie, died on Sunday, her daughter Annette Phillips announced. A cause of death was not given.
According to Variety, Binder was 8 years old when she filmed her uncredited role in the classic MGM film based on Central New York native L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” novels. Binder was one of eight children who danced and sang as part of the Munchkin ensemble, most notably appearing in a dark green dress and hat in the second little house up the steps during the song “Come Out, Come Out.”
“I tried out for the ‘Wizard of Oz’ Munchkins. For me it was scary. It was my first big call for girls from a major studio,” Binder said, according to Variety. “I was relieved when Bud told the dance director, ‘She’s O.K.’ I did not have to perform like the others did. And they selected me as one of the eight who would both dance and sing. We learned later that they had added girls to the Little People because they had the mistaken impression that the Little People were not athletic.”
Binder also appeared in “Our Gang,” later known as “The Little Rascals,” in 1937; “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in 1938; and “Barnyard Follies” in 1940. She most recently appeared in the 2024 documentary “Mysteries of Oz,” which featured 85 questions and answers about “The Wizard of Oz” for its 85th anniversary.
According to Variety, Binder declined an offer from Paramount to continue acting as a teen and went on to college, getting degrees in music, education from Cal State Los Angeles. She also studied computer science and theology, eventually working as a computer consultant for USC and First Interstate Bank.
Binder is survived by her son George, her daughter Annette, and six grandchildren.
“The Wizard of Oz” remains one of the most beloved films of all time, following Kansas farm girl Dorothy Gale as she’s taken to the Land of Oz by a tornado. The story and characters created by Baum have inspired dozens of movies, musicals, TV shows and other novels, including “Wicked” and an upcoming Amazon Prime series from Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton.
Most of the people who worked on the original 1939 film have died, including those who attended the annual Oz-Stravaganza festival in Chittenango like Jerry Maren, Karl Slover and Margaret Pellegrini. Maren, who played the Lollipop Guild member who handed Dorothy a lollipop, died in 2018; Slover died in 2011; Pellegrini, the “Sleepyhead Munchkin,” died in 2013.
Caren Marsh Doll, who was Garland’s stand-in for “The Wizard of Oz,” is believed to be one of the last cast members still alive today at 106 years old. Marsh’s feet were the ones seen in the movie when Dorothy clicks her heels together in the ruby slippers.
