Dead Page: The Big and the Small of It

Three enetrtainers I've enjoyed many times in the past have died recently.

DOM DELUISE 1933-2009

Actor Best Known for Work with Brooks and Reynolds. Died May 4th.

Really, really funny guy who was also on Dean Martin's 1970s variety show and with Burt Reynolds in "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Cannonball Run."

He also starred in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles," "Silent Movie," "History of the World: Part 1," a voice in "Spaceballs," and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."

Said Brooks of Deluise, he "created so much joy and laughter on the set that you couldn't get your work done. So every time I made a movie with Dom, I would plan another two days on the schedule just for laughter." High praise.

From the May 6th Chicago Tribune.


MICKEY CARROLL 1919-2009

Played Munchkin Town Crier, Fiddler and Soldier on Wizard of Oz

Died May 7th. One of the last-surviving of the more than 100 adults and children who played Munchkins in the 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz." He said they made only $125 a week for their efforts. It was his only movie and after it appeared on TV, he found a new career at charitable events, retail shows and Oz-related events.

He said, "It's not me; it's the movie. When they see me, they think of their childhood, and it makes them smile."

This was the only movie he ever was in, but he did the Phillip Morris live radio shows and also shows with George Burns, Gracie Allen, Jack Benny and Al Jolson.

In "The Wizard of Oz," he played the roles of Munchkinland town crier, marched as a Munchkin soldier, and was the candy-striped fiddle who escorted Dorothy down the yellow road toward the Emerald City.

After the movie was shown on TV in the sixties, he had a new career in charitable events, retail shows, and Oz-related events. In November 2007, he and six other surviving Munchkins received a star as a group on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From the May 6th Chicago Tribune.