- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMeinhardt Frank Raabe
- Nickname
- Meiny
- Height4′ 7″ (1.40 m)
- Raabe was born in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1915. In 1934, he was a member of the Midget City cast at the Chicago World's Fair. The money from his appearances at the fair and other places was how he paid for his bachelor's in accounting and master's in business administration.
His wife, Marie Hartline, worked for a vaudeville show called Rose's Royal Midget Troupe.
After Oz, while the film always remained a large presence in his life, he was a pilot and an instructor in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, worked as a spokesman for the Oscar Mayer hot dog company for 30 years, a horticulturist, and teacher as well as during later years toured fan conventions.
- IMDb mini biography by: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8613996.stm
- SpouseMarie Hartline Raabe(December 15, 1946 - October 23, 1997) (her death)
- Best known as the Munchkin Coroner in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
- When the Hollywood Walk Of Fame star dedicated to the 124 Munchkin actors's was unveiled in 2007, Raabe attended the ceremony, dressed in a huge hat with a rolled brim, as seen in the film. He also spoke his famous line from the movie to the fans present. At the time he was one of only seven of the group left.
He delighted fans by reciting his most famous line: "As coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not only merely dead. She's really most sincerely dead.". - He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1937 with a Bachelor's Degree in accounting and earned an Masters of Business Administration degree from Drexel University in 1970.
- He was one of nine Munchkins to have had a speaking part in the Wizard of Oz.
- The Raabes' station wagon crashed into a van that had stopped for a turn near their home at the Penney Farms retirement community. Marie died of injuries sustained in the accident, and Meinhardt and a van passenger were injured.
- He served in the United States Civil Air Patrol in World War II as an aviator.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
