'Wizard of Oz' Munchkin Dies: Margaret Pellegrini Suffers Stroke At 89, Just Two Munchkins Remain Alive

Margaret Pellegrini, one of the original Munchkins from the 1939 classic movie "The Wizard of Oz," has died at the age of 89.

The Associated Press reports, via Fox News, Pellegrini suffered a stroke at her home in Glendale Arizona on Monday and passed away at a Phoenix-area hospital on Wednesday. The news was brought to Fox by Ted Bulthaup, a Woodbridge, III., resident who owns a Chicago theater where Pellegrini, as well as several other Munchkins, have made special appearances for fans.

Pellegrini was 16-years-old when her role in "The Wizard of Oz" was filmed. She played a member of the "sleepy head" kids and wore a flowerpot on her head in the film. She leveraged her role as a Munchkin into becoming a guest speaker at grade schools across the Phoenix metropolitan area for many years. She would appear in costume to entertain the children as well as motivate them into going to the "right road."

The Arizona Republic reported she also told children that "The Wizard of Oz" is a moral lesson.

"There are two roads in life that you can take - the wrong road and the right road," she would say. "And remember, there really is no place like home."

She was once asked if she did any actually singing in the movie and revealed that all of the singing was done by adults and dubbed over the actors. "They just played the record faster so their voices would sound high," she said.

Bulthaup was an acquaintance of Pellegrini for more than a decade and described her as an energetic person.

"She really had a very robust personality. She was a great lady," he told the AP. "She was always on the move. You couldn't hold her down."

Following her passing, only two of the original 124 Munchkins from the film, Jerry Maren, 93, from Los Angeles and Ruth Duccini, 95 of Phoenix, are still alive.