Sunday, July 8, 2001
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Sunday, July 8, 2001 |
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Original Munchkin coming to July Jam
"There's no place like home." One of the most famous phrases in motion picture history, those five words were spoken in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz." One of the few surviving performers from that film will be in Fayetteville for next weekend's July Jam. Mickey Carroll, one of the pint-sized Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz," is appearing the entire day of July Jam for autographs and photos in conjunction with the opening of the new Emerald City Ice Cream store in Fayetteville. Emerald City, to be in the Main Street Market Square center off Glynn Street, is set to open later this month. But the store's management will have a tent at July Jam, where Carroll will appear all day during the festivities, which are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Carroll is a native of St. Louis, where he was born in 1919 to normal-sized parents Joseph and Josephine Funocchiaro. By age 9, Carroll had dreams of his own career on stage and began taking free dancing lessons at St. Louis' Fox Theater. By age 10, Carroll, who had worked hard at miming Al Jolson, could think of little else but becoming a vaudeville star. With encouragement from his mother, he went on the road with his older brother. "I never, never thought of myself as a little person or limited in any way," says Carroll, who weighs 88 pounds and wears a boy's size 16 trousers. "I could have been six feet tall, but I turned it down," he jokes. One of his first jobs was to serve as emcee at two famous Chicago nightclubs owned by notorious gangster Al Capone, who just happened to be Carroll's actual godfather. "I was up on the stage, trying to emcee, when one set of gunshots began flying on the left-hand side of me, and another set on the right hand-side," Carroll said of one harrowing moment at the club. "I didn't ask any questions; I just ducked and ran off the stage." By 1936, Carroll was an established vaudeville star. Eventually, Judy Garland, who had once taken dancing lessons from him, called him and asked him to appear in "The Wizard of Oz." His first reaction was no. The money was not enough - $175 per week - and no one expected the film to become the classic it is today. Eventually Garland succeeded in talking Carroll into appearing in the movie. The producers agreed to pay him a weekly salary of $250 - making him one of the highest paid on the set. Carroll finally agreed, and upon doing so established a life-long friendship with Garland. An eternal optimist, Carroll believes that "Oz" will always be a classic movie because of its magic and hope. Today, he is the owner of Standard Monument Company on St. Charles Rock Road, a business he inherited from his father. If you were to visit his business, you would find upon display Wizard of Oz memorabilia everywhere. A giant rainbow adorns one wall. Celebrity photos of Carroll with Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr., George Burns and Judy Garland are on display. "I love people," explains the former Munchkin, "and I want them to know I came." Carroll is just one of the many attractions to be found at July Jam in Fayetteville. The fun begins at 10 a.m. and goes on throughout the day and evening. Highlights include appearances and performances by Mr. Puppet, Magician Ken Scott, former Harlem Globetrotter Michael Douglas, Rick Hubbard and His All Kid Kazoo Band and a J 93.3 $1,000 giveaway to one of the lucky festival attendees. Once the sun goes down, there will be more entertainment on the main stage by the fountain. The Coastline band will open at 7 p.m. for the Original Tams with Robert Lee Smith at 8. For information about July Jam, phone Nancy Price or Ann Woodall (770-461-6029) at the Fayetteville Main Street Department.
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