Gerard Marenghi, eventually known as Jerry Maren, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of eleven or twelve children. His father, Emil Marenghi, worked at a shoe factory. His four brothers and five sisters were six feet or taller by 1939.\n', '

At the age of 12, Maren started taking dancing lessons with his sister. He toured around New England with his dance instructor with an act called Three Steps and a Hop and was noticed by MGM scouts who were looking for three little guys who could sing and dance. Maren received a telegram, just after graduating from High school, asking him to come to California to work on a movie. He was offered nearly $100 per week plus expenses.\n', '

In The Wizard of Oz, he played the green-garbed member of the Lollipop Guild (between Jakob "Jackie" Gerlich and Harry Earles), handing a lollipop to Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland). Maren was eighteen/nineteen years old when he shot his scenes for The Wizard of Oz in the latter part of 1938 and early 1939. At that time he stood just three feet six inches (107 cm). (Hormone treatments would allow Maren to grow to a height of four feet six inches (137 cm) later in life.)\n', '

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