The Mayor of the Munchkins next to one of a pair of largish home stereo speakers in the early 1980s.
Over time, others claimed to have been the Mayor of the Munchkins, but I knew the genuine article, a man named Jimmy Bogle, who was a close friend.
There were actually two mayors of the Munchkins during production. They originally started with a more prominent actor who'd had a named part in the movie "The Terror of Tiny Town," 1938. Unfortunately there was a little alcohol problem that made the first choice unacceptable. Jimmy finished the picture, doing the majority of the appearances. If you look real carefully, you can see there's a difference in the mayors. As you watch the picture, the characters change back and forth because the picture was not shot in sequence.
A great raconteur, Jimmy used to regale me with tales of the making of the movie. In the early twentieth century, little people were often a source of embarrassment for their families and kept out of the public eye, much like Down’s Syndrome children and others with disabilities. But with the Depression still gripping the country, parents of little people seized the opportunity to use their children to earn money and sent their youngsters to work in the movie.
Because many had been sheltered, if not outright hidden away from public view, for most of the “Munchkins,” this was the first time they had been around others like themselves. Elated, they cut loose with newfound freedom, living it up in Hollywood. Jimmy himself was still a teenage boy, made up to look like an old man for the Mayor role, and gleefully participated in the revelry. Their antics (at least the PG-rated ones) were the inspiration for the 1981 film Under the Rainbow, starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, and acting’s most famous little person, Billy Barty.
Jimmy was extraordinarily intelligent and talented. During World War II, he worked in San Diego at Convair/General Dynamics as a lead engineer at the aircraft manufacturing plant. He held the patent on the rigging for the ramps on landing crafts that carried troops to storm the beaches on D-Day.
He went on to use his machinist skills to become a world-renowned gunsmith. From the 1960s to his retirement in the 1980s, he operated out of a tiny shop in an aging, shabby commercial neighborhood in San Diego. His exceptional talent as a gunsmith attracted hunters from all over the globe to have Jimmy customize their guns. From time to time, chauffeur-driven limousines pulled up in front of the humble shop, carrying maharajas, Arab princes and sheiks who trusted only Jimmy to work on their African doubles and costly hunting rifles before taking them on safari.
Jimmy was active in securing equal access for little people and served as chapter president and (we believe) national president of Little People of America, founded by his friend Billy Barty.
Although Jimmy would never reveal his age, these photos were taken when he was in his mid-sixties. He was probably born in about 1920 and passed away in his seventies.
The Mayor of the Munchkins next to one of a pair of largish home stereo speakers in the early 1980s.
Over time, others claimed to have been the Mayor of the Munchkins, but I knew the genuine article, a man named Jimmy Bogle, who was a close friend.
There were actually two mayors of the Munchkins during production. They originally started with a more prominent actor who'd had a named part in the movie "The Terror of Tiny Town," 1938. Unfortunately there was a little alcohol problem that made the first choice unacceptable. Jimmy finished the picture, doing the majority of the appearances. If you look real carefully, you can see there's a difference in the mayors. As you watch the picture, the characters change back and forth because the picture was not shot in sequence.
A great raconteur, Jimmy used to regale me with tales of the making of the movie. In the early twentieth century, little people were often a source of embarrassment for their families and kept out of the public eye, much like Down’s Syndrome children and others with disabilities. But with the Depression still gripping the country, parents of little people seized the opportunity to use their children to earn money and sent their youngsters to work in the movie.
Because many had been sheltered, if not outright hidden away from public view, for most of the “Munchkins,” this was the first time they had been around others like themselves. Elated, they cut loose with newfound freedom, living it up in Hollywood. Jimmy himself was still a teenage boy, made up to look like an old man for the Mayor role, and gleefully participated in the revelry. Their antics (at least the PG-rated ones) were the inspiration for the 1981 film Under the Rainbow, starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, and acting’s most famous little person, Billy Barty.
Jimmy was extraordinarily intelligent and talented. During World War II, he worked in San Diego at Convair/General Dynamics as a lead engineer at the aircraft manufacturing plant. He held the patent on the rigging for the ramps on landing crafts that carried troops to storm the beaches on D-Day.
He went on to use his machinist skills to become a world-renowned gunsmith. From the 1960s to his retirement in the 1980s, he operated out of a tiny shop in an aging, shabby commercial neighborhood in San Diego. His exceptional talent as a gunsmith attracted hunters from all over the globe to have Jimmy customize their guns. From time to time, chauffeur-driven limousines pulled up in front of the humble shop, carrying maharajas, Arab princes and sheiks who trusted only Jimmy to work on their African doubles and costly hunting rifles before taking them on safari.
Jimmy was active in securing equal access for little people and served as chapter president and (we believe) national president of Little People of America, founded by his friend Billy Barty.
Although Jimmy would never reveal his age, these photos were taken when he was in his mid-sixties. He was probably born in about 1920 and passed away in his seventies.