In his posthumous memoir, Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland, Sid Luft has lifted the lid on exactly what went on during Wizard of Oz filming – and it’s highly disturbing to say the least.
According to Luft, his ex-wife (he and Judy Garland were married between 1952 and 1965) was molested by some of the actors playing munchkins.
“They would make Judy’s life miserable on set by putting their hands under her dress,” Luft writes. “The men were 40 or more years old.”
“They thought they could get away with anything because they were so small.”
There’s only one living Munchkin actor left, so Luft’s allegations can’t be proven. However, salacious rumours about the munchkin actors have done the rounds in Hollywood for years, with tales of wild hotel orgies and prostitutes.
But in 2009, Munchkin actress Margaret Pellegrini denied all rumours, telling The Independent, “There were a lot of them who liked to go out and have a few drinks, but nothing got out of hand… There was no rowdiness or anything like that, and those stories are very upsetting,” reports People.
