Betty Ann Bruno has died at the age of 91.
The actress - who passed away on Sunday (30.07.23) - played a Munchkin in the 1939 classic 'The Wizard of Oz' and was thought to be one of the last surviving cast members from the movie.
According to The Santa Rosa, California publication The Press Democrat, Betty was dancing at the Sonoma Women's Club on Sunday, when she developed a "sudden splitting headache".
Her husband Craig Scheiner drove her to the hospital, where "she had a massive heart attack and collapsed on the floor" at the front desk.
Schneiner told the publication: "She had no major health issues. Her heart just wore out. She died of old age."
After 'The Wizard of Oz', Betty moved on to a career in TV presenting and won three Emmy Awards for her work before publishing her memoir 'The Munchkin Diary: My Personal Yellow Brick Road' in 2020.
She is survived by her second husband Scheiner - who she met at KTVU, where he worked as a cameraman, producer and editor and she was a journalist.
She is also survived by her three sons.
Betty was just eight years old when she was cast alongside a whole host of adult little people to belt out classics like 'We Welcome You to Munchkinland' and 'Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead' in 'The Wizard of Oz'.
Following the death of co-star Jerry Maren in 2018 aged 98, Betty spoke out to confirm that despite reports, he was not, in fact, the last surviving Munchkin but acknowledged that her face can not be seen in the final cut.
She told TMZ: "I said, ‘Wait a minute, I’m a Munchkin and I’m still alive!’ We were always in the background. They didn’t want to see children’s faces but they wanted our little bodies!"
Other cast members to pass in recent years included Ruth Duccini - who played a Munchkin but died in 2014 at the age of 95 - and Scarecrow actor Ray Bolger, who died in 1987 at the age of 83.
