edonline, I think its hard not to. I agree with Zelda that in Under The Rainbow, the "little people" were used just as props and were generally ridiculed. She was an adult before she was at peace with her small size. She worked for many years as a lab technician in blood banks before giving up lab work for acting in 1978. She hates how little people are generally portrayed in movies. January 27, 2010 in General Discussions, latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-zelda-rubinstein28-2010jan28,0,3155116.story, Zelda Rubinstein, who played psychic in 'Poltergeist,' dies at 76. Her activism *started* with "Under the Rainbow". Pat Bradley (screenplay), Would she rather they be unemployed during The Great Depression? Recommended Posts. © 2020 Turner Classic Movies Inc. A Time Warner Company. "It was an internal feeling that I was sabotaging myself.". In videos made to be shown in gay bars, her sons appeared as bare-chested young men. ), A Nearly Unrecognizable Madonna Tells Fans To Vote –”Get Out There & Take Responsibility People!”. (in which little people were treated with respect). Pat McCormick (screenplay), Edited by: hamradio on Jan 27, 2010 11:33 PM - Fixed typo. to Rebecca take a look back at the career of Armie Hammer on and off the screen. For an enhanced browsing experience, get the IMDb app on your smartphone or tablet. Does anyone knows how did "The Terror or Tiny Town" faired at the box office considering how it was uniquely made? Fred Bauer (screenplay), Chevy Chase movies: 12 greatest films, ranked worst to best, include ‘Vacation,’ ‘Caddyshack,’ ‘Fletch’, Debbie Lee Carrington Dies: Actress In ‘Total Recall’ And ‘Star Wars’ Was 58. | ", Kael added that Rubinstein was "so fresh a performer" that after she delivers a speech about the spirit world, "you want to applaud her exit line.". You're a prop.". It works as the studio's talent agent (Fisher) books rooms for all of their wouldbe munchkins. Rubinstein, who also appeared as the mother figure in a high-profile mid-1980s public awareness campaign in Los Angeles aimed at stopping the spread of AIDS, died today of natural causes at Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles, said Eric Stevens, her agent. "You're not an actor if you're just a person that fits into a cute costume. This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies. The very recent "Mini-me" in the Austin Powers movies is a good example, but are we complaining, no, Lol. I learned to meet everyone head-on.". 98 min I think she was referring to the Chevy Chase movie, not the Wizard of Oz: > Her activism began on the set of "Under the Rainbow. "I began to emotionally armor myself for what I knew I had to do, and how very lonely out there it was going to be.". "Because I was born mouth first, it's natural for me to be a spokesperson," she said with a laugh in a 1982 People magazine interview. I guess she's "short-sighted". ", Sheila Benson of The Times called Rubinstein's Tangina "the most original and reassuring character in the film. Some even had great memories of making the movie. At the bottom, it says, "L.A. CARES . Log in, Watch Dylan Sprouse’s Gay Escort Short Film “Daddy” In Its Entirety Here, #WerkWear: This “Straight, Married Guy” Loves “Incorporating High Heels & Skirts” Into His Wardrobe, Former Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten Is Against Gay Parenting and Pro-Trump: “He’s the Only Sensible Choice”, First Look: Colin Ferrall as the Penguin (Hint: He Doesn’t Look Like THIS Anymore! The 4-foot-3 actress made her film debut in 1981; she later was a regular on the TV show 'Picket Fences.' "I had to do something creative," she told People in 1982. . | . Harry Hurwitz (screenplay), Plus, it did give them decent employment during the depression, before our society accepted them as "regular people" able to do regular jobs as today. Don't you go building your next project on top of a graveyard, Mr Trump! Oh' I'm sorry, I didn't know I was crowding you.) ", In the wake of "Under the Rainbow," she formed the nonprofit Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater Company in Los Angeles. > She hates how little people are generally portrayed in movies. And as a result of her success in The Wizard of Oz, Garland's ... or Zelda Rubinstein play a Munchkin in The Movie? The Film Stage Some even had great memories of making the movie. She was 76. He took his stupid day job with dignity and actually kicked Robin William's butt when he screwed up. You're a prop. Of her screen debut, Rubinstein wrote: ", The New Yorker's Pauline Kael raved that the "character gives the movie new life, and she makes a large chunk of it work. << Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive character actress with the childlike voice who was best known as the *psychic* >>. The same day Rubinstein was asked to do the campaign, a friend of hers died of AIDS. Movies and TV shows starring Zelda Rubinstein, including mistakes, quotes, questions, trivia and more. But Rubinstein made her biggest impact as Tangina in director Tobe Hooper's ?Poltergeist,? No, none of these now well-known little people actors appeared in The Movie, as they were all too young. ", Rubinstein's message to the 16 actors in her company, whose height ranged from 3 feet 8 to 4 feet 6, was: "Become an actor and your world will get much bigger.". My favorite portrayal of a "little person", however, was Danny Woodburn in Death To Smoochy. The plot is based on the 1938 gathering of little people in a Hollywood hotel to audition for roles as Munchkins in The Wizard Of Oz. For horse lovers, it had ponies only. One example is a movie TCM showed about a year ago, "The Terror of Tiny Town" (1938). "I couldn't and wouldn't do those parts, which would have been degrading for anyone," she told The Times in 1982. Excellent performance and I wish there were more roles out there like that. In a 1992 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Rubinstein said she "had a rough childhood, [but] I became very verbally facile. You know what's worse? I think the Munchkins are nice people in "The Wizard of Oz", they didn't have a hangup over playing the role. "I just decided it was a very interesting variation," she said. 2 August 1981, 19 December 2019 By edonline, January 27, 2010 in General Discussions. In one ad with the words "Don't forget your rubbers" at the top, Rubinstein is seen wearing an apron and talking to her son, who is clad only in shorts and holding an umbrella. Main cast list ends with a separate dedication: "and Leonard Barr as Pops Good-bye, Leonard, we'll miss you very much...", $2,297,493 . Followers 0. ", >"It's absolutely despicable," she said of the way the little people portraying Munchkins were used as comic relief in the movie. . "She had ongoing health issues and unfortunately they finally overtook her," he said. The B-Side – Carrie Fisher, 08 October 2018 The plot is decent without getting in the way of the comedy, the acting is great, and the dialogue is often superb (What floor do you want? Some posters for the film featured a long blurb that read: "Somewhere, Under The Rainbow, way down low--Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher and 150 midgets are fighting valiantly to save our country against all Oz!". This is because Ms. Rubinstein brought to life one of the most beloved and identifiable supporting characters in horror movie history--the tiny medium Tangina Barrons from Poltergeist, … "It was the first AIDS education and prevention campaign in Los Angeles and one of the very first in the United States," added Thompson, who said calls to the organization's hotline "skyrocketed after the campaign came out.". A medical lab technician before launching her acting career in her 40s, the 4-foot-3 Rubinstein made her film debut as one of the little people in the 1981 Chevy Chase comedy "Under the Rainbow.". . The temporary manager (Arkin) of the Culver Hotel, across from MGM in 1939, changes its name to Hotel Rainbow to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the soon-to-be shot Wizard of Oz. . ", "It's absolutely despicable," she said of the way the little people portraying Munchkins were used as comic relief in the movie. I think there were few exceptions during the 1930's in which little people were treated with some dignity in acting roles. > I think the Munchkins are nice people in "The Wizard of Oz", they didn't have a hangup over playing the role. Carrie Fisher Scene Stealing Performances, View production, box office, & company info, Fred Bauer (story),   |  Rubinstein made her film debut in the hard to watch Under The Rainbow (1981) starring Chevy Chase, Carrie Fisher, Eve Arden, and little person Billy Barty. Rubinstein told The Times in 1985 that she was looking for a way to get involved in the fight against AIDS when she was approached to play the mother in the campaign L.A. CARES (Los Angeles Cooperative AIDS Risk-Reduction Education Service), which was launched in early 1985. Finally, sift in a Japanese agent (Mako) and a dwarf Nazi spy (Barty) who are looking for each other in a hotel full of Japanese and dwarfs. . That poor Zelda died three times on this message board. He played a charactor that acted in a kids show in a costume, not unlike a munchkin. Best known for her role as the eccentric psychic Tangina Barrons in the 1982 film Poltergeist, Rubinstein also made a brief, but classically funny, appearance as an organist in the John Hughes film Sixteen Candles and worked regularly in movies and television until 2006. A visiting dignitary, a CIA agent, a Nazi spy, Japanese tourists, an assassin and a group of "midget" actors from The Wizard of Oz (1939) all check into an elite Los Angeles hotel called Under the Rainbow.