The Yellow Brick Road
Gift Shop & Oz Fantasy Museum
109 E. Yellow Brick Road (950 N),
Chesterton, IN 46304 (219) 926-7048
Celebrating 30 Years! 1978 to
For immediate release – November 7, 2008
Actor to be honored for 1939 film role at Christmas open house . . .
Chesterton, IN – In late 1938, 20 year-old movie actor and vaudeville star Karl Slover began a journey that would become an adventure and propel him to international stardom. His life was changed forever when he was cast as a Munchkin in MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz” starring Judy Garland. The film was released by MGM in 1939 and to this day, Oz fans enjoy spotting Slover performing his two roles in “The Wizard of Oz.” He played one of the Sleepy Heads in a cute pink outfit and the first of the three trumpeters who help the Munchkinland Mayor herald the arrival of Dorothy. The film has become an American classic. Now, nearly seven decades later, Slover is being memorialized by famed sculptor Michael Roche. Marilyn Zengler, proprietor of The Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop in Chesterton, Indiana, and her staff thought it would be fitting to honor Slover as the 70th anniversary of the movie approaches in 2009. To kick-off the celebration, Zengler commissioned Roche to create a work with Slover as the focal point. The result is “Munchkin Trumpeter” a figurine that depicts Karl as he appeared in the film—trumpet and all! Both Slover and Roche will be at the Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop for a special, world debut unveiling and autograph party Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15 for a special Christmas Open House, which also marks the 30th anniversary of the Yellow Brick Road. This is a strict limited edition of only 300 figurines and the figurines are not available generally as they are being sold only in Chesterton and only at the Yellow Brick Road. Cameras are welcome and those attending are encouraged to take a photo with Slover and Roche as the celebrities autograph the figurine.
Born Karl Kocisczky in Prakendorf Deutch, a region of Hungary, on September 21, 1918, he took the name of Karl Slover in the 1940s. Slover is the family name of the people who provided him with a family, warm home and employment. They remain his family to this day. His childhood was not pleasant, his father was horrified at his small stature and tried many terrifying procedures to “make him grow” (some with the help of doctors and all over the protestations of his mother) including painfully stretching him and submerging him in a barrel of boiled coconut leaves. In 1927 an agent of vaudeville producer Leo Singer signed Karl to the world-renowned Singer Midgets act. Barely ten years old, Karl heard his father tell the agent that he “was glad to get rid of him.” Now nearly 90, Slover is the last surviving member of the Singer Midgets and has enjoyed a career that has included appearing in such films as “The Lost Weekend” with Ray Milland and “The Terror of Tiny Town” as well as movies with The Ritz Brothers, Alice Faye and Laurel & Hardy. He has been a Munchkin guest at Munchkinland Market Days at Chesterton’s Yellow Brick Road the past four years and appeared at the Indiana Wizard of Oz Festival for over 20 years.
Michael Roche sculpted the Wizard of Oz series for Dave Grossman Creations in 1989, the 50th anniversary of MGM’s classic “The Wizard of Oz.” The eleven piece series met with immediate success and by 2005, each had become a prized collectible for art collectors as well as Oz collectors. The series also brought Michael to Munchkinland Market Days where he has been a prized guest for every festival since the first in 1994. The series includes Dorothy & Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Lion, Glinda the Good Witch, the Wizard, the Monkey, the Mayor, the Lollipop Kid, the Coroner and the Wicked Witch of the West. The Wicked Witch was nominated for Figurine of the Year in 1990 by New York based Collector Editions Magazine.
Michael hasn’t created a new figurine in the series since 2005 when the Yellow Brick Road commissioned the Margaret Pellegrini “Munchkin Townslady” figure.
Born and raised in the Midwest, Roche majored in Art Education at Elmira College in New York and later studied at the Ontario Collage of Art. For over 25 years Roche has worked as a commercial sculptor, creating pieces of art for Warner Brothers, MGM, Enesco, Dave Grossman Creations, Roman Museum Collections, Inc., 7 UP, Pillsbury and Wick “n” Sticks.
He was voted Golf Artist of the Year by Golf Digest in 2001. His sports series includes twelve designs showcasing golf legends including Walter Hagen and the first winner of the British Open, Wilie Park. Many of his initial sculptures were firefighters in action including an 1890’s “Steam Pumper/Fire Engine” in bronze. He has received acclaim for his fire pieces including “Courage Under Fire,” “Taking Command,” “Facing the Enemy” and “Extrication.” Michael released “United We Stand” in 2002 to recognize the 9/11 disaster and also created the famed 1986, “Our American Heritage” series commissioned by Museum Collections, Inc.
Also scheduled to be on hand to help celebrate is noted poster artist Rick Ewigleben. A graduate of Hobart High School, Ewigleben now oversees his own art studio in Chicago’s trendy Andersonville area. He has debuted six posters in the limited edition Ewigleben Wizard of Oz series, each at the Chesterton shop. In 2003, Rick began the series of Oz Tribute posters created in the poster-art style of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. The Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop is the exclusive retailer of the posters.
The Yellow Brick Road’s 30th Anniversary Christmas Open House will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15. Both Michael Roche and Karl Slover will be available for autographing and photo taking from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to Noon and 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the shop. Rick Ewigleben will appear Saturday only from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Christmas refreshments will be served. The Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop & Oz Fantasy Museum is at the corner of State Route 49 and the Indiana Toll Road and may be reached at their website www.yellowbrickroadonline.com or by calling (219) 926-7048.
