by Robert Killam

Created on: May 16, 2009

Even as a young boy, Michael Finocchiaro found himself drawn to entertainment. He was born to Italian immigrant parents on July 8, 1919, in St. Louis, and was especially drawn to carnival performers as a young lad. His official website says that he earned $50 a night in amateur contents with what they called a "precocious talent". At the age of nine years old, Mickey simply stopped growing, two years after he started taking dancing lessons at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. He was a full seventeen inches shorter than his six-foot older brother, but the older boy helped Mickey acquire performances as a singer, dancer, and emcee. By seventeen, he was doing Phillip Morris radio ads (as a bellhop), and in 1937, at the age of eighteen, he met then-fifteen year-old Judy Garland, who others might know better as Dorothy. During that time, he was also doing shows with Mae West, and serving as the emcee at many of the Chicago clubs owned by his godfather, Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone.

While working with the Orpheum Theater circuit in a vaudeville act, Mickey became friends with young Judy, and their friendship led to his being cast as a violin-playing munchkin in the land of Oz in their now world-famous production made back in 1939. It was the last movie Mickey ever did, when he realized his height would prevent him from obtaining any long-term success in theater. In the mid-1940s, he opted to run the family business in gravestones. He also occasionally appeared on TV and radio interviews over the years, but spent much of his time as a philanthropist.

Of all his passions, Mickey was known for two: children and St. Louis sports. He spent much of his time fundraising for any and all organizations related to kids, and would frequently visit and entertain children in the hospital. He also teamed with St. Louis teams in their fundraising, and-in keeping with St. Louis culture-was a huge fan of Cardinals baseball. He spent a great deal of money in contributions to the Cardinals-related Albert Pujols Foundation.

In what some considered a move that came sixty-eight years later than it should have, Mickey (along with six of his Munchkin co-stars from Wizard of Oz) were given the honor of a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Mickey spent his retirement years as a philanthropist and part-time entertainer in parades and on the radio. He was known to his friends as having the best talent of being a wonderful human being, but the giving came to an end when Mickey died of a heart ailment on May 7, 2009. "The man with a giant's heart" was 89 years old.

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