'Oz' munchkin Meinhardt Raabe dies

One of the last remaining munchkins from The Wizard Of Oz has died from a heart attack at the age of 94.

Actor Meinhardt Raabe, who played the munchkin coroner, was responsible for pronouncing the Wicked Witch of the East as "most sincerely dead" in the iconic movie. His caregiver confirmed that he passed away on Friday in hospital after going into cardiac arrest.

At just 1.37m tall, Raabe was one of seven remaining munchkins who attended the 2007 unveiling of a Hollywood Walk Of Fame star in honour of the troupe. According to the BBC, he delighted fans at the event by reciting his line: "As coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her. And she's not only merely dead. She's really most sincerely dead."

Raabe was 22 when he landed the famous role, which later spawned his book Memoirs Of A Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down The Yellow Brick Road. In 2005, the Florida Times-Union visited his retirement home and reported that he still kept a signed photograph from Judy Garland which read: "For Meinhardt. A perfect coroner, and person, too."