"The Wizard of Oz"
Hazel Derthick Resmondo
I was walking out of the grocery store in Hawthorne, California when I saw two midgets waiting for a bus. I couldn't help but stare at the couple as they visited with people and finally got on the bus.
Later that year I learned three things about this couple. First, I learned that their names were Buster and Hazel. Second, I learned that they were actors. Third, I learned they were my cousins. When my mother came to visit us she also went to the home of Buster and Hazel for a visit. It was not until I got my mother's genealogy material that I found out that my mother and Hazel wrote many letters to each other and shared a lot of information about our family.
In a Life-Line Series, given in 1941, when Hazel was featured, she is quoted as saying, "1 didn't realize I was different from other people (she is four feet, two inches tall) until I started in high school back in Oklahoma. Then I noticed that the other girls were having dates and some of them were even married. Everyone still treated me as a child because of my size. So, to make up for this, my parents spoiled me - as much as their finances would allow. They gave me dancing lessons - and from the moment I did my first pirouette, I could think of nothing else. So I quit High School and spent all my time studying ballet with a French dancing teacher".
Hazel worked as a young Jerry Mathers' stand-in for Leave it to Beaver during the 1950's. When Mathers grew and she did not, the studio fitted her with lifts.
For the most part, Hazel worked as a stand-in for children, as in the case of the Sound of Music [1965]. She also worked in the films Pygmy Island [1959], Dance with Me Henry [1956], and The bad seed [1956]. Many pages of her scrapbook were devoted to shots of her and Jerry "the Beaver" Mathers from her nearly five years stint as his stand-in on the TV's Leave it to Beaver . Barbara Billingsley, who played June Cleaver, stayed in touch with Hazel over the years. "Hazel was such a loveable ham and we all liked her so much. She stayed with us for years, first just Hazel, then with spike heals, and in the end she stood on an apple box. The Beaver wouldn't stop growing."
Perhaps the easiest way to tell about her movie career is to copy from a write-up printed in the Centinola press of Hawthorne, California, dated 18 February, 1962:
BIG STORY UNFOLDS FOR HAWTHORNE COUPLE
Although the telephone directory might not confirm it, Mickey and Minnie Mouse are full-fledged residents of the city of Hawthorne. When, in 1945, the two Disney characters were at the peak of their celluloid careers, the major film studios sent out a call for two actors, only 52 inches high, who could masquerade as Minnie and Mickey.
The studio found the small mimics in Hawthorne and the two "mouse" impersonators entertained children in a statewide department store tour. Major TV and movie studios have found valuable assets in Hazel and Buster Resmondo, both 52 inches in height.The Hawthorne couple has served as stand-ins for many entertainment world moppets. Hazel has been a stand-in for Beaver in the "Leave It To Beaver" show and a double for Rusty and Linda on the "Danny Thomas Show". Buster was a movie stand-in for Rommy Tottig when the young actor starred in "My Mother". In earlier days, Hazel
portrayed the good fairy in "Sleeping Beauty" and Buster an elf in "Midsummer Night's Dream" when he shared the bill with James Cagney in 1935. Hazel was the main double for Margaret O'Brien in many of the child star's pictures.
The Munchkins -- Hazel is the third from the left.
It was in 1938 when the Resmondos were featured in the "Wizard of Oz," and as the pigmies in the Jungle Jim epic, "Pigmy Island".
Concerning her doubling for child star who operate under a very tight schedule for besides acting, they must attend school. By using Hazel for a stand-in, directors could complete many scenes while the children are in school".Science fiction producers have utilized Buster's size to make movie monsters appear huge in comparison to the small actor. As a stunt man, Buster once "fell" down two flights of stairs in a Loretta Young picture.
The Resmondos belong to the "Little People of America
Club", a nationwide organization with over 700 members. Hazel is still active in studio work and Buster is employed at Douglas Aircraft Corporation. However, Buster recently retired and the couple continues to live in Hawthorne, California.Another article in the Hawthorne newspaper tells the story well.
By Pat Jackson
Hawthorne may not have many elves or leprechauns, but the city does have some "little people," and famous ones at that.
Diminutive Hazel and Buster Resmondo, longtime residents of the area, stand about four feet, four inches tall, and have been in many movies and television shows, as well as being active in the community.
Mrs. Resmondo's first movie was the "Wizard of Oz" where she "danced her feet off." The movie starred Judy Garland.
She was also the main double for Margaret O'Brien in many of the child star's pictures and doubled for Natalie Wood when the actress was a little girl and starred in "Green Promise".
Buster in earlier day did stunt work for Tommy Rettig in "My Mother" and George Stevens in "Greatest Story Ever Told." He also worked with Dean Stockwell in "Dawn the Sea in Ships," which starred Wendell Corey.
In 1935, Buster shared the bill with James Cagney, when he portrayed an elf in "Midsummer Night's Dream."
More recently, Mrs. Resmondo has been on several TV series, including "Breaking Point," Bonanza," "Gunsmoke" and "Wagon Train." She also doubled for Rusty and Linda on the "Danny Thomas Show," and Jerry Mathers on "Leave it to Beaver."
Hazel met Marilyn Monroe While the star was making the film Bus Stop.
All around Hazel's room were autographs from Judy Garland, Billie Burke, and Ray Bolger as well as photographs of herself with Jack Haley. Memorabilia from her days in films and television plastered the walls and filled every corner.
She loved to talk about The Wizard of Oz. and if you asked, she did her "Munchkin laugh," a high-pitched giggle She got only five dollars a day for her work in the Wizard of Oz film.
Hazel has many newspaper clippings and pictures of people with whom she has worked, including many prominent movie and TV stars.
Billie Burk autographed this portrait for Hazel.
Hazel lived the last years of her life comfortably in the Eastern Star Home in Los Angeles, surrounded by her business memorabilia. Hazel appeared on the CBS Evening News on January 30, 1989, in a story about the anniversary of Oz. A few weeks later she died of a massive stroke on February 13, 1989.
