Bruno also enjoyed a successful career as a TV reporter. <\/p>
Betty Ann Bruno \u2013 one of the last surviving actors to have played a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz \u2013 has passed away, aged 91.<\/p>\n
The child actor turned journalist died on Sunday 30th July after suffering a heart attack, it has been reported.<\/p>\n
Bruno was just seven years old when she was cast as one of the residents of the magical world of Oz, with Victor Fleming\u2019s film having gone on to be remembered as a landmark moment in the history of cinema \u2013 frequently featuring among lists of the greatest movies of all time.<\/p>\n
She had also previously appeared in an uncredited role in the film Hurricane, which was directed by legendary filmmaker John Ford.<\/p>\n
In her adulthood, Bruno did not pursue acting full-time but instead embarked on a career as a journalist, which also brought her a great deal of success.<\/p>\n
She worked as a TV reporter for the station KTVU in the San Francisco Bay area from 1971 until her retirement in 1991 and won three Emmys for her work \u2013 awarded for breaking news, news-feature series, and investigative series respectively.<\/p>\n
In 2020, she published a memoir titled The Munchkin Diary: My Personal Yellow Brick Road, which detailed her experiences both as a child actor and journalist.<\/p>\n
Former colleague Rob Roth explained in a statement to KTVU<\/a> that \u201cBetty Ann was always able to get the interview\u201d, and that \u201cshe really did care about the community, cared about reporting, she was just a real treasure, a joy to know\u201d.<\/p>\n