The Doll Family was an American quartet of sibling entertainers with dwarfism from Stolpen, Germany. They were popular performers in circuses and sideshows in the United States from the mid-1910s until their retirement in 1958. The family members—Gracie, Harry, Daisy and Tiny—also appeared briefly in films; they were best known as members of The Munchkins in the 1939 MGM film The Wizard of Oz. Harry and Daisy, billed as Harry Earles and Daisy Earles respectively, both starred in the cult classic film Freaks; Tiny also made a brief appearance in the film. Members History Early years The Doll family were four of seven children born to Amelia Emma Preusche and Gustav Schneider in Stolpen, Germany. They were encouraged by their father to work in the entertainment field, taking advantage of their "hypopituitary" status. Kurt and Frieda were the first to migrate to California in 1916, after they met Bert W. Earles and his wife, who became their agents. The Earles had toured with the Dancing Dolls family prior to becoming actors under new names. Kurt and Frieda changed their names to Harry and Grace to act in films, and they adopted the surname Earles of their manager. Their first dance appearance was for the Buffalo Bill Show in the roles as "Hansel and Gretel", for which they were hailed as the "Smallest Dancing Couple in the World". Hilda, who later came to be known as Daisy Earles, joined her brother and sister in California in the early 1920s. Another sister, Elly, joined them in 1926; she was called "Tiny" because of her appearance. All four siblings, who had earlier taken the surname Earles, changed it to "Doll" after the death of their manager, Earles. At this time, the Dolls began touring with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, where they sang, danced and rode horses and wagons for the next 30 years. Daisy soon earned the nickname "Midget Mae West" and was often billed as such. Franz Taibosh, an Afrikaner with the circus, had a crush on Daisy Earles, but she was not interested as she was already married to the family's chauffeur and bodyguard. Film roles The Doll family had a brief tenure in film, Harry was the first to begin a film career, and also had the most prolific career in the genre. His first film was Tod Browning’s Lon Chaney vehicle The Unholy Three (1925) as