The Doll Family was a group of four dwarf

Dwarfism

Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches  , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....

 sibling

Sibling

Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...

s from Germany who were popular performers in circuses and sideshow

Sideshow

In America, a sideshow is an extra, secondary production associated with a circus, carnival, fair or other such attraction.- Types of attractions :There are four main types of classic sideshow attractions:...

s in the United States from the 1920s until their retirement in the mid 1950s.

They were:

• Gracie (born Frieda A. Schneider, March 12, 1899 – November 8, 1970)
• Harry (born Kurt Fritz Schneider, April 3, 1902 – May 4, 1985)
• Daisy (born Hilda Emma Schneider, April 29, 1907 – March 15, 1980)
• Tiny (born Elly Annie Schneider, July 23, 1914 – September 6, 2004)

The Dolls were four out of a family of seven children (the rest being of average size) born to Emma and Gustav Schneider in Stolpen

Stolpen

Stolpen is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany.- References :...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. Harry and Grace were the first of the quartet to begin performing in sideshows, as "Hans and Gretel

Hansel and Gretel

"Hansel and Gretel" is a well-known fairy tale of German origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812. Hansel and Gretel are a young brother and sister threatened by a cannibalistic hag living deep in the forest in a house constructed of cake and confectionery. The two children...

". In 1914 they were seen by an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, Bert W. Earles, who brought them to the United States to tour with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. The siblings lived in Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...

, with the Earles family. Earles also brought Daisy and Tiny to the United States (in 1922 and 1926 respectively) where they joined Harry and Grace in their act.

At this time, the Dolls began touring with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, where they sang, danced, and rode horses. They would work on the Ringling sideshow for the next thirty seasons, with the exception of the 1952 season when they were replaced by members of Nate Eagle's Midgets. Daisy in particular earned the nickname of and was often billed as "The Midget

Midget

A midget is a short person with relatively average bodily proportions in comparison with other human beings. The term is often improperly used to describe a person with the medical condition dwarfism. The two terms are often used synonymously because both terms originate as words defining small...

 Mae West

Mae West

Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....

." By this time, the entire family had adopted the Earles' surname; they would retain that name until Mr. Earles died during the 1930s, when the tiny performers became the Dolls - a name which reflected comments overheard from their audiences.

Harry was the first to begin his film career, with director Tod Browning

Tod Browning

Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...

 for the Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney, Sr.

Lon Chaney , nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Faces," was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema...

 vehicle The Unholy Three

The Unholy Three (1925 film)

The Unholy Three is a 1925 American silent film melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Tod Browning.The film was remade in 1930 as a talkie. In both the 1925 and the 1930 version, the roles of Professor Echo and Tweedledee are played by Lon Chaney and Harry Earles respectively...

(1925) as the ruthless midget Tweedledee. He later reprised the role for the 1930

The Unholy Three (1930 film)

The Unholy Three is a 1930 melodrama involving a crime spree, directed by Jack Conway. It is a remake of the 1925 film The Unholy Three. Both were based on the novel of the same name by Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins....

 sound

Sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...

 remake

Remake

A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...

, again with Chaney but this time directed by Jack Conway

Jack Conway (film-maker)

Jack Ryan Conway was a film director and film producer, as well as an actor of many films in the first half of the 20th century....

. The family also began appearing in films together, almost always as circus performers, and acted in some comedies with Laurel

Stan Laurel

Arthur Stanley "Stan" Jefferson , better known as Stan Laurel, was an English comic actor, writer and film director, famous as the first half of the comedy team Laurel and Hardy. His film acting career stretched between 1917 and 1951 and included a starring role in the Academy Award winning film...

 & Hardy

Oliver Hardy

Oliver Hardy was an American comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted nearly 30 years, from 1927 to 1955.-Early life:...

. Harry and Daisy were cast in major roles in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...

's 1932 film Freaks

Freaks

Freaks is a 1932 American Pre-Code horror film about sideshow performers, directed and produced by Tod Browning and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with a cast mostly composed of actual carnival performers. The film was based on Tod Robbins' 1923 short story "Spurs"...

, while Tiny had a small bit part. In fact it was Harry himself who brought to Tod Browning's attention the Tod Robbins

Tod Robbins

Clarence Aaron "Tod" Robbins was an American author of horror and mystery fiction. Robbins attended Washington and Lee University and—along with Mark W...

 story "Spurs" on which the film was based. All four siblings played Munchkin

Munchkin

The Munchkins are the natives of the fictional Munchkin Country in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. They first appeared in the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, in which they are described as being somewhat short of stature, and wear only blue...

s in The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

, with Harry playing a small featured part as one of the members of the "Lollipop Guild" who welcome Dorothy upon her arrival in Oz. The Dolls dubbed themselves "The Moving Picture Midgets" because of their numerous film credits.

The Dolls were a close-knit family who always lived, ate, and worked together—with the exception of Daisy's brief marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 in 1942 to an average-sized man, Louis E. Runyan, which ended in divorce

Divorce

Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...

 less than a year later. The family's opportunities as film actors had always been limited, and they stopped appearing in films, although Daisy later played a small part in The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on Earth

The Greatest Show on Earth is a 1952 drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture...

(1952). They returned to the travelling sideshows, where they were staple attractions through the late 1950s. When the Ringling train shows ended in 1956, the Dolls started touring with the Christiani Circus, living in a trailer they pulled behind their car. The Dolls found this to be an unacceptable situation, so in 1958 they jointly retired.

Their decades with the circus had provided them with a good living, and they bought a house in Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota, Florida

Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...

, in which all four lived. The house was often featured in magazines, and was furnished with custom built, reduced size furniture. In the grounds of the house was a "Doll's House", which the family opened to the public. Each of the four remained living in the house until their deaths. Tiny, the last survivor, lived there for many years before dying, following a long illness.