Zelda Rubinstein: Of Poltergeist and Picket Fences

Zelda Rubinstein (1933-2010) would have been 90 today, and the reason she’s not around to celebrate it is the same reason we know about her at all, she suffered from a pituitary condition that affected her growth. Standing 4′ 3″ in adulthood, Rubinstein was best known for playing magical or mediumistic midgets (apologies for using the M word, but it was a term she used to describe herself, and I needed the alliteration). Rubinstein burst onto the scene from her role in the Poltergeist films (1982-88), which pretty much set the tone for the rest of her career. And may I just interject — how perfect was it that her given name was Zelda? I can’t think of a better name for a woman who looks into crystal balls for a living.

I wrote a little about Poltergeist here, and contemplated a separate piece on that movie for the 40th anniversary of its release — and may yet do one, for it is a flawed but fascinating movie. One of its better aspects is Rubinstein’s character, which is somewhat groundbreaking in that, in spite of the fact that the film does exploit Rubinstein’s “born different” nature for the purposes of effect, she is a very specific character. You can’t quite put your finger on it, but she is presented as a human being, with quirks and character traits any person might have. She seems like someone’s aunt. I always loved this touch, and I’d love to know who the driver of it was, whether Spielberg (writer and producer), Tobe Hooper (director), or Rubinstein herself, or all three. Whatever the case, it led to a proper career, as her two previous screen credits, Americathon (1979) and Under the Rainbow (1981) would not have (she played performing little people in both).

Rubinstein was the daughter of Jewish immigrants and grew up in Pittsburgh. For the first 20+ years of her working life she worked as a lab technician. She was in her mid ’40s when she decided she wanted to be an actress, and enrolled at the University of California to study it. Obviously, she was typecast after a fashion, and many of her roles essentially reprised her Poltergeist persona, which she does in Teen Witch (1989), Little Witches (1996), Wishcraft (2002) and on TV shows like Santa Barbera (a recurring role in 1990) and Tales from the Crypt (1992).

Equally interesting though are the roles that build on the OTHER aspect of Poltergeist character, the part that’s not a psychic little person, but just a quirky, small town older lady. She has turns like that in Sixteen Candles (1984) and in a regular role and on Picket Fences (1992-94). She also did voiceover work, and was the narrator of the paranormal reality show The Scariest Places on Earth (2000-2006). Her last screen appearance was a cameo in the horror mockumentary Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006).

For related reading, please check out Rose’s Royal Midgets and Other Little People in Vaudeville.