Margaret Hamilton (actress)

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For other people named Margaret Hamilton, see Margaret Hamilton.
Margaret Hamilton
Hamilton, c. 1958
Born
Margaret Brainard Hamilton

(1902-12-09)December 9, 1902
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 1985(1985-05-16) (aged 82)
Salisbury, Connecticut, U.S.
Alma materWheelock College
Occupation(s)Actress, schoolteacher
Years active1933–1982
Notable workMiss Gulch and The Wicked Witch of the West in MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Paul Meserve
​
​
(m. 1931; div. 1938)​
Children1
RelativesNeil Hamilton (distant cousin)
Dorothy Hamilton Brush (sister)

Margaret Brainard Hamilton (December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985) was an American actress and educator. She was best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West and her Kansas counterpart Almira Gulch in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz.[1]

A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actress in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In later years, Hamilton appeared in films and made frequent cameo appearances on television sitcoms and commercials. She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals and retained a lifelong commitment to public education.

Early life

Hamilton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and practiced her craft doing children's theater while she was a Junior League of Cleveland member. Hamilton made her debut as a "professional entertainer" on December 9, 1929, in a "program of 'heart rending songs'" in the Charles S. Brooks Theater at the Cleveland Play House.[2] Before she turned to acting exclusively, her parents insisted she attend Wheelock College in Boston, which she did, later becoming a kindergarten teacher.[3]

Film career

Hamilton made her screen debut in the MGM film Another Language (1933) starring Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery. She went on to appear in These Three (1936), Saratoga, You Only Live Once, When's Your Birthday?, Nothing Sacred (all 1937), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938), Mae West's My Little Chickadee (with W. C. Fields, 1940), and The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (with Harold Lloyd, 1947). She strove to work as much as possible to support herself and her son; she never put herself under contract to any one studio and priced her services at $1,000 ($21,200 with inflation[4]) a week.[5]

(L-R): Doris Dudley, Linda Darnell, Margaret Hamilton, Glenda Farrell and Leslie Brooks in City Without Men (1943)

Hamilton co-starred opposite Buster Keaton and Richard Cromwell in a 1940s spoof of the long-running local melodrama The Drunkard, titled The Villain Still Pursued Her. Later in the decade, she was in a little-known film noir, titled Bungalow 13 (1948), in which she again costarred opposite Cromwell. Her crisp voice with rapid but clear enunciation was another trademark. She appeared regularly in supporting roles in films until the early 1950s and sporadically thereafter. Opposite Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, she played a heavily made-up witch in Comin' Round the Mountain, where her character and Costello go toe-to-toe with voodoo dolls made of each other. She appeared, uncredited, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's People Will Talk (1951) as Sarah Pickett. In 1960, producer/director William Castle cast Hamilton as a housekeeper in his 13 Ghosts horror film, in which 12-year-old lead Charles Herbert's character taunts her about being a witch, including the final scene, in which she is holding a broom in her hand.

The Wizard of Oz

Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West with Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz (1939)

In 1939, Hamilton played the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, creating not only her most famous role, but also one of the screen's most memorable villains. Hamilton was cast after Gale Sondergaard, who was first considered for the role, albeit as a more glamorous witch with a musical scene, declined the role when the decision was made that the witch should appear ugly.[6]

On December 23, 1938, Hamilton suffered a second-degree burn on her face and a third-degree burn on her hand during a second take of her fiery exit from

Munchkinland in which the trap door's drop was delayed to eliminate the brief glimpse of it seen in the final edit. Hamilton had to recuperate in a hospital and at home for six weeks after the accident before returning to the set to complete her work on the film and refused to have anything further to do with fire for the rest of the filming. After she recuperated, she said, "I won't sue, because I know how this business works, and I would never work again. I will return to work on one condition – no more fireworks!" Garland visited Hamilton while the latter recuperated at home looking after her son.[7]
Studio executives cut some of Hamilton's more frightening scenes, worrying they would frighten children too much. Later in life, she would comment on the role of the witch in a light-hearted fashion. During one interview, she joked:

I was in need of money at the time, I had done about six pictures for MGM at the time, and my agent called. I said, 'Yes?' and he said 'Maggie, they want you to play a part on the Wizard.' I said to myself, 'Oh, boy, The Wizard of Oz! That has been my favorite book since I was four.' And I asked him what part, and he said, 'The Witch', and I said, 'The Witch?!' and he said, 'What else?'[8]

Hamilton's stand-in and stunt double for the Witch, Betty Danko, also suffered an on-set accident, on February 11, 1939. Danko made the fiery entrance to Munchkinland, not Hamilton. She was severely burned during the "Surrender Dorothy!" skywriting sequence at the Emerald City. Danko sat on a smoking pipe configured to look like the Witch's broomstick. The pipe exploded on the third take of the scene. She spent 11 days in the hospital and her legs were permanently scarred. The studio hired a new stunt double, Aline Goodwin, to finish the broomstick-riding scene for Danko.[9]

When asked about her experiences on the set of The Wizard of Oz, Hamilton said her biggest fear was that her monstrous film role would give children the wrong idea of who she really was. In reality, she cared deeply about children, frequently giving to charitable organizations. She often remarked about children coming up to her and asking her why she had been so mean to Dorothy. She appeared on an episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood in 1975 where she explained to children she was only playing a role and showed how putting on a costume "transformed" her into the witch.[10] She also made personal appearances, and Hamilton described the children's usual reaction to her portrayal of the Witch:

Almost always they want me to laugh like the Witch. And sometimes when I go to schools, if we're in an auditorium, I'll do it. And there's always a funny reaction, like 'Ye gods, they wish they hadn't asked.' They're scared. They're really scared for a second. Even adolescents. I guess for a minute they get the feeling they got when they watched the picture. They like to hear it but they 'don't' like to hear it. And then they go, 'Ooooooh ... !' The picture made a terrible impression of some kind on them, sometimes a ghastly impression, but most of them got over it, I guess ... because when I talk like the Witch, and when I laugh, there is a hesitation and then they clap. They're clapping at hearing the sound again.[11]

Hamilton played two credited roles in the famous film: Almira Gulch and the Wicked Witch of the West. Hamilton also appears as an unidentified flying witch during the tornado scene, which may have been the Wicked Witch of the West or her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. If the latter case, this would be Hamilton's third but uncredited role. Only co-star

the most memorable movie quotes
. Her son, interviewed for the 2005 DVD edition of the film, commented that Hamilton enjoyed the line so much, she sometimes used it in her real life.

A few months after filming Oz, she appeared in Babes in Arms (1939) as Jeff Steele's aunt, Martha, a society do-gooder who made it her goal to send the gang of child actors, led by Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, to a work farm. In 1945, she played the domineering sister of Oz co-star Jack Haley in George White's Scandals, comically trying to prevent him from marrying actress Joan Davis, even going so far as to throw a hatchet at her. Hamilton and Ray Bolger were cast members in the 1966 fantasy film The Daydreamer, a collection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. A few years later, they were reunited on Broadway for the short-lived musical Come Summer.

Radio, television, and stage career

Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley reunited in 1970, a year after the death of co-star Judy Garland
Hamilton with Oscar the Grouch on episode #0847 of Sesame Street, 1976. The episode was infamous for its negative reception among kids and parents, which led to it being banned for over forty years. Until 2022, the episode was considered lost media.[12]

In the 1940s and 1950s, Hamilton had a long-running role on the radio series Ethel and Albert (or The Couple Next Door) in which she played the lovable, scattered Aunt Eva (name later changed to Aunt Effie). She appeared in two episodes of The Phil Silvers Show in 1957. During the 1960s and 1970s, Hamilton appeared regularly on television. She did a stint as a What's My Line? mystery guest on the popular Sunday night CBS-TV program. She played Morticia Addams' mother, Hester Frump, in three episodes of The Addams Family (1965–66); Hamilton had been offered the role of Grandmama, but turned it down.[citation needed]

In 1962, Hamilton played Leora Scofield, a suffragette who arrives in Laramie, Wyoming, to bolster feminist causes in a territory where women had already obtained the right to vote, in the episode "Beyond Justice" of NBC's Laramie.

Having started on the stage in the early 1930s, Hamilton began to work extensively in the theater after leaving Los Angeles. She appeared on Broadway in the musical Goldilocks opposite Don Ameche and Elaine Stritch, gave a lighter touch to the domineering Parthy Anne Hawks in the 1966 revival of Show Boat (dancing with David Wayne), and was the tender Aunt Eller in the 1968 Lincoln Center revival of Oklahoma!. Hamilton also toured in many plays and musicals, even repeating her role of the Wicked Witch in specially written stage productions of The Wizard of Oz. For her last stage role, she was cast as Madame Armfeldt in the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music, singing the song "Liaisons" for the national tour costarring with Jean Simmons as her daughter Desiree.

Even with her extensive film career, Hamilton took roles in whatever medium she could get if she was free, making her soap opera debut as the nasty Mrs. Sayre on

1976 episode of Sesame Street, "the show's producers were flooded with letters from parents saying it was too frightening for children."[13] She appeared as herself in three episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, between 1975 and 1976, because Fred Rogers wanted his viewers to recognize the Wicked Witch was just a character and not something to be afraid of.[13] Hamilton continued acting regularly until 1982; her last roles were two guest appearances as veteran journalist Thea Taft (in 1979 and 1982) on Lou Grant
.

Throughout the 1970s, Hamilton lived in New York City's Gramercy Park neighborhood and appeared on local (and some national) public-service announcements for organizations promoting the welfare of pets. Her most visible appearances during this period were as general store owner, Cora, in a national series of television commercials for Maxwell House coffee.[14] On October 30, 1975, she guest-starred on the radio revival series CBS Radio Mystery Theater. In the episode, entitled "Triptych for a Witch," Hamilton played the title role.

Hamilton as Madame Armfeldt in the national tour of A Little Night Music (1974)

In 1973, Hamilton produced the stage production of An Evening with the Bourgeoisie. Her other mid-1970s stage productions, as the producer, were The Three Sisters and House Party.[where?]

Personal life

Hamilton married Paul Boynton Meserve on June 13, 1931, and made her debut on the New York City stage the following year. While her acting career developed, her marriage began to fail; the couple divorced in 1938. They had one son, Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve, whom she raised on her own. Hamilton had three grandchildren, Christopher, Scott, and Margaret. She never remarried.[15]

Her Gramercy Park neighbor Sybil Daneman reported that Hamilton loved children, but they were often afraid to meet her because of her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. Daneman's nephew refused to meet Hamilton, because even though he understood she was an actress, he thought it was still possible she really was like the character in the movie.

Hamilton remained a lifelong friend of The Wizard of Oz castmate

Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election.[17]

Final years and death

Hamilton's early experience as a teacher fuelled a lifelong interest in educational issues. She served on the

cremated.[20]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1933 Zoo in Budapest Assistant Matron for orphans Uncredited
Another Language Helen Hallam
1934 Hat, Coat, and Glove Madame Du Barry
There's Always Tomorrow Ella
By Your Leave Whiffen
Broadway Bill Edna
1935
The Farmer Takes a Wife
 		Lucy Gurget
Way Down East Martha Perkins
1936 Chatterbox Emily 'Tippie' Tipton
These Three Agatha
The Moon's Our Home Mitty Simpson
The Witness Chair Grace Franklin
Laughing at Trouble Lizzie Beadle
1937 You Only Live Once Hester
When's Your Birthday? Mossy
The Good Old Soak Minnie
Mountain Justice Phoebe Lamb
Saratoga Maizie Uncredited
I'll Take Romance Margot
Nothing Sacred Vermont Drugstore Lady
1938 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mrs. Harper
A Slight Case of Murder Mrs. Cagle
Mother Carey's Chickens Mrs. Pauline Fuller
Four's a Crowd Amy
Breaking the Ice
 		Mrs. Small
Stablemates Beulah Flanders
1939 The Wizard of Oz Miss Almira Gulch / The Wicked Witch of the West
The Angels Wash Their Faces Miss Hannaberry
Babes in Arms Martha Steele
Main Street Lawyer Lucy, Boggs' Housekeeper
1940 My Little Chickadee Mrs. Gideon
The Villain Still Pursued Her Mrs. Wilson
I'm Nobody's Sweetheart Now Mrs. Thriffie
The Invisible Woman Mrs. Jackson
1941 Play Girl Josie
The Gay Vagabond Agatha Badger
1942 Twin Beds Norah
Meet the Stewarts Willametta
The Affairs of Martha Guinevere
1943 City Without Men Dora
The Ox-Bow Incident Mrs. Larch Uncredited
Johnny Come Lately Myrtle Ferguson
1944 Guest in the House Hilda – the Maid
1945 George White's Scandals Clarabelle Evans
1946 Janie Gets Married Mrs. Angles
Faithful in My Fashion Miss Applegate
1947 The Sin of Harold Diddlebock Flora
Dishonored Lady Mrs. Geiger
Pet Peeves Haughty Woman Short film, uncredited
Driftwood Essie Keenan
1948 Reaching from Heaven Sophie Manley
State of the Union Norah
Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven Ruby Cheever
Bungalow 13 Mrs. Theresa Appleby
1949 The Sun Comes Up Mrs. Golightly
The Red Pony Teacher
The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend Mrs. Elvira O'Toole Uncredited
1950 The Great Plane Robbery Mrs. Judd
Wabash Avenue Tillie Hutch
Riding High Edna
1951 Comin' Round the Mountain Aunt Huddy
People Will Talk Miss Sarah Pickett – Housekeeper Uncredited
1960 13 Ghosts Elaine Zacharides
1962 The Good Years Narrator
Paradise Alley
 		Mrs. Nicholson
1966 The Daydreamer Mrs. Klopplebobbler
1967 Rosie! Mae
1969 Angel in My Pocket Rhoda
1970 Brewster McCloud Daphne Heap
1971 The Anderson Tapes Miss Kaler
1972 Journey Back to Oz Aunt Em Voice

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1950–51 The Bigelow Theatre Mrs. Greenstreet Episodes:
  • "Papa Romani" (S 1:Ep 2)
  • "Dear Amanda" (S 1:Ep 15)
1952 Gulf Playhouse Guest Episode: (S 1:Ep 3)
My Hero Mrs. Morgan Episode: "Lady Mortician" (S 1:Ep 2)
1953 Lux Video Theatre Charity Ames Episode: "Wind on the Way" (S 3:Ep 42)
Ethel and Albert Aunt Eva 2 episodes
Man Against Crime Mrs. Barker Episode: "A Family Affair" (S 4:Ep 26)
A String of Blue Beads Mrs. Loomis Television film
Man Against Crime Mrs. Parmalee Episode: "Petite Larceny" (S 5:Ep 11)
1954 The Campbell Playhouse Guest Epiisode: "An Eye for an Eye" (S 2:Ep 35)
The Best of Broadway Sarah Episode: "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (S 1:Ep 2)
Center Stage Guest Episode: "Lucky Louie" (S 1:Ep 5)
The Elgin Hour Gwen Episode: "Warm Clay" (S 1:Ep 4)
1955 The Best of Broadway Usher Episode: "The Guardsman" (S 1:Ep 7)
Valiant Lady Mrs. Sayre Main cast member
The Devil's Disciple Mrs. Dudgeon TV movie
The Way of the World Guest Short lived TV series
1957 On Borrowed Time Demetria Riffle Television film
The Phil Silvers Show Miss Gloria Formby / Hermione Nightengale 2 episodes
1958 The Christmas Tree Miss Finch Television film
1959 Once Upon a Christmas Time Miss Scugg Television film
1960 Dow Hour of Great Mysteries Lizzie Allen Episode: "The Bat" (S 1:Ep 1),[21] based on the play of the same name by Mary Roberts Rinehart
The Secret World of Eddie Hodges Mrs. Grundy Television film
1961 Ichabod and Me Mehitabel Hobbs Episode: "The Purple Cow (S 1:Ep 6)
1962 Laramie Leora Scofield Episode: "Beyond Justice" (S 4:Ep 9)
The Danny Thomas Show Miss Fenwick Episode: "Bunny, the Brownie Leader" (S 10:Ep 13)
Car 54, Where Are You? Spinster Episode: "Benny the Bookie's Last Chance" (S 2:Ep 17)
The Patty Duke Show The Lane Family housekeeper Episode: "Double Date" (S 1:Ep 10)
Car 54, Where Are You? Miss Pownthleroy Episode: "Here Comes Charlie" (S 2:Ep 23)
The Patty Duke Show Mrs. Williams Episode: "Let 'Em Eat Cake" (S 1:Ep 21)
1964–67 The Secret Storm Katie Recurring
1965–66 The Addams Family Hester Frump Recurring
1967 Ghostbreakers Ivy Rumson Television film
1970 As the World Turns Miss Peterson #2 Recurring
1971 Is There a Doctor in the House Emma Proctor Television film
1973 Sigmund and the Sea Monsters Mrs. Eddels Recurring
Gunsmoke Edsel Pry Episode: "A Quiet Day in Dodge" (S 18:Ep 19)
The Night Strangler Professor Crabwell Television film
The Partridge Family Clara Kincaid Episode: "Reuben Kincaid Lives" (S 4:Ep 5)
1975–76 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Herself / Margaret H. Witch 4 episodes
1976 Sesame Street Herself / Wicked Witch of the West Episode: Episode #7.52 (S 7:Ep 52)
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special The Wicked Witch of the West Reprisal for a Halloween Special
1979 Letters from Frank Grandma Miller Television film
1979–82 Lou Grant Thea Taft 2 episodes
1982 Pardon Me For Living Miss Holderness Television film

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Margaret Hamilton, 82, Dies; Played Wicked Witch In 'Oz'". The New York Times. May 17, 1985. Retrieved 2007-07-21. Margaret Hamilton, the actress whose role as the cackling Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz unnerved generations of children, died yesterday, apparently of a heart attack, at a nursing home in Salisbury, Connecticut. She was 82 years old. Miss Hamilton was a gentle, lively woman who taught kindergarten for years before she began a career of 50 years in the theater, movies, radio and television. But she seared a fearsome image on the public consciousness in 1939 when, at the age of 36, she played the Wicked Witch, the terror of Judy Garland's long dream in the classic film of L. Frank Baum's story.
  2. ^ "Ah, The Songs of Long Ago! Miss Hamilton Sings 1840 Song at Play House". Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Retrieved 12 August 2020 – via NewsBank.
  3. ^ Zeitlin, Arnold. "Kindergarten Lost Margaret Hamilton". Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 1958.
  4. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  5. ISBN 978-0786883523
    .
  6. ^ Szaroleta, Tom. "How well do you know Oz?". The Florida Times-Union. Jacksonville, Florida. Retrieved December 25, 2019.
  7. ^ Harmetz 1998, p. 275.
  8. ^ Wizard of Oz DVD commentary track
  9. ^ Harmetz 1998, p. 274-279.
  10. ^ Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Episode 63. May 14, 1975.
  11. ^ Harmetz 1998, p. 297.
  12. ^ How Sesame Street's Banned 847 Episode Was Found | The Lost Wicked Witch Segment, retrieved 2022-11-19
  13. ^ a b Potempa, Philip (October 27, 2017). "Wicked Witch of the West not always a fright sight". Post-Tribune. Crown Point, IN. Archived from the original on June 20, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  14. YouTube
  15. ISBN 978-0964634008
    .
  16. ^ Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
  17. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers
  18. ^ Schreiber, Laurie (2014-01-21). "Wizard of Oz 'witch' loved her Maine island". The Working Waterfront Archives. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  19. ^ Zack, Suzanne. "From 'Kiddie Lit' to Children's Literature: The Biography of Francelia Butler." UConnToday, 23 April 2013.
  20. cremated
    .
  21. Joseph Welch
    .

Further reading

  • Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Margaret Hamilton". The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Great Britain: Independently published. pp. 122–124.
    ISBN 978-1-7200-3837-5
    .

External links
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