Originally published on 10/4/24

With the Wicked movie being released next month, it’s no surprise that secrets from the original film, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, are coming to light—especially regarding Margret Hamilton’s haunting portrayal of The Wicked Witch of the West. And now Don Billie, author of Margaret Hamilton: From Cleveland, Ohio to the Land of Oz, is ready to dispel some of the most wicked rumors about the witch, including if she actually got along with Judy Garland and Billie Burke.

Woman’s World: What do you want people to know about Margaret Hamilton’s relationship with The Wizard of Oz?

Don Billie: The main thing is that in her different interviews, she realized it was her milestone role. She enjoyed doing it, but at the same time,The irony was that, as a former kindergarten teacher who loved children, she was arguably the person who scared the most children of all time. 

WW: A big part of The Wizard of Oz is Glinda The Good vs. The Wicked Witch of The West. What was Margaret Hamilton and Billie Burke’s relationship off-screen like?

DB: It was very minimal, actually, because Billie Burke was only in a couple of minor scenes with Hamilton, like in Munchkin Land. 

They had separate dressing rooms that weren’t right next to each other. Burke, a more established star, had a very nice dressing room, whereas Hamilton was a rising character actress whose dressing room was not the best.

Burke had a couple of books that I researched, along with other interviews, and almost nothing was written about their relationship. In fact, Burke didn’t even talk about The Wizard of Oz that much in the two books about her, one of which was a memoir, and the other was more of a biography. So that was very surprising to me. 

Hamilton mentioned the differences in the accommodations with the dressing room and how they actually just drove her in a car after she was severely burned [in a special effects sequence gone wrong], back to her place after she’d gotten bandaged and taken care of. And Burke had a minor ankle sprain one time, and they called an ambulance for her. So there was just, like, disparity.

WW: Speaking of relationships, what was Margaret’s relationship like with Judy Garland, her on-screen enemy? 

DB: Because they were in most scenes together, they were friends, and the chemistry was there. In multiple interviews they said they had been friends over the decades. That was kind of ironic, given that they were nemesis. Another irony is that one of two of Hamilton’s sisters was named Dorothy.

WW: There’s a lot of speculation about what happened on The Wizard of Oz Set. Are there any stories that you feel like you could dispel? 

DB: One that Hamilton dispelled in a couple of interviews was that the Munchkins were a bunch of drunks. I don’t know where that came from, but based on what I had read in several interviews, I think Garland said it jokingly once. Then everybody jumped on it, but Margaret, firmly, in a couple of interviews, said they were not a bunch of drunkards. 

WW: What do you think Margaret took away from her time in Oz, and do you think she remembered it fondly?

DB: Overall, she remembered it fondly. It helped the rest of her career and led to several other acting opportunities, unfortunately, though, she did have to put a disclaimer on her concerns about it scaring the children too much.

WW: Finally, is there anything else you want to share? 

DB: Yes, I have a couple of trivia items and some interesting milestones in her career. 

Her final big-screen movie, The Anderson Tapes (1971), was Christopher Walken’s breakout role. And her other film, Brewster McLeod (1970), was the first movie role for Shelley Duvall.

The church where Hamilton was married in Cleveland, about a year or two ago was hit by a tornado, which is a strange coincidence given what happened in The Wizard of Oz. 

As she was getting older, she did an interview and was quoted as saying, “When I die, I hope they write something about me to the extent of ding dong the witch is dead.” A couple of newspapers indeed did that. 

Finally, with the movie Wicked coming out next month, I communicated with Gregory McGuire, the writer of the original novel. Unfortunately, Margaret passed away before Wicked came out as a novel. He said he regretted never having the opportunity to meet her, because he strongly felt she would have liked that revision of the Wicked Witch character.

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/margaret-hamiltons-time-in-oz-biographer-reveals-insights-on-garland-and-more