we all know her as the witch/miss gulch from the wizard of oz. i actually read a piece about her in a book last night, turns out she was a very kindhearted sweet lady. she performed up till she was in her 70's. checkout her bio on www.imdb.com. i think she is a very underappreciated actress.
Renowned Death Hag
She was Judy Garland's closest friend during the making of The Wizard of Oz, too!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]peek-a-boo!!
after she got divorced, she said that her son and her grandkids kept her going. she had a lovely garden at her home, and said that she had few regrets. i have always called her a hatchet faced witch woman, but last night the little part i read changed my mind about her. she was a sweetheart!
Her son was born in 1935 and could still be living. However, none of her bios mention him. Does anyone know anything about the son?
Originally Posted by poppie
i will look in that book tomorrow, maybe it will tell who her ex and son was. i just scanned it last night, and found out she was really not a bad lady, and actually liked horror movies!
I've always liked Margaret Hamilton even though she terrified me in Wizard when I was a kid, she was very talented and under rated
Senior Death Hag
As a side note, I just went and saw Wicked this past weekend. Really good. If anyone gets a chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
The survival of everyone on board depends on just one thing: finding someone on board who can not only fly this plane, but who didn't have fish for dinner.
I read she'd sign things WWW. I think she was great too, I mean the lady totally carved what a WITCH is in stone for me! The way she played the character was excellent, all the way down to her fingers.
In the beginning of the movie, in Oz, there's a split second where you can see her white ankles. I think it's right after she reaches for the ruby slippers and they disappear as the legs curl under the house.
I found this on him.... Hamilton married Paul Boynton Meserve on June 13, 1931, and made her debut on the New York stage the following year. While her acting career developed, her marriage became troubled, and the couple divorced in 1938. They had one son, Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve (born 1935), whom she raised on her own.[3] Not long after the official end of her marriage...... at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton
and when I put his name in for a search I came up with this about Margaret's granddaughter's wedding in 1997, it says The bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve of Millbrook, N.Y., are the publishers of the Taconic Newspapers, weekly magazines and newspapers in Dutchess County. The bride is a granddaughter of the late Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West in ''The Wizard of Oz.'' .....http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...54C0A961958260
Death Hag Extraordinaire
Good job of hunting b57.
Renowned Death Hag
I read somewhere that in later life living in NYC that HAMILTON was know as
The Sweetheart Of Gramercy Park. She apparently was nothing like the nasty characters she often played.
Thanks Skull!
I just watched the original "13 Ghosts" a few weeks ago, Margaret was the maid at the house and she was called "the Witch" in that movie too.
From IMDB:
"Until the day she died she had children recognizing her and coming up to her to ask why she was so mean to Dorothy. She became very concerned about the role's effect on children, and finally guested on "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968) to explain that the Witch was just a character in the film, and not herself."
What a nice thing to do for so many children!!
[SIZE=3]When I was little, I was fascinated by the fact that she was the Maxwell Coffee lady, Cora, in the commercials. I thought that was the coolest thing when my Gram told me that![/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Have you ever seen the interview/clip where she tells about being cast as the Wicked Witch and she asked which part and (whomever) said, "The Wicked Witch..." and followed with, "...of course!" She got a laugh out of that as well. It's definitely on the bonus features of the Wizard of Oz DVD, but I'm sure you can find it elsewhere![/SIZE]
Wow 57 - great info. From what i have read, Margaret Hamilton was a wonderful woman and esp. grandmother!
I saw that episode. It was a rerun as I wasn't born yet but I recall, with a child's mind, being fascinated with watching her talk normal and how SUPER friendly and kind-hearted she was.From IMDB:
"Until the day she died she had children recognizing her and coming up to her to ask why she was so mean to Dorothy. She became very concerned about the role's effect on children, and finally guested on "MisteRogers' Neighborhood" (1968) to explain that the Witch was just a character in the film, and not herself."
What a nice thing to do for so many children!!
My son is two and we watch Mr. Rogers every morning while I'm getting ready for work. I am keeping an eye out for this episode. I'm jealous that you've seen it.I saw that episode. It was a rerun as I wasn't born yet but I recall, with a child's mind, being fascinated with watching her talk normal and how SUPER friendly and kind-hearted she was.
I searched on YouTube hoping to find a snippet there (you can find so much stuff on YT!!) but came up with nothing. I'm sure you're bound to run across it if you're tuning in each day.
She used to go to schools and speak with children, also. I think (I'm not positive) that she lived in CT. She came to speak at our school back in 1971 or 1972 but I was so little I can't remember what she talked about.
Sue
Death Hag
She's from Cleveland and originally was a teacher.
Here is a tidbit I didn't discover until just recently.
*I* had always thought that Miss Gulch, who transformed into a Witch
was the Wicked Witch of the West when she was up inside the tornado with Dorothy.
It turns out that Miss Gulch was in reality the Wicked Witch of the East and used the Ruby Slippers to transport herself from OZ to the Real World and back and used the tornado as a cover. What she hadn't counted upon was the Gale House being lifted up inside the tornado after taking a direct hit from it.
Theory:
Miss Gulch owned "half the County" and was hungry for owning all of it.
One of the only obstacles which stood in the way was the Gale Farm which she wanted and even hinted at in the movie when she said, "I'll bring a damn suit that'll take your whole farm."
The Gales would have none of it. Thus, Miss Gulch decided that she needed help from her sister in Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West. That was why she was headed back there and that was why she was there when the Gale house suddenly and violently entered the equation.
Here's a rare clip of Margaret (dressed like the Wicked Witch) on the Paul Lynde Halloween special from 1976, with Kiss:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2lmGMPn5Xo
Omg,,,Paul Lynde, Kiss, and the WWW on the same stage????
*dies of delight*
LOL, that was pretty much my reaction after first seeing it too.
Thank you so much Jack for posting that link... I absolutely loved it!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1smEagY12m8
Doing her Maxwell house Coffee commercial in the 70's!
I like Margaret Hamilton, and Gunsmoke. Imagine my surprise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxlGwkM-P_s
I'm not one for ROFLMAO, but that's purdy darned close!
Death Hag of Legend
Is that Pinky Tuscadero doing that disco number after Kiss plays? I wish there were still variety shows like that on.
You totally forgot to mention WitchiePooh from Puffenstuff! How could you?
This was really dreadful! I musta been out at a disco the night this was on. It was nice to see what I missed, tho.
I read somewhere that she had a brief fling with Madge, the Palmolive lady.
All I know is she scared the crap outta of me when I was a little girl watching The Wizard of Oz. Her and those damn flying monkeys. I hate that movie to this day.
Aw, that video of Margaret doing her Maxwell house commercial was great. I was a child in the 1970's and I remember those. My Dad told me when they would come on who it was.
I read somewhere (wiki maybe) that she was a schoolteacher before she went into acting and she LOVED children. That is why she was so concerned that they were scared of her.
I also read she had to eat alone on the set because no one wanted to eat with her because she looked so bad? That must have been an urban legend. I can't imagine that was true.
Margaret Hamilton did not play WitchiePoo in the Sid and marty Croft Puffenstuff. It was Billie Hayes.
Renowned Death Hag
i would have to admit that having seen ms. hamilton as the epitome of witches, as a very small child, i was to begin my fascination with 'death haggery' the paranormal, halloween, and all things spooky! god bless her dear soul! she was also in the movie 'my little chickadee' as the town spinster... lol
pull the string!
Margaret Hamilton died in a Salisbury, CT nursing home after a brief stay. She was cremated and the ashes scattered over her property in nearby Amenia, NY.
Renowned Death Hag
I can remember when she was Cora in the Maxwell ads. Her little country store had three rows stocked with Maxwell House Coffee. I gues the farmers in that town got a lot done when they weren't urinating.
You should see her interact with W.C. Fields in MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940). Wonderful. In one scene Fields says to her "You look like a well kept grave."
"Everybody is born, and everybody dies. Being born wasn't so bad , was it?"
Peter the Hermit
I think she unfortunately got typecast after Wizard of Oz? I saw that movie to and her character really didn't didn't add anything to the movie. I think she was just thrown in for name value more than anything else?
Senior Death Hag
I remember reading that she hoped that when she died, the headline would read "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead." I think a couple of papers actually did that after hearing that she thought it would be a good joke.
Mr. Rogers clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtq6ejmJnIY
Possibly wearing the original outfit. Wouldn't have been sold by MGM as of yet.
Last edited by monroe62; 03-09-2009 at 04:55 PM. Reason: added info
Aww, that's sweet! I can imagine her saying such a thing.
Excellent clip, thanks!!!
wow this was cool to read..actually made sense when i read it a couple times..where did you hear about this?...this interests me.
Wonderful clip thanks!
Hahaha!!
I remember being little, this had to be around 1985 (the year Margaret Hamilton died) and my teenage uncle telling me she was still alive. Either she really was, or she'd died in recent months and he hadn't heard about it yet. I remember being kind of in shock... thinking she must be very very old.
She definitely seemed like a class-act all the way.
Renowned Death Hag
I'd read that she was badly burned in a scene when she was on or getting onto the broom. She showed up after she healed and was a real trouper.we all know her as the witch/miss gulch from the wizard of oz. i actually read a piece about her in a book last night, turns out she was a very kindhearted sweet lady. she performed up till she was in her 70's. checkout her bio on www.imdb.com. i think she is a very underappreciated actress.
"What if the Hokey Pokey is what it's really all about?" Jimmy Buffett
What a great clip! I think she was a wonderful actress and very underrated. I love watching some of her old movies before Wizard of Oz.
Aww, thanks Monroe62 for that wonderful clip? She was a treasure to always be fondly remembered. I loved her as Cora too!!
She was my favorite from the Wizard of Oz. Such a sweet lady with a great sense of humor. Here is a website that has some good clips: http://www.roadode.com/margaret_1.shtml
Thank you for another thread I thoroughly enjoyed; I read all the posts. I also enjoyed the Mister Roger's clip from 1968. What a sweet woman she was.
I couldn't remember when Margaret Hamilton passed away but I knew it was in the 1980's. I looked up her biography on IMDB and, interesting enough, Saturday (May 16th) will be the 24th anniversary of her death by a heart attack.
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