Margaret Hamilton: From Kindergarten Teacher to the Wicked Witch of the West
Margaret Hamilton, while best known for her iconic portrayal of The Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, had a multifaceted life and career that extended far beyond her role as the screen’s most memorable villain. She was a dedicated actress of stage, film, radio and television. She embraced her role as a “character actress” and was known for her charm, her humor and grace.
Early Life and Education in Cleveland
Margaret Hamilton was born on December 9, 1902, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Walter J. Hamilton, an attorney, and Jennie (Adams) Hamilton. Growing up in Cleveland during its golden age, a time filled with artistic firsts that rivaled other major cities, she was exposed to a vibrant cultural environment. During the late 1910s and through the 1920s, Cleveland experienced a surge in the arts, with the Cleveland Orchestra holding its first concert in 1918. The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Institute of Music were established and founded in 1920. The State, Allen, Hanna, and Ohio theaters opened in 1921 and the Drury Theater opened in 1927. The new main building of the Cleveland Public Library on Superior Avenue opened in 1925.
In 1920, a census recorded a seventeen-year-old Margaret living with her family at 2058 East 96th Street. Her neighbors included teachers, like Sue Northey and Marian Gates, and professionals such as Herman Gross, an optician, and Cyrus Reimer, a sales manager.
Hamilton attended Hathaway Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, graduating in 1921. Although she loved the theater, her parents encouraged her to pursue a more stable career. Following their wishes, she went to Wheelock Kindergarten Training School in Boston and later returned to Cleveland to teach at Hough Elementary School. After teaching at Hough Elementary School, Hamilton operated her own nursery for the Cleveland Heights. Hamilton also worked as a teacher in New York City for a short span of time.
Early Career and Stage Debut
Hamilton’s passion for acting never waned. She practiced acting doing children's theater while a Junior League of Cleveland member. In 1922, she quit teaching to pursue her acting career, working at the Cleveland Play House from 1927-30. Her early experience as a teacher fueled a lifelong interest in educational issues. She made her debut at the Play House Theatre, gaining recognition as a renowned actress and performer in Cleveland. At the Play House, Hamilton began her acting career as an ensemble member in a production of The Brothers Karamazov, while studying acting and Pantomime under Maria Ouspenskaya. Her first major role at the Play House was as the First Witch in a production of Macbeth. She would go on to play numerous comedic roles, including circus performer Charlotta Ivanovna in Chekov's The Cherry Orchard, and the sultry Miss Prosperine Garnett in Candida.
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In 1932, Hamilton made her Broadway debut in Rose Franken’s "Another Language," receiving immensely positive reviews for her dry wit and comedic timing. Arthur Beckworth "discovered" Hamilton in a play entitled The Hallems. The Broadway version, called Another Language, was the surprise hit of 1932 and was made into a film with Hamilton and Helen Hayes, launching Hamilton's Hollywood career. Before her iconic role as the Wicked Witch, she had already built her resume with several performances in film.
The Wicked Witch and Hollywood Career
Margaret Hamilton had already played in some twenty-five films before she accepted the role of Miss Gulch and the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz". In 1939, Hamilton played the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, opposite Judy Garland's Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz, her most famous role, and one of the screen's most memorable villains. The role came about when her agent called her about a part in The Wizard of Oz, a story she had always loved. Despite her relatively short screen time of twelve minutes as the Wicked Witch of the West, Hamilton's performance cemented the image of a witch in the minds of audiences worldwide. The gleeful, maniacal cackle, the nasal intonation, the black dress and pointed hat, and the emerald green face and hands all contributed to her flawless portrayal.
During the filming of the fiery exit from Munchkinland, Hamilton suffered second-degree burns on her face and third-degree burns on her hand, requiring six weeks of recovery. She refused to have anything further to do with fire for the rest of the filming. Her stand-in and stunt double, Betty Danko, also suffered severe burns during the "Surrender Dorothy!" skywriting sequence.
Despite the frightening nature of her character, Hamilton worried about the impact on children. She often spoke about children being scared of her and made efforts to show them that she was not like the witch in real life.
Hamilton made her screen debut as Helen Hallam in the MGM film adaptation Another Language (1933) starring Helen Hayes and Robert Montgomery, having previously originated the role of Helen Hallam on Broadway. 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. 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 played the part of Mrs. Theresa Appleby, co-starring with Tom Conway and Richard Cromwell in a little-known and now partially lost film noir, titled Bungalow 13 (1948). Hamilton played a heavily made-up witch opposite Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Comin' Round the Mountain. Hamilton's character goes toe-to-toe with Costello's; each with voodoo dolls representing each other. She appeared uncredited in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's People Will Talk (1951) as Sarah Pickett.
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Hamilton's line from The Wizard of Oz - "I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!" - was ranked 99th in the 2005 American Film Institute survey of the most memorable movie quotes. 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 psychotic sister of Oz co-star Jack Haley in George White's Scandals, trying to prevent him from marrying his fiancé, played by Joan Davis, even going so far as attempting to kill her with an axe. Hamilton and Ray Bolger were cast members in the 1966 fantasy film The Daydreamer, a collection of stories by Hans Christian Andersen.
Because of her distinctive profile, however, her roles were never very diverse; she usually played aunts and spinsters. Her role as the wicked witch came in 1939 and further typecast Hamilton. She continued making films and doing plays, appearing in more than 75 of each.
Later Career and Television Appearances
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, with her name later changed to Aunt Effie. In 1957, she appeared in two episodes of The Phil Silvers Show.
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's mother, Esther Frump, in three episodes of The Addams Family (1965-66). In 1962, Hamilton played Leora Scofield, a suffragist 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. In 1968, she was the tender Aunt Eller in the Lincoln Center revival of Oklahoma!. Hamilton toured in many plays and musicals, even repeating her role of the Wicked Witch in specially written stage productions of The Wizard of Oz.
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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 Valiant Lady, who schemed to prevent her daughter from marrying the heroine's son. In the 1960s, Hamilton was a regular on another CBS soap opera, The Secret Storm, playing the role of Grace Tyrell's housekeeper, Katie. In the early 1970s, Hamilton joined the cast of another CBS soap opera, As the World Turns, on which she played Miss Peterson, Simon Gilbey's assistant. She had a small role in the made-for-television film The Night Strangler (1973) and appeared as a befuddled neighbor on Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, a friend of the character played by Mary Wickes. In The Paul Lynde Halloween Special (1976), she portrayed Lynde's housekeeper, reprising the Wicked Witch role, as well as introducing Lynde to the rock group Kiss. 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.
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. On October 30, 1975, she guest-starred on the radio revival series CBS Radio Mystery Theater. In 1973, Hamilton produced the stage production of An Evening with the Bourgeoisie.
Hamilton continued acting regularly until 1982.
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