Margaret Hamilton | |
---|---|
Born | Margaret Brainard Hamilton December 9, 1902 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
Died | May 16, 1985 Salisbury, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 82)
Alma mater | Wheelock College |
Occupation(s) | Actress, schoolteacher |
Years active | 1933–1982 |
Notable work | Miss Gulch and The Wicked Witch of the West in MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939) |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse |
Paul Meserve
(m. 1931; div. 1938) |
Children | 1 |
Relatives | Neil 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.
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.