Margaret Hamilton

Had one son, Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve, on June 12, 1936.

Gave her most noted recollection of her role in The Wizard of Oz (1939) by writing the Preface to the book "The Making of The Wizard of Oz" by Aljean Harmetz.

Nearly quit as the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) after a December 1938 accident in which she was severely burned during her dramatic exit from Munchkinland. The impressive special effect was achieved by her stepping onto a trap door (obscured by rising smoke) that dropped beneath her, and then a burst of real fire came up. On one take, the fire came too early, and her costume caught fire. She was off the film for more than a month. 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 fire work!".

It is ironic that her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was so scary to children, because her first job was as a kindergarten teacher. She loved and doted upon children all her life.

Wore the same costume for two productions, 26 years apart. The dress she wore as Miss Gulch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) was worn again when she played Grandma Frump in "The Addams Family" (1964) in 1965.

She knew and accepted that she was not "conventionally glamorous". She often told the story that when her agent first called and told her MGM was interested in talking to her about a role in The Wizard of Oz (1939), she responded, "Oh, I loved reading those books to my kindergarten children. Which role?" Her agent replied: "The witch." Hamilton said: "The witch?" and the agent responded: "Yes, what else?".

She said that when sees the scene in The Wizard of Oz (1939) when Frank Morgan as the Wizard is giving Dorothy's friends gifts from his "black bag" (a diploma for the Scarecrow, a ticking heart for the Tin Man, and a medal for the Cowardly Lion), she gets teary eyed, because "Frank Morgan was just like that in real life - very generous".

Under her married name of Margaret Meserve, she served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951.

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.

Starred in the live on-stage musical "A Little Night Music" (with actress Jean Simmons in the lead role) during the mid-1970s in San Francisco.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 360-361. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.