Margaret Hamilton

Margaret Hamilton Headshot

Actress • Educator

Birth Name: Margaret Brainard Hamilton

Birth Date: December 9, 1902

Death Date: May 16, 1985

Birth Place: Cleveland, Ohio

Mention the name Margaret Hamilton to a Millennial, and chances are they won't be able to pick her out of a line-up. Quote her most famous line, however, and watch their eyes blink awake with recognition: "I'll get you my pretty! ....and your little dog, too!" The woman behind of cinema's most iconic villains, Cleveland-born Margaret Brainard Hamilton was, as a young girl, enchanted by L. Frank Baum's fantastical Oz tales, and impulsively drawn to the theater.

Decades later, with her Technicolor-green visage, reverberating cackle, and nightmarish troop of flying monkeys, Hamilton terrified generations of children in the classic MGM musical, "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Ironic, perhaps, given her inherently kind-hearted nature, but telling, no doubt, of her monumental talent and unwavering commitment to craft.

The imaginative daughter of prominent lawyer, Hamilton's benevolent disposition and love of children made her a natural in her initial career as a kindergarten teacher (a profession her parents encouraged for practical reasons). Even so, she never gave up on her dream of becoming an actor. In 1923, at the age of 21, Hamilton made her stage debut in a Cleveland Play House production of "The Man Who Ate Popomac."

Her talent blossoming over the course of the next three years, Hamilton made considerable wear on those sturdy midwestern boards. And while it was without question a big step to Broadway, Hamilton made the stride effortlessly with her Broadway debut in a Majestic Theater production of "Another Language." So memorable was Hamilton in the role of a waspish spinster that Hollywood producers lured her to the West Coast to reprise the character in the 1936 film adaptation of the same name.

On the big screen, Hamilton's withering sneer registered stronger than ever, and vicious tongue lashings cracked through the air in those cavernous movie houses like a bullwhip in an arena. Three years later, Hamilton showed a gentler side in Chatterbox (1936). Though her stern screen presence and impeccable rapid-fire delivery brought her steady work throughout the 1930s, those same traits also led to her being typecast as the busybody spinster or the disapproving aunt.

Meanwhile, at MGM, preparations were being made to adapt one of Baum's beloved Oz stories to the big screen. Hamilton read in the trades that Gail Sundergaard was planning to go glamorous with her interpretation of the dreaded Wicked Witch of the West. Around this time, Hamilton and her agent Jeff Smith were attending a football game when they recognized Producer Mervyn LeRoy in the crowd. When LeRoy expressed interest in working with Hamilton, Smith started bargaining. Initially, Hamilton was hired to work on The Wizard of Oz for six weeks. By the time the shoot wrapped, Hamilton had not only worked a total of twenty-three weeks, but also suffered second and third-degree burns during the scene in which her character makes a flashfire exit from Munchkinland.

Of course it's widely known today that The Wizard of Oz, despite being adored by critics and nominated for six Academy Awards, wasn't exactly a financial windfall for MGM. In fact, the film that would forever change the landscape of American pop culture failed to turn a profit until the re-release a decade later.

Even so, the secret of The Wizard of Oz's enduring popularity wasn't the effect it had on moviegoers as much as it was the impact it had on television audiences following its network television premiere in 1956. A resounding success, the film was not re-broadcast again until 1959, when its airing at an earlier time slot than before made it an tradition in countless American households over the course of the next three decades.

Meanwhile, Hamilton worked steadily in film throughout the 1940s, but turned almost exclusively to television work throughout the 1950s. The 1960s found her striking a happy balance between the two mediums, and in 1976 Hamilton -- then appearing in Maxwell House coffee commercials -- ruffled feathers with a guest appearance on Sesame Street (PBS 1969-) was deemed too frightening for television, and never rebroadcast. A stroll into "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" fared better as Hamilton good-naturedly donned her classic witch costume while lamenting the fact that the character frightened so many children.

On May 16, 1985, Margaret Hamilton died from a heart attack in Salisbury, Connecticut. She was 82.

Credits

Días de cine clásico

Actor
Show
2018

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Actor
Show
1995

The Paul Lynde Halloween SpecialStream

Guest Star
Special
1976

Journey Back to Oz

Voice
Aunt Em
Movie
1974

The Night Strangler

Actor
Professor Crabwell
Movie
1973

The Anderson Tapes

Actor
Miss Kaler
Movie
1971

The Partridge FamilyStream

Guest Star
Clara Kincaid
Series
1970

Who's Afraid of Mother Goose?

Actor
Mother Hubbard
Show
1967

Ghostbreaker

Actor
Ivy Rumson
Show
1967

The Daydreamer

Actor
Mrs. Klopplebobbler
Movie
1966

The Addams FamilyStream

Guest Star
Granny Frump
Series
1964
100%

Life With Virginia

Actor
Maggie
Show
1962

Paradise Alley

Actor
Mrs. Nicholson
Movie
1961

Dow Hour of Great Mysteries

Actor
Show
1960

13 Ghosts

Actor
Elaine Zacharides
Movie
1960

Ford Startime

Actor
Show
1959

LaramieStream

Guest Star
Leora Scofield
Series
1959

On Borrowed Time

Actor
Aunt Demetria
Show
1957

On Borrowed Time

Actor
Demetria Riffle
Movie
1957

The Devil's Disciple

Actor
Mrs Dudgeon
Show
1955

The Alcoa Hour

Actor
Mrs. Gillyard
Show
1955

GunsmokeStream

Guest Star
Edsel Pry
Series
1955

The Elgin Hour

Actor
Show
1954

The United States Steel Hour

Actor
Mrs. Felton
Show
1953

Ethel and Albert

Actor
Aunt Eva
Show
1953

I've Got a SecretStream

Guest
Game Show
1952

The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show

Self
regular
Show
1950

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950

Riding High

Actor
Edna
Movie
1950

Wabash Avenue

Actor
Tillie Hutch
Movie
1950

The Red Pony

Actor
Teacher
Movie
1949

The Sun Comes Up

Actor
Mrs. Golightly
Movie
1949

Faithful in My Fashion

Actor
Miss Applegate
Movie
1946

George White's Scandals

Actor
Clarabelle Evans
Movie
1945

Guest in the House

Actor
Hilda
Movie
1944

The Ox-Bow IncidentStream

Actor
Mrs. Larch (uncredited)
Movie
1943
92%

The Affairs of Martha

Actor
Guinevere
Movie
1943

The Invisible Woman

Actor
Mrs. Jackson
Movie
1941

My Little Chickadee

Actor
Mrs. Gideon
Movie
1940

Babes in ArmsStream

Actor
Martha Steele
Movie
1939
90%

Angels Wash Their Faces

Actor
Miss Hannaberry
Movie
1939

The Wizard of OzStream

Actor
Miss Almira Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West
Movie
1939
98%

Main Street Lawyer

Actor
Lucy
Movie
1939

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Actor
Mrs. Harper
Movie
1938

A Slight Case of Murder

Actor
Mrs. Cagle
Movie
1938

Four's a Crowd

Actor
Amy
Movie
1938

Breaking the Ice

Actor
Mrs. Small
Movie
1938

Stablemates

Actor
Beulah Flanders
Movie
1938

Mountain Justice

Actor
Phoebe Lamb
Movie
1937

Nothing SacredStream

Actor
Vermont Drugstore Lady
Movie
1937
92%

SaratogaStream

Actor
Maizie
Movie
1937

You Only Live OnceStream

Actor
Hester
Movie
1937
100%

When's Your Birthday?

Actor
Mossy
Movie
1937

The Witness Chair

Actor
Grace Franklin
Movie
1936

Chatterbox

Actor
Emily "Tippie" Tipton
Movie
1936

Way Down East

Actor
Martha Perkins
Movie
1935

The Farmer Takes a Wife

Actor
Lucy Gurget
Movie
1935

By Your Leave

Actor
Whiffen
Movie
1935

Hat, Coat and Glove

Actor
Madame Du Barry
Movie
1934

Another Language

Actor
Helen Hallam
Movie
1933