The magical lives of THE WITCHES OF OZ

How a Golden Age glamour girl and a humble teacher became legends of the Yellow Brick Road

Despite playing two of cinema’s most immortalised characters ever in The Wizard of Oz, actresses Billie Burke, who starred as Glinda the Good Witch, and Margaret Hamilton, who was unforgettable as the Wicked Witch of the West, never thought much of their roles.

“It’s not a particularly difficult role,” Margaret once said. “You just wring your hands and roll your eyes, and rant and rave and shriek a bit.”

Despite the comments, they were both desperate to snag the roles.

Billie, originally a darling of Broadway during World War I, fell on hard times when her husband Florenz Ziegfeld Jr, who was the creator of the Ziegfeld Follies, began using her considerable fortune to fund his stage extravaganzas.