Trivia

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.

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.

And Your Little Dog, Too: Miss Hamilton was a strong promoter of animal rights and the welfare of companion animals. She often appeared in TV public service announcements with her cat, pleading that everyone spay and neuter their pets to help cut down on the number of unwanted, homeless animals. She also had a dachshund named Otto.

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 did a guest spot on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968) to explain that the Witch was just a character in the film, and not herself.

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.".

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!".

Remarked during an interview that many children believed that she was mean in real life. She had a hard time to convince them that she was only play acting when she appeared as the Wicked Witch of the West.

Welcomed pen-pal fans to visit her at her New York City apartment in later years.

Would spoof her famous role of The Wicked Witch of The West in a 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween Special for television. She portrayed the sister of Witchiepoo from H.R. Pufnstuf herself being spoofed by actress Billie Hayes.

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?".

For many years, she appeared in Maxwell House coffee commercials as the feisty storekeeper who declares, "It's the only brand I sell!"

Her legendary role as the Wicked Witch of the West was ranked #4 on the American Film Institute's villains list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villains.

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

She was the kindergarten teacher of five-year-old William Windom, until she threw him out for rambunctious behavior. Another of her students was Jim Backus.

Appeared in an episode of Sesame Street which aired February 10, 1976, reprising her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from The Wizard of Oz (1939). Reportedly, her performance scared so many children that their parents wrote in to CTW, saying their kids were too scared to watch the show anymore. As a result of the overwhelming reaction, this episode never re-aired, and as of 2014, no footage of it has surfaced on the Internet, and the only picture available is one with the Witch standing beside Oscar in his trash can. It is unknown whether or not any footage of it still exists.

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

Like many great movie villains, she was the opposite of the characters she played on screen. She was described as charming, friendly and funny. "Maggie" was adored by casts and crews alike.

Lived in a Gramercy Park building in New York City that was also occupied by James Cagney and now boasts Jimmy Fallon as one of its tenants.

Hamilton was given a six week guarantee on The Wizard of Oz (1939), but shooting stretched into 23 weeks.

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.

Made her acting debut as an old Englishman in "Pomander Walk" at the Hathaway-Brown High School for Girls. Her singing teacher, Grace Probert, encouraged her theatrical hopes but her father was "dead set against it.".

Margaret Hamilton was a great supporter of charitable causes. In her later years in Connecticut, she was a staunch supporter of the MS Read-a-Thon for Multiple Sclerosis Research. She volunteered to meet with local winners of the children's contest, always including a discussion of the difference between her most famous role as the Wicked Witch of the West and who she was in real life.

She was cremated and her ashes spread on her Dutchess County, New York estate.

She attended Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. A school that specializes in working with children and families. She acted in some of the Wheelock Family Theater productions.

Guest-starred on The Partridge Family (1970) as the mother of Reuben Kincaid (the Partridges' manager), in the fourth-season episode "Reuben Kincaid Lives (1973)".

She was a distant cousin of Neil Hamilton, with whom she appeared in By Your Leave (1934).

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.

Ms. Hamilton (b. 1902) was 18 years younger than Billie Burke (b. 1884).

Profiled in "American Classic Screen Interviews" (Scarecrow Press). (2010)

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

She was the daughter of Mary Jane "Jennie" (Adams) and Walter J. Hamilton. Her father had deep Colonial American roots in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Her maternal grandparents were English immigrants.

She was portrayed by Fenella Woolgar in "Judy" (2019).

During the filming of "The Wizard of Oz" , she was accidentally burned during a special effects sequence. She returned to the production under the condition she would not have to work around fire again. Ironically, when she died, she was cremated.

She has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Wizard of Oz (1939) & The Ox-Bow Incident (1942).