![]() Second, she made the winged monkeys drive the Wizard of Oz's army out of the Winkie Country, when he attempted to overthrow her. First, the witch commanded the creatures to help her enslave the Winkies and to seize control of the western part of the Land of Oz. She possesses the enchanted Golden Cap, which compels the winged monkeys to obey her on three occasions. She has a pack of 40 great wolves, a flock of 40 crows, a swarm of black bees, and an army of Winkies. Most of her power resides in the creatures she controls. Usually, she is shown wearing an eyepatch however, some illustrations show her with two eyes. Other illustrators, such as Paul Granger, placed her eye in the center of her forehead, as a cyclops. Baum himself specified that she only had one eye, but that it "was as powerful as a telescope", enabling the witch to see what was happening in her kingdom from her castle windows. Denslow's illustrations for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz depict her as a paunched old hag with three pigtails and an eyepatch. She shows no interest in the death of the Eastern Witch and all she cares about is obtaining the Silver Shoes which will increase her power. Frank Baum's Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz. The Wicked Witch of the West was not related to the Wicked Witch of the East, but leagued together with her, the Wicked Witch of the South, and the Wicked Witch of the North to conquer the Land of Oz and divide it among themselves, as recounted in L. Her castle is described as beautiful instead of being the sinister fortress shown in the film. The Wicked Witch of the West is the malevolent ruler of the Winkie Country. Hamilton's characterization introduced green skin and this has been continued in later literary and dramatic representations, including Gregory Maguire's revisionist Oz novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995) and its musical stage adaptation Wicked (2003), the 2013 film Oz the Great and Powerful, and the television series Once Upon a Time and Salem Styles’ young adult novel WITCH CITY. The witch's most popular depiction was in the classic 1939 film based on Baum's novel, where she was portrayed by Margaret Hamilton. In Baum's subsequent Oz novels, it is the Nome King who is the principal villain the Wicked Witch of the West is rarely even referred to again after her death in the first book. There will be a private funeral service, and a memorial service is planned later.The Wicked Witch of the West is a fictional character who appears in the classic children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), created by American author L. She is survived by a son, Hamilton Meserve of Millbrook, N.Y. Her last movie was “The Anderson Tapes” in 1971, and she continued working on the stage until 1977. She performed in countless television and radio dramas and most recently was seen as the kindly Cora in Maxwell House Coffee commercials. She often played the part of gossipy, mean-spirited spinsters-she was a master of the behind-the-hand sneer-but could also portray sympathetic characters with equal skill.Īmong her other movies were “Way Down East” and “The Farmer Takes a Wife” in 1935, “Nothing Sacred” in 1937, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in 1938, “My Little Chickadee” in 1939 and “The Ox-Bow Incident” in 1943.Īll told, she appeared in 75 motion pictures and at least as many stage productions. She made her Broadway debut in 1932 in “Another Language” and came to Hollywood a year later to appear in the film version. But she also admitted: “I adore the picture.” And, like millions of Americans, she said she watched it almost every year when “Oz” was rerun on television.īorn in Cleveland, Miss Hamilton was trained as a teacher and taught kindergarten while studying acting at the Cleveland Play House. “It’s not the part I’d most like to be known for,” she said in a 1970 interview. ![]() Frank Baum classic children’s book.ĭespite the fame the character brought her, Miss Hamilton did not consider it her best work as an actress. Miss Hamilton said she won the role largely because of her shudder-producing witch’s cackle, which she developed while playing the same part in stage versions of the L. In a 1977 interview, Miss Hamilton said she received-and faithfully answered-as many as 2,000 letters a year from children who knew her from television reruns of the famous film.
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