Margaret Hamilton

Trivia: While Hamilton was a teacher back in Cleveland, one of her students was young Jim Backus. She died in London, England. She died in Salisbury, Connecticut from a heart attack. In addition to her films, she continued to work as a theater actress, winning a Tony Award in 1949 for The Madwoman of Chaillot. Hamilton was married briefly in the 30s and had one son, whom she raised on her own. Some of her other films include Anna Karenina (1948), The Fan (1949), Anastasia (1956), The Admirable Crichton (1957) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964). She continued acting regularly until her final role in 1979. From this time she divided her time between British and Hollywood films.

During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared in television, and had a substantial role in the made for television film The Night Strangler (1973). The Wicked Lady (1945) was an international success, but it was her next film role, as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1946) that brought her renown as a film actress. For example, Hamilton starred in a now-forgotten noir flick of 1948 from one of the "poverty row" studios, entitled Bungalow 13, which co-starred Richard Cromwell. She appeared in British films for more than twenty years before she achieved her greatest success in middle age. She appeared regularly in supporting roles in films until the early 1950s, and sporadically thereafter. She began her acting career in Liverpool before moving to London where she appeared frequently with the Old Vic. Hamilton had to recuperate in a hospital and at home for six weeks time after the accident before returning to the set to complete her work on the now-classic film. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina to British parents, Hunt spent the first ten years of her life in Argentina, before her parents returned to England.

During the shoot, Hamilton suffered severe burns when the trap-door elevator she was riding on the soundstage malfunctioned during her "fiery disappearance" from Munchkin Land. Martita Hunt (January 30, 1900 - June 13, 1969) was a theater and film actress. Hamilton's effective and frightening portrayal eventually secured her the role over the originally cast, but more glamourous, Gale Sondergaard. In 1939, she played in the role of the Wicked Witch opposite Judy Garland 's Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and created not only her most famous role, but one of the screen's most memorable villains. She appeared in such films as These Three (1936), Saratoga and Nothing Sacred (both 1937) and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938).

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Hamilton was a school teacher who turned to acting, making her screen debut in 1933 in Zoo in Budapest. Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 - May 16, 1985) was an American film actress.