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“I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!”

She stood but five feet tall and weighed no more than one hundred fifteen pounds, dripping wet. Yet, she is ranked as the 4th top screen villain and the number one female screen villain.

My family moved to Westwood Village from Boston in 1946. As soon as we had unpacked and gotten our bearings my mother sought out the closest Presbyterian Church. It turned out to be the Hollywood Presbyterian Church on Gower Ave, around the corner from the Pantages Theatre. The following Sunday, she took me in hand to go to Sunday school. Mother knocked firmly on the door to the room where I was assigned and the teacher opened it to greet us. THERE SHE WAS, minus her tall hat and green skin. I was terrified and took off down the hall.

Her name was Margaret Hamilton and she was immediately recognizable to anyone who had seen the film of The Wizard of Oz. Everyone knew who the Wicked Witch of the West was and there she was in person, inviting me to come into her classroom. Children of my age were just beginning to see the Wizard of Oz because we were too young to view it the first time around after its release in 1939.

The following Sunday mother gave me no choice. I was dropped in the Sunday school room and expected to stay. Her class was fun, informative and I began to relax. She laughed without a “cackle” and seemed to enjoy working with all of us. I learned later that she had taught kindergarten before coming to Hollywood. In addition, I became acquainted with her son Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve. He was four years older, but still part of our class. By the spring of 1947 he had graduated to the next level with a new teacher.

Hammy loved Halloween and in October of 1946, his mother agreed to let him host a Halloween party. In my memory, the day is still magical. We arrived at the two story classical Spanish style home with terra cotta tile roof just at dusk. The trees and house were all draped in cobwebs, flashing lights and inside the double front doors of oak, trimmed in wrought iron, was a monkey standing to collect our invitations. Beside the monkey was the giant hour glass from the set of the Wizard of Oz. The house was almost dark and we could hear the cackling laugh of the Wicked Witch being sent throughout the rooms from speakers placed near the ceiling. It was terror and magic for a six year old.

Ms. Hamilton had required that one parent accompany each invited child. Now I understood why. We were screaming and clinging to our parents. As we passed the winding staircase that led to the second story of the home, a spotlight beamed on the floor of the second landing. Slowly it moved up the cackling figure and there she was in full costume, green skin, tall hat and holding her broom. Try to imagine our fright and fascination.

We were a small group of about thirty counting parents. The butler stepped out from under the stairs and directed us to gather at a large wooden door. When Ms. Hamilton came down and joined us, she gave a short speech. We were told to keep our eyes closed until we could feel the outside breeze and the spotlights on our faces. Our parents led us through the door and then Behold, we stepped into Munchkin land. MGM had brought some of the little people and lollypop trees and there was even a yellow brick road. We followed the road and found ourselves on the terrace with name cards at each table. It was like daylight there were so many lights and the music was playing. Toto or one of his relatives was there to greet us and at the end of the yellow brick road was Bert Lahr, the Cowardly Lion. Across the terrace beside a tree stood the Scarecrow, Ray Bolger in real life and on the road behind the lion was Jack Haley in his Tin Man costume. We were all speechless with wonder and surprise.

Ms. Hamilton introduced each of them and they told us about their costumes and make up, after removing their head gear so that we could see them. Then it was her turn. She showed us how the make up artists got her ready for the film. The green makeup had a copper metal base which she was very allergic to. She told us about the day of the terrible fire when the trap door in Munchkin land did not open in time and the fire ball came up and cooked her face, hat, broom and the hand on the broom. She had third degree burns on both her face and hand and was away from the set for two months. When she returned they had changed the ingredients in the make up, but the scene had to be reshot. She refused to do it again and so Betty Danko was hired as her stand-in. Again, the fire exploded out of the bottom and she was hospitalized as well. It required a third stand-in to complete the scene Somehow between the three shoots they got enough footage to put in the film.

It was a fabulous adventure for a young girl. The only one missing was Dorothy. We must have had fun food and drinks and maybe some games, but the setting and the special people gathered for our enjoyment are the things I remember. It is interesting to note that although the Wicked Witch of the West had a total of twelve minutes screen time, her character left an indelible mark for all time.

Ms. Hamilton returned to New York in 1950 and worked on and off Broadway for the rest of her years. You may remember her from the TV commercials for Maxwell House coffee.

I returned to live in Los Angeles in the mid sixties. One of my regular modeling jobs was for an artist’s cooperative organized by the artists at MGM. We did our work on Sound Stage 27, which is where most all of the inside scenes for The Wizard of Oz were filmed. Talk about a journey back to my childhood. It was Déjà Vu in every way.

Article contributed by Juliana Hill Howard