Margaret Brainard Hamilton
Margaret Brainard Hamilton (December 9, 1902 – May 16, 1985) was an American actress and educator. She was best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West, and her Kansas counterpart Almira Gulch, in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz.
A former schoolteacher, she worked as a character actress in films for seven years before she was offered the role that defined her public image. In later years, Hamilton appeared in films and made frequent cameo appearances on television sitcoms and commercials. She also gained recognition for her work as an advocate of causes designed to benefit children and animals and retained a lifelong commitment to public education.
She married Paul Boynton Meserve on June 13, 1931, and made her debut on the New York City stage the following year. While her acting career developed, her marriage began to fail; the couple divorced in 1938. They had one son, Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve, whom she raised on her own. She had three grandchildren, Christopher, Scott, and Margaret. Hamilton never remarried.
Hamilton remained a lifelong friend of The Wizard of Oz castmate Ray Bolger (the scarecrow). Hamilton was a regular parishioner of the Presbyterian church.A Republican, she supported the campaign of Dwight Eisenhower during the 1952 presidential election
Hamilton's early experience as a teacher fueled a lifelong interest in educational issues. She served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951 and was a Sunday school teacher during the 1950s. She lived in Manhattan for most of her adult life, and summered in a cottage on Cape Island, Southport, Maine.[18] In 1979, she was a guest speaker at a University of Connecticut children's literature class.She later moved to Millbrook, New York. She subsequently developed Alzheimer's disease and died in her sleep following a heart attack on May 16, 1985 in Salisbury,
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