Edna May Oliver

 When asked why she played predominantly comedic roles, Edna May Oliver replied, "With a horse's face, what more can I play?"

While at MGM, David O. Selznick had Oliver cast in two film versions of novels by Charles Dickens, including "A Tale of Two Cities" (1935) as the prim but acidic Miss Pross and "David Copperfield" (1935) as the eccentric Betsy Trotwood. It is often said that she was also considered to play the Wicked Witch of the West in MGM's 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz", the role which eventually went to Margaret Hamilton, but it is not true. She was briefly considered for a different conception of the role of Glinda, which eventually went to Billie Burke.

Ms. Oliver was also seen in two 1939 movie musicals, dancing and flirting with Tyrone Power in the Sonja Henie skating film "Second Fiddle" and in a major supporting role as the agent of the title characters in the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musical "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle." That same year, she was nominated for a Supporting Actress Academy Award for her tough performance in "Drums Along the Mohawk" as an early American settler who gives shelter to Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert after their home is burned by Seneca Indians. A comic performance as Laurence Olivier's domineering aunt in "Pride and Prejudice" (1940) and a scene-stealing role as Merle Oberon's aunt in the lavish "Lydia" (1941) concluded her film career.

"I'm grateful in a way for this face, now that I've gotten used to it. I know it's brought me this success. I know it's given me the chance to make and save enough money so I won't spend the end of my days in an old ladies' home somewhere. But all the same I'm a woman, and what woman doesn't long to be beautiful?"

Happy Birthday, Edna May Oliver!