Margaret Brainard Hamilton

School teacher, Actress

MARGARET HAMILTON

The WIZARD of OZ. The Wicked Witch of the West

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. 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,

Remembering our wonderful former BHUSD School Board member and preschool teacher Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902-May 16, 1985) ~ aka

‘The Wicked Witch of the West’.

When asked about her role in The Wizard of Oz, the former teacher often said her greatest fear was that her monstrous film role would give young people a false impression of her true nature. The reality is that Margaret Hamilton cared deeply about children. She was a lifelong advocate for educational causes, devoting much of her energy and money to benefit causes that improved the lives of children and animals. Ms. Hamilton served on the Beverly Hills Board of Education from 1948 to 1951, and founded and taught at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church School in the 1950s.