My 8 year old son Jack has discovered The Wizard of Oz. Apparently they watched it at school (learning about Tornadoes he says). Now, this is his favorite movie. He and my 3 year old daughter Chloe are currently watching it as they make a magnet tower from MagnaTiles.
I realized, even though I have Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West) in my family tree, I have never made a blog post about them or the movie, which is surprising. So, here we go!
~Judy Garland (born: Frances Ethel Gumm)
born: 10 Jun 1922 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota
died: 22 Jun 1969 in Belgravia, England
Judy was born Frances Ethel Gumm, the daughter of Francis Avent Gumm (1886-1935) & Ethel Marion Milne (1896-1953). She and her 2 sisters Dorothy and Mary were all actresses and my 7th cousin, 4x removed.
Judy was the lead actress in The Wizard of Oz in 1939, playing Dorothy Gale. She was 17 years old at the time.
The Gumm Sisters- 1935
Judy started acting in 1936 at the age of 14 years old and has starred in at least 25 different films.
U.S. Census Records:
1930- Antelope, Los Angeles, California (age 7): Judy is living with her parents and 2 sisters in Antelope, California, at 1211 Ceadir Street (?). Their home is rented for $40 a month. Her father works as a proprietor of a theater- owner and operator.
1940: Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (age 17): Judy is living at 1231 Stone Canyon Road in Los Angeles, the home is owned, valued at $50,000. She is living with her mother, sister Sue, a butler and a maid. Both her mother and sister have also adopted the name Garland.
1231 Stone Canyon Rd in Los Angeles- (information from Realtor.com)
5 Bed, 5.5 bath, 5,513 Sqft, built in 1938. Last sold for 6.7 million in 2012.
Judy married 5 times in her 47 years and had 3 children:
1. Liza May Minnelli (b. 1946)
2. Lorna Luft (b. 1952)
3. Joseph Luft (b. 1955)
Judy died at the young age of 47 years old of a barbiturate overdose- a drug used to depress the central nervous system- example would be Xanax or Valium. She is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.
~John Joseph Haley "Jack Haley"
born: 10 Aug 1898- Boston, Massachusetts
died: 06 Jun 1979- Los Angeles, California
Jack, born John Joseph Haley Jr., was born to John Joseph Haley Sr. and Ellen Curley. Jack is actually in my tree as well since his son John III married Judy Garland's daughter- Liza.
Jack played the Tin Man and the farmhand "Hickory" in the Wizard of Oz. He was 41 years old at the time.
Jack married Florence McFadden (1902-1996) and they had 2 children: Jack Jr. (1933-2001) and Gloria (1923-2010).
Jack died at the age of 80 of a heart attack on 06 Jun 1979. He is buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
~Margaret Brainard Hamilton
born: 09 Dec 1902 in Cleveland, Ohio
died: 16 May 1985 in Salisbury, Connecticut
Margaret was the daughter of Walter Jones Hamilton (1865-1935) & Mary Jane "Jennie" Adams (1865-1926). She is my 8th cousin, 2x removed on my mother's side.
Margaret starred as The Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz in 1939. She was 37 years old at the time. I read somewhere a long while back that she had originally auditioned to play Glenda the Good Witch, but they said she was too ugly. I have no idea if that is accurate- I'd hope not! How cruel!
Before she played the Witch, Margaret was married to Paul Boynton Meserve (1902-1983) on 13 Jun 193 and they divorced in 1938. They had one son together: Hamilton Wadsworth Meserve (b. 1936). Hamilton married and gave his mother 3 grandchildren, one of whom he named after her.
U.S. Census Records:
1910: Cleveland, Ohio (age 7): Margaret was living at 2098 East 96th Street with her parents (father was a lawyer), 3 siblings and 2 servants. Their home was owned- mortgage-free. I couldn't find the house online, so either it was written incorrectly on the record or it doesn't exist anymore.
1930: Cleveland, Ohio (age 27): Margaret was living with her father and a servant. It appears to be the same address above, the number is different. It looks like it reads 2050, but it's transcribed as 2346. (None of the numbers come up in google search). Their home is owned, valued at $35,000. Her father is still an attorney.
1940: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California (age 37): Margaret is divorced, living with her son and a cook. They live at 611 Canon Drive- home is owned, valued at $42,000. Her occupation is listed as Movie Actress- motion pictures.
611 N. Canon Drive- (information courtesy of Zillow.com)
6 Bed, 7 bath, 10,999 sqft. Unfortunately, it appears Margaret's house in 1940 was probably torn down and this house was put in it's place because this house was built in 1983.
I thought it'd be fun to look up famous neighbors who were also in the movie business:
Next door @ 609 Canon Drive- Actor Ralph Bellamy, his wife Catherine and a lodger
Margaret died at the age of 82 and died on 16 May 1985. She was cremated, ashes scattered over her property in Dutchess County, New York.
Update-
18 Jan 2020- I found this wonderful video of The Wizard of Oz burials! Check it out if you get a chance!
VIDEO
