Remembering... Margaret Hamilton

Sooner or later, every pretty girl becomes aware that her looks won't last forever, meaning she must develop talent or personality or some other such thing to compensate... For all that plain girls may dream of beauty, the nightmare of losing it never need trouble their sleep.

Margaret Hamilton - born on this day in 1902 - was one of the hardest working actresses in Hollywood, precisely because she wasn't pretty; glamour girls are almost always the flavour of the month, whereas a classic like vanilla is a perennial favourite.

Famed for her portrayal of The Wicked Witch of the West, Hamilton assayed a variety of maids, nurses, schoolteachers, and New England spinsters during the course of her long career, from Zoo in Budapest (1933) to her final appearance nearly fifty years later on a 1982 episode of the television show Lou Grant.

Rumour has it (and true or not it has a nice ring to it) when Gregory Maguire wrote his great novel Wicked, he made Elphaba (the name he gave to the Wicked Witch of the West) concerned about the ill-treatment of animals as a tribute to her; throughout her life, Margaret Hamilton's charitable works always supported children and animals.

She was, to all who met her, a beautiful lady indeed...
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