In the first half of my life, I was best known as Florenz Ziegfeld's wife. In the second half, they remember me not as the great Ziegfeld's widow, but as Glinda the Good.
--Billie Burke
(Billie is selling herself short, at least when it comes to the "first half" of her life. Far from being just known as Florenz Ziegfeld's wife, she was a star on Broadway even before she met him, and then again in silent films. When talkies came along Billie went from being a leading lady to a character actress, but a highly sought-after character actress. Among the now-classic films she appeared in were A Bill of Divorcement, Dinner at Eight, Topper, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Father of the Bride. Billie was about 55 when she played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. The year was 1939, but it didn't become her signature role until the film began being shown regularly on television, beginning in 1956. Billie Burke died in 1970 at the age of 85--Kirk)
And I loved her in all those other films. A brilliant character actress.
ReplyDeleteShe was in some great ones, Mitchell.
DeleteHi, Kirk!
ReplyDeleteHappy 138th birthday in heaven to Billie Burke, a delightful actress with an enormous list of credits. Billie was the daughter of a circus clown and, as a child, toured the U.S. and Europe. As IMDB put it, Billie was bred for show business. It's interesting that she was married to Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. until his death 90 years ago in 1932, but best remembered as Glinda the Good Witch. It is also interesting that it took repeated broadcasts of The Wizard of Oz on television before Glinda became Billie's signature role. Coincidentally, a couple of days ago on another friend's blog, I saw Billie Burke credited in the trailer for one of the works you listed, the 1937 film Topper starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett.
Thanks for remembering the wonderful Billie Burke on her birthday, good buddy Kirk!
Shady, that's true with everyone who was in The Wizard of Oz. Lest we forget, most of the principal actors were still alive for the film's Second Coming. Only Frank Morgan, who played the title character, didn't get to live long enough to witness the television revival. After 1960 or so, whenever Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr, Margaret Hamilton, or Billie Burke were interviewed (and remember, they all had career accomplishments outside of the film), the first question was inevitably about Oz. Even Judy Garland, who had a HUGE movie career (as well as making a HUGE comeback as a live performer and coming out with a HUGE-selling album based one of those performances) couldn't quite escape it. I don't know how she felt about that, but Judy spent many a TV interview describing how the Munchkin actors were a bunch of drunks, something that's never been independently confirmed.
Delete' Dinner at Eight, Topper, The Man Who Came to Dinner, and Father of the Bride'. I remember seeing all these films but I have no recollection of her. She looks very glam in the second photo.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that's why she accepted the Glinda role, Andrew. It was a chance to get gussied up a bit.
DeleteShe looked damn good at 55!
ReplyDeleteDebra, a few years before The Wizard of Oz, a movie came out called The Great Ziegfeld. Myrna Loy played Billie (Loy's frequent costar, William Powell, played the title character.) Billie complained that she should have played herself in the film, but studio execs thought she was too old by that point. I, for one, think she could have played herself.
DeleteLoved her sweet voice as Glinda!!! She was one of my favorite characters of the Wizard of Oz.
ReplyDeleteJM, in movies she was mostly a comedy actress, and she plays Glinda with a great deal of humor ("Emerald City is far from here. Did you bring your broom?")
DeleteTopper is such an amazing film!
ReplyDeleteAnanka, it could be subtitled Haunts of the Very Rich.
Delete"The Magazine for Playgoers" looks very very demure :)
ReplyDeleteJenny, it's still a few years before the Roaring '20s.
Delete