Yahoo Lifestyle “The Wizard of Oz” Cast Salaries: Why the Actress Who Played the Wicked Witch Made More Than Double Judy Garland (Exclusive)
An 'Oz' expert breaks down the surprising amounts cast members earned
Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty
Margaret Hamilton and Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz.'Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande may have made the same salary for their work on The Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked, but there wasn't equal pay for the stars of the 1939 classic.
Judy Garland played Dorothy Gale, the lead role in the musical fantasy, but Margaret Hamilton who played the Wicked Witch of the West commanded a much bigger salary from the studio behind the movie.
“Maggie Hamilton came to MGM as a Broadway star with credits and started out at a higher weekly rate,” explains Oz expert John Fricke, the author of The Wizard of Oz, The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History and The Wizard of Oz, An Illustrated Companion to the Timeless Movie Classic.
According to Fricke, Garland — who went on to star in films like Meet Me in St. Louis and became one of the most famous performers of the 20th century — was paid $9,600 for her work on the movie (the equivalent of about $218,000 today).
Silver Screen Collection/Getty
Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Judy Garland and Bert Lahr in 'The Wizard of Oz.'That amount "was a lot of money" at the time, says Fricke. And it was a raise for the teenage Garland, who started out on contract at MGM with a salary for just $100 per week in 1935. By the time she made Oz, it was up to $500.
Though Hamilton has considerably less screen time, her salary was $21,000, says Fricke. (That’s roughly $476,000 today.)
Part of the reason Hamilton’s salary was so much higher: She suffered burns on set while filming a scene with fire and was out of commission recuperating for six weeks — but continued to earn a paycheck.
“MGM, to its credit, sent a memo around right after her accident and said, ‘We are to keep Ms. Hamilton on salary the entire time she is incapacitated,’” according to Fricke, who says her salary was for “the weeks she worked and the weeks she didn’t work.”
As for the actor who played Scarecrow? To paraphrase a line from the movie: He made the most of all. Ray Bolger was a stage star in New York City who’d appeared on Broadway and at Radio City Music Hall.
MGM Studios/Courtesy of Getty
Ray Bolger as The Scarecrow in 'The Wizard of Oz.'Related: 12 Gorgeous Throwback Photos of Judy Garland in Her Prime
His salary for the film, according to Fricke: $72,000 (around $1.63 million today). Jack Haley and Bert Lahr, who played the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion, respectively “made near that amount,” as they too “came to movies from Broadway and they were established names,” says Fricke.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Terry, the terrier who played Dorothy’s faithful dog Toto, also earned a decent salary, earning $125 per week (about $2,838 today) — enough for a whole lot of kibble.
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