EXCLUSIVE: We Reveal 'Wizard of Oz' Scandals and Shockers on Heels of 'Wicked' Box Office Dominance — Inside The Secret Torture, Poisoning and Torment Behind the Cult Classic
Inside how the cast suffered while filming the 1939 classic 'The Wizard of Oz'.
Dec. 9 2024, Published 8:30 p.m. ET
Child star Shirley Temple was the first choice to play Dorothy and sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in the classic film The Wizard of Oz.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the original actress tapped to play the iconic role is just one of many shocking secrets about the beloved 1939 film.
Authors Jay Scarfone and William Stillman's book, The Wizard of Oz, The Official 75th Anniversary Companion, blows the lid off the shocking behind-the-scene scandals, including torture, poisoning and torment of the cast.
The cast of 'The Wizard of Oz' suffered greatly to bring the classic book to life on the silver screen.
In addition to Temple, legendary kid-hater W.C. Fields was the original choice to play the Wizard, The Wicked Witch of the West would have been hyper-sexualized – and ToTo would have been a man in a dog costume.
As it turned out, dangerous costumes could have killed off a good number of the cast, including future TV superstar Buddy Ebsen, who was originally tapped to play the Tin Man but had to be replaced after suffering a near-fatal poisoning from the aluminum power used for his makeup.
After deciding to turn to L. Frank Baum's 1900 best-selling book into a movie, MGM was desperate to cast Temple, but she was under contract to 20th Century Fox, which had other plans for her.
Judy Garland said MGM bosses tortured her with makeup to make her look as much like Shirley Temple as possible.
So, the studio settled for Judy Garland, who initially didn't want the role either. At age 17, she was chasing more sophisticated parts and didn't want to play a child.
But she changed her mind after learning the Technicolor film had an all-star cast of vaudevillian actors and songs written to showcase her singing talents. She stated: "I knew my entire future rested on my ability to play Dorothy convincingly."
It was physical torture for Garland, who said the Shirley-smitten MGM bosses "tried to make me look as much like Shirley as possible".
Garland continued: "I was fat, had crooked teeth, straight black hair and the wrong kind of nose. They made me wear a corset and a wig, capped my teeth and put horrible things in my nose to turn it up like Shirley's. Making that picture was almost the end of me."
Dorothy's iconic slippers were silver in the book but studio execs opted to make them ruby for the Technicolor process.
Garland was also ordered to lose 12 pounds and the studio assigned her a personal trainer and body double – 1928 Olympic swimming star Bobbie Koshay.
In Baum's book, Dorothy's slippers were silver and tinkled. The studio decided the shoes should be ruby and spark to contrast the Yellow Brick Road and take advantage of the new Technicolor process. For close-ups, Garland's feet were not used. She had a stand-in.
As a juvenile, Garland was allowed to work only four hours a day and Koshay appeared in all shots when Garland's face wasn't visible.
Ray Bolger said his face was so hot in the Scarecrow costume it felt like 'it's going to explode'.
Actor and dancer Ray Bolger also suffered in his Scarecrow costume.
He revealed: "My face gets so hot it seems like it's going to explode.
"I had no ears. There were bunches of straw in their place... I couldn't hear a single thing – and my own voice sounded like somebody talking in a huge, empty hall."
The Tin Man had the worst of it all. Jack Haley took over the role when Ebsen nearly died from inhaling the poisonous aluminum powder used as makeup to silver his face. The lethal stuff was also put on Haley, who had makeup men wipe away any perspiration to keep the aluminum from running into his eyes.
His outfit was so cumbersome he couldn't sit down in it – and in all close-ups, Haley removed his torturous pants.
Bert Lahr had few physical problems playing the Cowardly Lion, but the role ruined his career. He said: "After The Wizard of Oz, I was typecast as a lion and there aren't all that many parts for a lions."
At first, the Wicked Witch was slinky and glamorous, as played by actress Gale Sondergaard. But she didn't like the image it projected and dropped out. Margaret Hamilton was hired in her place – and the witch turned out downright scary.
The witch's 28 slaves, the Winkies, wore costumes made from such heavy felt, they nearly died from heat stroke working under the heavy arc lights. The Winged Monkeys were small men wearing suits made of hair, facial appliances to look like monkeys and motorized wings to make them airborne. They too almost suffered from heat stroke.
The Wicked Witch of the West was originally supposed to be sexy and glamorous.
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Meanwhile, the 124 people cast to play the Munchkins faced big problems of their own as chairs, dressing tables and bathroom fixtures were all too tall for them and had to be reconfigured. One crewman, dubbed "the Midget elevator" was hired for the sole purpose of picking up the Munchkins and putting them down on designated spots.
After Fields was ejected from playing the Wizard, Frank Morgan was tapped for the role. He had a portable cabinet filled with booze and "nipped a bit", according to Garland.
Producer Mervyn LeRoy added: "To make a picture like The Wizard of Oz, everybody had to be a little drunk with imagination."
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