“The Wizard of Oz” throws salaries: Why the actress playing The Wicked Witch made more than double Judy Garland (exclusive) – AOL

Oz expert breaks the surprising sums that have won members of the cast

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande may have made the same salary for their work The sorcerer from Oz retraining Wicked, But there was no equal pay for the stars of the classics since 1939.

Judy Garland played Dorothy Gail, the main role in the music fantasy, but Margaret Hamilton, who played the wicked witch of the West, commanded a much bigger salary than the studio behind the movie.

“Maggie Hamilton came to MGM as a Broadway star with loans and started with a higher week course,” explains Oz Expert John Frike, the author of Oz wizard, the official visual story of the 50th anniversary and The Oz wizard, an illustrated satellite of the “classic of the harmless movie”S

According to Fricke, Garland – who continued to star in movies as Meet me in St. Louis And he became one of the most famous performers of the 20th century -$ 9,600 was paid for his work on the movie (equivalent to about $ 218,000 today).

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This amount “was a lot of money” at the time, says Frike. And it was an promotion to the teenage Garland, who started a MGM contract with only $ 100 a week in 1935. Until she made it OzIt was up to $ 500.

Although Hamilton has a significantly less time on the screen, her salary was $ 21,000, says Frike. (This is approximately $ 476,000 today.)

Part of the reason for Hamilton’s salary to be much higher: she suffered Burns on the set while shooting a scene with fire and was out of a commission, which was recovering for six weeks – but continued to win a salary.

“MGM, to his merit, sent a note around immediately after his incident and said,” We have to keep d -Hamilton on a salary all the time when he is incapable, “according to Fricke, who says her salary was for” She worked and the weeks she didn’t work. “

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As for the actor who plays scarecrow? To paraphrase a line from the movie: it makes the most of it. Ray Bolger was a stage star in New York, who appeared on Broadway and Radio City Music Hall.

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His salary for the movie, according to Fricke: $ 72,000 (about $ 1.63 million today). Jack Haley and Bert Lah, who played Tin Man and the cowardly lion, respectively, “made close to that quantity”, as they “came to Broadway films and they were named,” says Frike.

According to The Los Angeles TimesTerry, the Terrier, who played Dorothy Toto’s true dog, also won a decent salary, earning $ 125 a week (about $ 2838 today) – enough for a lot of Kibitsa.

Scene Wicked with PeopleA special number available here.