Margaret Hamilton
(Miss Gulch/The Wicked Witch of the West)

Margaret Hamilton won her part after actress Gale Sondergaard proved too pretty for the role of the Wicked Witch. But portraying the WWW was not a bed of poppies for Hamilton, who was badly burned when her highly flammable green make-up ignited during the taping of the scene where the Witch disappears from Munchkinland. Although she will always be best known for her portrayal of Dorothy's nemesis, Hamilton was a prolific character actress who enjoyed a long career on stage, screen and television. She logged roles in some 70 films in her 50 year tenure as an actress and was also well-known as "Cora," the kindly Maxwell House Coffee spokeswoman. She died in 1985 at the age of 82.