She was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1885 in Washington D. C. the only child of William "Billy" Burke, a Barnum & Bailey circus clown. Show business was "in her blood" so it makes sense that her stage debut was imminent and came after the family moved to London. She was a fixture on the London stage until 1907 when she returned to the U.S. and the Broadway stage where she met and married famed producer Florenz Ziegfeld. She made her film debut in 1916 in the Silent film "Peggy" beginning a long and illustrious career. Her bubbly staccato voice, elegant diction and mannered style landed her aristocratic type roles. She is best remembered as "Glinda" the Good Witch in the "Wizard of Oz" (1939) and for her appearances as Mrs. (Clara) Topper in the "Topper" (1937-41) film series.  Between 1915 and 1960, she made more than 80 pictures.  On TV she appeared on "Doc Corkle" (1952) as Melinda and also guest starred on a few series including: "77 Sunset Strip." She wrote 2 autobiographies: With a Feather on My Nose (1949) With Powder on My Nose (1959).  She died on May 14, 1970 in Los Angeles, California at age 84 after a long illness. She died of heart ailment and hardening of the arteries.

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Wizard of OZ

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