gina stockdale played auntie em in the wizard of oz.
who played auntie em in the wizard of oz?
gina stockdale
in 1939, blandick landed her most memorable minor role yet – auntie em in mgm's classic "the wizard of oz". though it was a small part (blandick filmed all her scenes in a single week), the character was an important symbol of protagonist dorothy's quest to return home to her beloved aunt and uncle – a snipe at people who revere glitz and tinsel over a happy homelife. (auntie em and uncle henry are the only characters from the beginning of the movie, in black-and-white kansas, not to have alter ego characters in the land of oz.) blandick beat out may robson, janet beecher, and sarah padden for the role, and earned $750 per week. some believed auntie em's alter ego was to be glinda, the good witch of the north but the studio opted to use different actresses for each role rather than have a dual role for this. the reason was they wanted someone younger looking to contrast the good witch from the bad witches, although billie burke, who played glinda, was only eight years younger. blandick is only credited in the movie's closing credits.
clara blandick
however, at the end of the movie, the film's closing cast list, as created by mgm, was not be shown, and the title card with "the end" right after dorothy's closing line was never seen on television during these early cbs showings. instead, immediately after dorothy spoke her last line ("oh, auntie em, there's no place like home!"), and the camera faded out on her, television viewers once again saw cbs's own title card the wizard of oz, this time accompanied by some of the film's end title music, exactly as heard on the soundtrack, and the announcer's voice saying that the host for that year would return in a moment. after a final commercial, the host was then seen once again, to bid farewell to the tv audience, and cbs showed its own version of the cast list that appears during the film's end credits. at the end, referring to both the film and the hosting segments, the same announcer declared that "this has been a film and videotape presentation."
the wizard of oz on television