The Cowardly Lion, and the actor Bert Lahr, brought like and comedy to the often plagued set of The Wizard of Oz. A comic, both lovable and down to earth in real life, was the first, and the successful choice to play the Lion. Yet, just as his costars Bolger and Haley suffered through makeup and costume problems, Lahr had his own issues to attend to.
Lahr had no fear of being typecast at production’s end. He was a talented performer of vaudeville, burlesque, and Broadway. And, as the man said himself, “How many parts are there for lions?”
Ray Bolger As The Scarecrow
Ray Bolger was the actor who took on the portrayal of the brave but brainless Scarecrow in the MGM version of The Wizard of Oz. Like Judy Garland, it is the movie he is best remembered for today. Also like Garland, and many of his costars, he was also plagued with the negative after-effects of his participation in the project. The mask Bolger wore for his portrayal, while not as dangerous as the Tin Man makeup, did leave its own lasting impression on the actor.
Though designed specifically for Bolger's face the consistent donning of the mask left marks on the actor's face that remained noticeable up to a year after filming had ended.
Jack Haley As The Tin Man
After the debilitating poisoning of the original Tin Man, Buddy Ebsen, Jack Haley was hired to take over the roll. Not wanting to duplicating the experience of poisoning one of their actors the MGM makeup department switched from using aluminum powder to using aluminum paste on Jack Haley's face.
While Haley's lungs were safe, and he avoided the severity of Ebsen's allergic reaction, he still fell victim to a rather serious eye infection that required surgical treatment and put all of shooting on hold for 4 days.
It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's A Balloon!
It is always romantic these days, with crowded airports and stressful travel, to imagine the magic of flying in a hot air balloon. From the Wizard's own Kansas origins, to Dorothy's near trip home from Oz, the hot air balloon fits nicely into the rest of the world Baum created and named Oz. Though forced to flee her only opportunity to be spirited away by basket by Tot's sudden distraction by a cat, the hot air balloon remains a famous symbol of this famous American story.
It is only this missed opportunity that allows Dorothy the time to learn she had the power to rescue herself all along. All she needed was MGM's very bright ruby slippers and the magic words, "There's no place like home." Flying in a balloon is magical of course, but self-reliance and friendship is far more magical and useful in the end.
Louis B. Mayer The Studio Spy
As the star, child or not, Judy Garland was a key part of the production of The Wizard of Oz film. It becomes all the more troubling, understanding just how much of a child garland was, when we learn that Louis B Mayer actually hired spies to check in on his star while she was working on set. They watched for any changes in her diet (which was meant to contain nothing but chicken soup, coffee, and 80 cigarettes) and would receive personal reprimands from the studio head if any deviation was found. The spies were told to watch for any consumption of ice cream, in which case extra diet pills would then be prescribed to the young actress.
The spying and studio control continued to harm Garland's fragile self-esteem. Already consumed by thoughts that she was overweight, the extra attention and demands from her male employers further harmed her psychologically. What was meant to be the ultimate moment in a promising career really led to the eventual death of a once promising and hopeful young woman.