Uncovering the Original On Screen Glinda the Good Witch of the North

Does anyone out there still do random TV surfing? Well, I do. There’s something strangely liberating about it. Usually I plan my TV watching so I don’t miss things. This does, yes, sometimes entail making charts. Last night I did some of that liberating TV surfing. Well, I was all settled in to watch House M.D. and then Bones - even though they were both reruns. I just wanted to relax and pray that someone with palm fronds would come on in and fan me while feeding me peeled grapes. Oddly, that didn’t happen. Watching House and Bones didn’t end up happening, either.

Billie Burke as Glinda the Good Witch of the North

I clicked around and I stumbled upon an old black and white movie. Now, I am often an utter and complete sucker for these types of movies. I have a huge love for classic Hollywood movies. This movie turned out to be 1937’s movie Topper starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. Someone else who stared in madcap comedy movie was the actress Billie Burke, who played Mrs. Clara Topper. She seemed very familiar, so I headed to IMDB.com to confirm a suspicion I had brewing.

She was, in fact, Glinda the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz! It’s the voice, her face – everything. That’s how I just knew. I never registered Glinda as being old, but Billie Burke was actually 54 years old when she played this part. (Although, some sources say it was 53. Maybe she had a birthday?) This page has some facts about her.

Speaking of The Wizard of Oz, I finally got a chance to view the TV miniseries Tin Man. It was sublimely magical and cemented my love for Zooey Deschanel. I viewed these on DVD from Netflix, and if anyone else watched the interviews that were included- I’m wondering if you saw the one with Deschanel? It was oddly blunt, and I really enjoyed it. I think usually that would have been edited to death, taking out all the parts that showed her personality.