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Billie Burke

Billie Burke (7 August 1885-14 May 1970) was an actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz. To earlier audiences she was the feather-brained Clara Topper in a series of popular movies about a man haunted by two alcoholic ghosts and their pet St. Bernard.

Born in Washington, D.C, she was the daughter of noted clown Billy Burke, and named Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke. She spent much of her youth travelling with her family as her father played Europe in Barnum and Bailey's Circus. In 1903 she began acting on stage, making her debut in London, and eventually returning to America to become the toast of Broadway. There she caught the eye of theatre producer Florenz Ziegfeld, marrying him in 1914.

She was quickly signed for the movies, with her first movie, in the starring role, in Peggy in 1916. She continued to appear on both stage and screen, but when the family's savings, were wiped out in the Crash of 1929, she began to concentrate on the movies. Her husband died in 1932, worsening her financial situation. That same year, she starred in Dinner at Eight.

This was shortly thereafter followed by the Topper series of films and The Wizard of Oz. Another successful series followed with Father of the Bride and Father's Little Dividend.

She died in Los Angeles, California, and was interred at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.

Table of contents
1 Broadway
2 Films
3 External link

Broadway

Films

External link




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