System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Billie Burke, Comedienne/Actress Glenda - Wizard of Oz
August 07, 1885 - May 14, 1970
She was born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1885 in Washington D. C. the only child of Englishman, 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. In between cinema screenings, she would take her place on the stage because, not only was it her first love, but she also had speaking parts.
In 1921, she appeared as Elizabeth Banks in “The Education Of Elizabeth”, then she retired. With Ziegfeld’s investments in the stock market there was no need to work. Unfortunately, 1929’s 'Black October' wiped out their stock investments and Billie had no choice but to return to the silver screen. At first concentrating on drama, Burke found that her true strength lay in comedy, particularly in portraying fey, birdbrained society ladies. She worked most often at MGM during the sound era, with rewarding side trips to Hal Roach studios, where she appeared as Mrs. Topper in the three Topper fantasy films, played Oliver Hardy's wife in Zenobia (1939) and earned an academy award nomination for her performance in Merrily We Live (1938).
If she had done nothing else worthwhile in her seven-decade career, Burke would forever immortalized in the classic THE WIZARD OF OZ in 1939. At 54, she played Glenda, the Good Witch of the North. The 1940's saw Billie busier than ever when she made 25 films between 1940 and 1949. Then she made six films in the 1950's as her star waned and her age became noticeable. She was 75 when she made her final screen appearance as Cordelia Fosgate in Sergeant Rutledge in 1960. In addition to her many film portrayals, she appeared on TV. She played Melinda, on "Doc Corkle" (1952) and also guest starred on a few series including: "77 Sunset Strip." Billie retired for good in Los Angeles where she died of natural causes on May 14, 1970 at the age of 84.
She had a daughter, Patricia, by Flo Ziegfeld.
