The Curse Behind The Wizard of Oz: Unfortunate Tales from the Set

Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow, wore a prosthetic mask made of rubber that was glued tightly to his face each day. The material was stiff and didn’t allow his skin to breathe, leaving deep lines across his cheeks and around his mouth after long hours of filming under hot studio lights.

When the production wrapped, Bolger discovered that some of those lines had become semi-permanent. It took months for the marks to fade, and a few faint traces stayed with him even longer. His experience showed just how tough early Hollywood makeup techniques could be on actors’ skin.