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

The green makeup used on Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, was made with copper-based ingredients that were unsafe by today’s standards. It caused skin irritation and had to be carefully applied and removed—so carefully that she avoided eating during long shooting days.

To make things worse, the makeup was highly flammable. During a scene involving fire and smoke effects, Hamilton suffered burns on her face and hand when the special effects misfired. She needed weeks to recover, and the incident became one of the production’s most infamous safety failures.