Billie Burke

Billie Burke 

Obsession Level: Best Witch Ever!

When I was a child, I watched The Wizard of Oz so many times that I wore out three copies of the movie (no joke).  My parents could put the movie on automatic play and I would sit there all day and watch it if they needed to get something done.  I would even sit patiently as it rewinded, knowing that it would come back on again in a few minutes.  The movie itself merits its own post here, but I want to talk about a specific element of the movie: Glinda!  

There she was, a beautiful witch with a tiny, cute little voice, all dressed in pink sparkles and ruffles. She has 12 minutes of screen time in the film, but for me those 12 minutes made the movie!  When I was little, my obsession with Glinda created my obsession with the Wizard of Oz and all things Oz, the books included.  The Glinda in my books, however, was not the same Glinda that appeared on the film, thus making her a little disappointing.  

When I got older, and my obsessions started to become more numerous, I went in search of Glinda, or better said, the actress who played her.  Unfortunately I discovered that there weren't that many movies that Billie Burke played in, and that many of them were difficult to find.  I did manage to find a few.  I had never expected Billie Burke to be a comical actress, but she does do a good job at it in movies like Doubting Thomas.  

I have to admit that my obsession for Billie Burke herself was lukewarm at best.  Once it had run its course and I had managed to see her in two or three other movies, read about her on the internet, and spent a little time indulging in the obsession it more or less flickered out.  Billie Burke, for me, was a good actress, but she was one that belonged to a certain era, and it was an era that I could not fully connect with.  That is not to say, however, that I don't completely love her still for bringing Glinda to life, and her character there will remain forever one of my obsessions.  Any time that I see anything related to the Wizard of Oz I rush over to find out if it has Glinda on it.  If it does, then I'll have to add it to my collection of random what-nots, if it does not, then it really isn't representative of my love of the movie and I can pass.

Billie Burke may not have been a lifelong obsession for me, but Glinda will always be the most awesome witch ever!