Wizard of Oz Myth

I've always like the Wizard of Oz, mostly for the incredible shoes. I'm so jealous that they acctually make red glittery shoes for kids. What about me? I would totally wear those. I hadn't watched the movie in awhile. It just seemed like with the mini series The Tin Man, & the musical/book Wicked, I knew all about Oz. However, the original rocks, that's why everyone tries to remake it & it got me wondering about all of those Wizard of Oz urban legends.

One of the myths surrounding The Wizard of Oz is that the actor that played the Tin Man died from being painted silver. (I hate to think what they used for acne treatment, turpentine?) I got this story from wikipedia. Originally, Ray Bolger was supposed to be the Tin Man & Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett from The Beverly Hillbilles) was going to be the scarecrow. Ray protested because he wanted to be the Scarecrow & he was recast in that role. Nine days after filming started Buddy having a reaction to the aluminum powder makeup because it had been coating his lungs from breathing it daily. Buddy was in critical condition & had to leave the project, his replacement was Jack Haley. They switched the make up to an aluminum paste. Jack had an unpleasant reaction to the make up, but he made it through ok. (You think they'd learn that maybe aluminum full body make up isn't the best idea.)

Ebsen outlived all the other players. He died on July 6, 2003 from complications from pneumonia. He was 95 years old.