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Best known as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz 1939, Billie Burke was a Broadway star who transitioned to film after her family’s fortune was lost in 1929. She defined the fluttery, scatterbrained character in Dinner at Eight 1933 and appeared in the Topper series. Burke died in Los Angeles in 1970 at age 85.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Billie Burke — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Billie Burke by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Billie Burke — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Billie Burke made her stage debut in 1903 in London, following her father Billy Burke, an internationally famous clown. She had been born Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke on August 7, 1884 in Washington, D.C., and spent much of her childhood touring Europe before the family settled in London. Her father’s circus background with P. T. Barnum shaped her early exposure to performance.
Burke came to America in 1907 to star opposite John Drew in My Wife. She became the toast of Broadway and signed her first film contract in 1915. Her film Peggy 1916 earned her a record salary of $40,000 for eight weeks. After a semi-retirement, she returned to films in the 1930s and found her signature role in Dinner at Eight 1933. She played the hapless, feather-brained lady with a high voice, a character she reprised in Topper 1937 and its sequels. In The Wizard of Oz 1939, she portrayed Glinda the Good Witch. She continued through the 1940s and starred in Father of the Bride 1950. Her last film was Sergeant Rutledge 1960.
Burke married Broadway showman Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. in April 1914. They had one daughter, Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson, born in 1916. She socialized with Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, Enrico Caruso, and Somerset Maugham during her early stage years. After Ziegfeld’s death in 1932, Burke continued working to support herself. She died of natural causes at age 85 in Los Angeles on May 14, 1970, and was buried at Kensico Cemetery without a funeral.
Billie Burke’s role as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz 1939 has enchanted generations. She influenced the archetype of the fluttery, high-voiced society woman. In 1936, she founded the Ziegfeld Club, a charitable organization supporting women in musical theater. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Two of her films, Becky Sharp 1935 and The Wizard of Oz, are preserved in the National Film Registry.
Browse the complete filmography of Billie Burke — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Every award, honor, and recognition received by Billie Burke — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Billie Burke's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Billie Burke — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
Age Is Something That Doesn’t Matter, Unless You Are a Cheese.
By the Time You Get Your Name up in Lights You Have Worked so Hard and so Long, and Seen so Many Names Go up and Down, That All You Can Think of Is: How Can I Keep It Here?
Little-known facts about Billie Burke — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Her father was the internationally known English clown Billy Burke, who came to the U.S. with P. T. Barnum’s circus.
She is the 21st great granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
During her early years on the American stage, she mixed socially with Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, Enrico Caruso, and Somerset Maugham.
The $40,000 she was paid for eight weeks work on Peggy 1916 was the largest salary ever paid up to that point to an actor for a single film.
Her daughter with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson, was born in 1916.
Best known as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz 1939.
She was portrayed by Myrna Loy in the film The Great Ziegfeld.
A 1919 Cadillac owned by her and husband Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. is now in the possession of best-selling author Clive Cussler.
She turned down the role of Aunt Pittypat in Gone With The Wind 1939.
She began her show business career on stage in the British provinces.
She founded the Ziegfeld Club in 1936, a charitable organization devoted to supporting women in musical theater.
Although she seemed much younger as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz, Billie Burke was actually 54 years old when the movie was filmed.
She was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York without a funeral or memorial service.
A biography of Burke appears in Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties by Axel Nissen.
She was grandmother to Florenz, Cecelia, William, and Susan Stephenson.
On February 16, 1917, a car driven by her chauffeur struck a seven-year-old boy, Tony Burk, in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. They rushed him to the hospital; he recovered after breaking three ribs.
Burke has been portrayed on stage by Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello, Ned York, and Jennifer Hope Wills in the musical Ghostlight.
She appears in two films selected for the National Film Registry: Becky Sharp 1935 and The Wizard of Oz 1939.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Billie Burke.
Celebrities similar to Billie Burke — same craft, ranked by reach.
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