3 thoughts on “Guess the Girl — Vilma Ebsen”

  1. Yep, I have to agree with you there. As for the role of Dorothy, Haley is well-documented for his comment: “Temple would have been awful,” even though he had previously starred in several movies with her!

  2. Yes, that’s Vilma in the 50’s, cropped from a Kinescope of her dancing in a TV appearance with Buddy, from around the time he was in Davy Crockett.

    I think it would have been a bad idea to have both Buddy Ebsen and Ray Bolger in TWOZ. They were too much alike in their “hayseed hoofer” styles. Jack Haley was a better contrast.

  3. And that picture from the 50s was her also? Don’t mind me, my brain is fuzzy. Sure looks like Marilyn! Buddy was very skinny, very tall, and very gangly. Obvoiusly his sister didn’t attain his height. His dancing style was similar to Ray Bolger. They originally hired Ebsen to be the scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz,’ because he was such a good, loose-limbed dancer. Ray Bolger was originally supposed to be the Tin Man, but he made a big stink about it. He and his wife went right to Louis B. Mayer and insisted that he and Ebsen swich roles. When Buddy was consulted, true to his laid-back character, he said he didn’t care what part he played. Of course, after weeks of shooting with Ebsen as the Tin Man, the director was fired, and all the film trashed. Also, before then, Ebsen had nearly died from the aluminum powder used for his makeup, so he ended up out of the picture anyway.

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