Stunt horror

Long before the advent of CGI, movies had to do all of their stunts for real, which certainly didn’t bode well for actors.

Not everything on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ went smoothly, as Hamilton would soon find out. In the scene where the Wicked Witch of the West taunts Dorothy and Glinda before the young girl embarks on her adventure, the villain is meant to vanish after a sudden burst of flames engulfs her.

To achieve this, Hamilton stood on top of a trap door, which she would jump through just as the fire was started.

However, the trap door got stuck, resulting in the actress getting second-degree burns on her face, and third-degree burns on her hand, forcing her to drop out of production to recover for six weeks.

She later recounted: “I know how this business works, and I would never work again. I will return to work on one condition — no more fireworks!”