Wicked fans horrified after learning about grim scandal on Wizard of Oz set

From sexual harassment to lifelong injuries, being a star of the classic film The Wizard of Oz was certainly not as it seemed. We detail the worst things that happened on set

New Blockbuster movie Wicked has brought the 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz back into the spotlight.

Based on the Broadway show, Wicked celebrates female empowerment and stars Ariana Grande as the Good Witch of the South and Cynthia Erivo as the Wicked Witch of the West. The movie that inspired the musical made a megastar out of Judy Garland and was at the time, the most expensive film ever made.

According to the US Library of Congress, The Wizard of Oz is also the most-watched flick of all time. But while the classic tale of following the Yellow Brick Road was a worldwide smash hit, filming it came at a heavy price for several of the film's stars. We take a closer look at the scandals that plagued the movie.

Diet of drugs

Judy Garland signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) production company when she was 13 and was constantly criticised by studio executives for not being slim enough. One abusive boss called her a 'fat little pig with pigtails'.

Shockingly, Judy was encouraged to take amphetamines to keep her slim and peppy through her relentless filming schedule and was also given sleeping pills to keep her calm at night. Told to lose 12 pounds before filming the role of Dorothy, who at 12 years old was four years younger than her, the actress was put on a strict diet of chicken soup, black coffee, 80 cigarettes a day, diet pills and amphetamines.

Sadly, the star's mental health never recovered from the treatment she received - she was seeing psychiatrists by the age of 18 and later descended into drug and alcohol abuse. Judy died when she was just 47, from an apparent accidental overdose of barbiturates.

Out of control Munchkins

Judy Garland called the diminutive stars 'little drunks', saying in 1967: "They got smashed every night and the police used to scoop them up in butterfly nets." The film's producer Mervyn LeRoy added they 'they had orgies in the hotel and we had to have police on about every floor'.

Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion, also detailed how the Munchkins were hell raisers, saying: "Many Munchkins made their living by panhandling, pimping and whoring. Midgets brandished knives and often had passions for larger personnel." One famous story saw a munchkin get stuck in a toilet bowl. Ray Bolger, who played the Scarecrow, said: "Apparently, he drank his lunch, sat on the stool, fell into it and couldn't get out. There he was with his head and legs stuck up."

Stunts causing horror injury

The Wicked Witch of the West was played by Margaret Hamilton and her stunt double was Betty Danko. When a member of the film crew fell through a trap door on to Betty, who was waiting to make her entrance below, she injured her shoulder, meaning Margaret had to complete the stunt herself.

The scene was the witch's big arrival in an explosion of fire and smoke but the flames came too soon, leaving Margaret with second and third-degree burns. The eyelid in the actress's right eye was badly burned and one of her hands was so charred the nerves were exposed.

Another scene saw stuntwoman Betty on her broomstick as the Wicked Witch, who was writing 'Surrender Dorothy' in smoke in the sky. The pipe attached beneath the professional's broom malfunctioned, leaving her with severe burns on her inner thighs and damaging her reproductive organs so badly that she needed a hysterectomy.

'Poisoned' Tin Man

Actor Buddy Ebsen had to be hospitalized just nine days into filming due to the paint that was applied to make him look shiny. The crew were painting his face white before covering it in aluminium dust, which the star inhaled, coating his lungs and stopping oxygen reaching his blood.

Buddy was so ill he had to be replaced by comedian Jack Haley. This time, film makers pre-mixed the aluminum dust with the white paint so Jack wouldn't inhale it but he went onto be hospitalised anyway after the paste got into his eye.

Asbestos ailments

Now known as a deadly carcinogenic, asbestos was used to create the snow that falls on Dorothy and her friends after they fall asleep in a poppy field. While no link was proven, Cowardly Lion Bert Lahr and Scarecrow Ray Bolger both died of cancer later on.

Even Toto didn't escape

Dorothy's dog Toto was played by a Cairn terrier called Terry, who suffered a sprained foot when one of the witch's guards stepped on it. He was temporarily replaced by a doggy double.