Analyzing Character Portrayal in The Wizard of Oz

The film I select for this week is The Wizard of Oz (1939). The actress and actors I choose from this movie are Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, and Jack Haley. I choose these three because they are all unique and have an interesting background that ties into the category.

The actress Judy Garland plays Dorothy and easily falls under the category of an interpreter. Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014) states an interpreter, "more typically refers to actors who take material and put their own stamp on it" (pg. 118). Judy Garland plays the leading role of Dorothy who is a young girl that dreams of a fantasy world and believes it is true. Although Judy is not as young as they portray in the movie, her youthfulness fits very well into the film. She also brings her talent of singing. The actor Ray Bolger plays The Scarecrow. His character

classification is a personality actor.

Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014), says a personality actor is "An actor whose own personality tends to define all the characters he or she portrays, so that the actor's name alone lets audiences know what the screen character will be like" (pg. 131). Ray Bolger is also a known vaudeville. Vaudevilles were a given name to those who could do a variety of entertainment. A perfect example is dancing, juggling, musicians, and acrobats are just a few common ones. Ray Bolger fit well in this role since he could take his personality and add it to his role of the scarecrow. The last actor is Jack Haley who plays The Tin Man. His character classification is a character actor. Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014) states a character actors are "Actors who specialize in playing a wide

variety of characters, most often supporting or minor roles rather than leading roles" (pg. 130). Jack Haley was also a known vaudeville. He fit well into this role as a supporting actor of The Tin Man. Jack Haley was a true performer throughout his acting life career with multiple talents.

The categories selected for the actors was determined carefully by the roles they each portrayed in the movie. I classified Judy Garland as an interpreter. In one of the scenes with the cowardly lion, she had to slap him. I feel that she took her role seriously and used it to her advantage to make it believable. I classified Ray Bolger as a personality actor. The role as a scarecrow fit him perfectly since he came from the vaudeville background. He loved to dance and being silly. Lastly, I classified Jack Haley as a character actor. He was also a known vaudeville. This role fits him as well because he was great at supporting whatever he was asked to do. A perfect example was the scene where they go and ask the wizard for their desired wishes, and he requested a heart. Not only does he play this role exceptional well, but he was also a great supporting actor for Judy Garland.

Judy Garland has been in many other films. Therefore, based on the other movies she could fall into other categories depending on the type of film. Some of her best-known movies were A Star is Born (1954) and Judgement at Nuremberg (1961). She played the leading role in A Star is Born and played the supporting actress in Judgement at Nuremberg.

Consequently, Judy Garland did fall into other categories outside her role of the interpreter in the movie The Wizard of Oz. As a supporting actress, she could classify under a character actor. Regardless of her roles, she had other opportunities to showcase her talent and directors wanted her for his or her film. Some of the flexibility of these movies were Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), The Harvey Girls (1946) and Summer Stock (1950).