DEATHIVERSARY: CLARA BLANDICK (April 15, 1962)
Clara Blandick is best known for her memorable minor role as Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz. Blandick's health steadily declined throughout the 1950s. Her eyesight began to fail, and she was suffering greatly from severe, painful arthritis. At 69, Blandick had gone into seclusion at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. On April 15, 1962, Blandick returned to her room from Palm Sunday services at church. She began rearranging her room, placing her favorite photos and memorabilia in prominent places. She laid out her resume and a collection of press clippings from her lengthy career. She dressed immaculately in an elegant royal blue dressing gown, and with her hair properly styled, she took an overdose of sleeping pills. She lay down on a couch, covered herself with a gold blanket over her shoulders, and tied a plastic bag over her head. She left the following note: "I am now about to make the great adventure. I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer. It is all over my body. Neither can I face the impending blindness. I pray the Lord, my soul, to take. Amen." Blandick's landlady, Helen Mason, found her body Sunday morning. In preparing to die, she had disposed of all her medicines the previous week. Her ashes were interred at the Great Mausoleum, Columbarium of Security at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Blandick's ashes lie just yards from those of Charley Grapewin, her on-screen husband in The Wizard of Oz.
