{"id":4695,"date":"2013-05-10T07:48:32","date_gmt":"2013-05-10T15:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/?p=4695"},"modified":"2013-05-10T07:48:32","modified_gmt":"2013-05-10T15:48:32","slug":"did-the-scarecrow-accidentally-light-himself-on-fire-during-the-filming-of-wizard-of-oz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/05\/10\/did-the-scarecrow-accidentally-light-himself-on-fire-during-the-filming-of-wizard-of-oz\/","title":{"rendered":"Did the Scarecrow Accidentally Light Himself on Fire During the Filming of Wizard of Oz?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click <a href=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2009\/04\/19\/movie-legends-revealed-history\/\">here<\/a> to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far.<\/p>\n<p><u><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">MOVIE URBAN LEGEND<\/span><\/u>: Ray Bolger occasionally set himself on fire while on set during the filming of the Wizard of Oz.<\/p>\n<p>Ray Bolger was already a Broadway song and dance star by the time he took the role of the Scarecrow in 1939&#8217;s The Wizard of Oz, but let&#8217;s be honest, we know (and he knew) that he will forever be known as the Scarecrow &#8211; which is certainly a fine legacy for any actor.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/wizard_of_oz.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><iframe src=\"http:\/\/rcm.amazon.com\/e\/cm?t=legenrevea-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=8&#038;l=as1&#038;asins=B002DYYGQK&#038;fc1=000000&#038;IS2=1&#038;lt1=_blank&#038;m=amazon&#038;lc1=0000FF&#038;bc1=000000&#038;bg1=FFFFFF&#038;f=ifr\" style=\"width:120px;height:240px;\" scrolling=\"no\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The extensive costuming for the film took up a whole lot of Bolger&#8217;s time, and it had other side effects, as well, most notably the effect it had upon his smoking habit.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, the Scarecrow&#8217;s costume is filled with dry straw like an actual Scarecrow&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/scarecrow.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Well, naturally, all the adult actors on the film smoked cigarettes (who didn&#8217;t back then?), and that caused a problem with Bolger&#8217;s costume.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\nAt least twice, a stray flame from a cigarette lit his costume on fire!!<\/p>\n<p>Now, of course, <\/p>\n<p>A. It was just small fires that were easily put out<\/p>\n<p>and<\/p>\n<p>B. Most of the costume was treated with asbestos (ah, the things we didn&#8217;t know back then), so it was unlikely for the costume to ever go REALLY up in flames (this treatment was made necessary because there were a few points in the film where Scarecrow comes very close to flames)<\/p>\n<p>but still, he DID catch fire, which is pretty darn hilarious, no?<\/p>\n<p>In fact, according to MGM&#8217;s Studio News of the time, a fire extinguisher was kept near Bolger at all times just in case!<\/p>\n<p>The legend is&#8230; <\/p>\n<p><u><span style=\"font-weight: bold\">STATUS<\/span><\/u>: True<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to by Elaine Willingham&#8217;s excellent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/B002C1AVFE?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=legenrevea-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=B002C1AVFE\">Cooking in Oz: Kitchen Wizardry and a Century of Marvels from America&#8217;s Favorite Tale<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=legenrevea-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=B002C1AVFE\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/> (which actually includes a picture of Bolger in costume smoking a cigarette &#8211; if anyone could scan that for me, I&#8217;d greatly appreciate it!) and thanks also to Jay Scarfone and William Stillman&#8217;s great book, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1557836248?ie=UTF8&#038;tag=legenrevea-20&#038;linkCode=as2&#038;camp=1789&#038;creative=9325&#038;creativeASIN=1557836248\">The Wizardry of Oz: The Artistry And Magic of The 1939 MGM Classic<\/a><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=legenrevea-20&#038;l=as2&#038;o=1&#038;a=1557836248\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\" alt=\"\" style=\"border:none !important; margin:0px !important;\" \/> for even more information on the topic!<\/p>\n<p>Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future installments! My e-mail address is &#x62;&#99;r&#x6f;&#x6e;&#105;n&#x40;&#x6c;&#101;g&#x65;&#x6e;&#100;s&#x72;&#x65;&#118;e&#x61;&#x6c;&#101;d&#x2e;&#x63;&#111;m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Ray Bolger occasionally set himself on fire while on set during the filming of the Wizard of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7MjBq-1dJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6246,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2015\/10\/09\/was-judy-garland-paid-less-for-the-wizard-of-oz-than-the-dog-who-played-toto\/","url_meta":{"origin":4695,"position":0},"title":"Was Judy Garland Paid Less for the Wizard of Oz Than the Dog Who Played Toto?","date":"October 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the Movie urban legends featured so far. MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Judy Garland was paid less for The Wizard of Oz than the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Movie Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5148,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/09\/02\/was-there-nearly-a-film-adaptation-of-wizard-of-oz-in-technicolor-six-years-before-mgms-classic-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":4695,"position":1},"title":"Was There Nearly a Film Adaptation of Wizard of Oz in Technicolor Six Years Before MGM&#8217;s Classic Version?","date":"September 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. 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MOVIE URBAN LEGEND: Victor Fleming had an...interesting method for getting Judy Garland to keep from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Movie Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5142,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2013\/08\/30\/did-fox-try-to-trade-shirley-temple-for-jean-harlow-and-clark-gable-so-that-temple-could-star-in-the-wizard-of-oz\/","url_meta":{"origin":4695,"position":3},"title":"Did Fox Try to &#8220;Trade&#8221; Shirley Temple for Jean Harlow and Clark Gable So That Temple Could Star in The Wizard of Oz?","date":"August 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about movies and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the movie urban legends featured so far. 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MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: The band Toto was named after Dorothy's dog, Toto, from The Wizard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music Legends Revealed&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"toto","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/toto-375x206.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":362,"url":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/2009\/04\/19\/movie-legends-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":4695,"position":5},"title":"Movie Urban Legends History","date":"April 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here are quick descriptions of each of the previous editions of Movie Urban Legends Revealed. To see if they are true or false, you have to click on the link! 1. Ariel from the Little Mermaid was based on the facial features of Alyssa Milano. 2. George Reeves had a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Archives&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4695"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4696,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4695\/revisions\/4696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/legendsrevealed.com\/entertainment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}