Though Margaret Hamilton passed away in 1985, the memory of her talent will live on eternally in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. As the Wicked Witch of the West, Hamilton terrified and delighted audiences everywhere.

Hamilton’s portrayal of the character was perhaps so iconic that it affected her later acting career in strange ways. According to an interview with Newsday decades after The Wizard of Oz premiered, Hamilton admitted that she wouldn’t appear on stage with any witchy props.

“I’ll tell you one thing I’ve found out,” Hamilton said. “I can’t walk on stage with a broom. I don’t care what kind of part I’m playing.”

It wasn’t a personal actor’s superstition; Hamilton understood that audiences so closely identified her as a witch that even the barest comparison would overshadow any future performances.

“You’re very careful,” said the actor. “You don’t use a broom. Also, there was a line in one of the Brooklyn Academy plays. Someone gets very angry about me and calls me an old witch. And I told the producers that unless they wanted their play ruined at this moment, don’t leave that in. Call me an old anything, but not an old witch because there are all kinds of audience reactions.”

Despite these slight missteps, Hamilton cherished her place in history, though she was still very judicious of her own performance.

“I don’t watch myself,” said the actor when asked if she rewatched the 1939 film. “I just watch the witch. You’re watching a character. And as that character, you see things you have done that you don’t like, as an actress. And you wish you hadn’t done them. But there they are, for all time, so there’s nothing you can do about it. And watching, there are always little parts that I don’t like.”