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Ray Bolger kept an Ozian philosophy about life
"You can have Freud and Schopenhauer," Bolger said. "I’ll take Oz."
Some people simply view The Wizard of Oz as another movie; for Ray Bolger, it was a lifestyle.
During an interview with the Star Weekly, it was revealed that Bolger agreed to sign an MGM contract on one singular condition - that he be cast as The Scarecrow in their adaptation of the Frank Baum classic.
Of course, Bolger got his wish and became an institution in cinema history. A lifelong lover of the book, Bolger understood that the messaging behind The Wizard of Oz was as important as its success in the entertainment industry.
“You can have Freud and Schopenhauer,” Bolger said during an interview with The Daily Press. “I’ll take Oz. The Oz story has two different messages: All a person needs to get through life is his heart, his courage, and his brain. After that, the message is that there’s no place like home. But, gee, a home is not necessarily a place. It’s the loving people who surround you, putting a mantle of love around you. That’s all you need. Home is really somewhere over the rainbow. An imaginary place. That’s home.”
Bolger was also grateful for the small bit of immortality that The Wizard of Oz granted him.
“Oz is a classic, and I know that long after I’m gone, I’ll be remembered as The Scarecrow,” said Bolger during an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “How many people can say they will be remembered warmly for something they did on this earth?”
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