Aunt Em
Profile
Species	Human
Origin	Kansas
Residence	Emerald City
First Appearance	The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Aunt or Auntie Em (real name Emily Gale) is the aunt of Dorothy Gale and wife of Uncle Henry. She lived together with them on a farm in Kansas and later emigrated to the Land of Oz.

History

Em spent most of her life working on farms. When she first came to Kansas with her husband, she was a young, pretty wife. But the sun and wind took the sparkle from her eyes and the red from her cheeks and lips, leaving them as gray as the surrounding prairie. (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) She raised chickens for "nearly forty years." (The Emerald City of Oz)

After confessing to Dorothy that their farm was facing imminent foreclosure, Em, Henry and Dorothy all moved to the Land of Oz to live in the Emerald City. Princess Ozma gave them a suite of rooms and appointed Em "Royal Mender of the Stockings of the Ruler of Oz" in order to keep her busy. (The Emerald City of Oz)

Book Appearances

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (first appearance)
• The Emerald City of Oz
• The Scarecrow of Oz
• The Magic of Oz

Background

Aunt Em has been featured slightly less than Uncle Henry in the Oz Books, despite having a bigger role in The Wizard of Oz.

She was named after Emily Ingerson "Auntie Em" Warn. Warn's niece was a cousin of L. Frank Baum.

In the VeggieTales episode "The Wonderful Wizard of Ha's", both Aunt Em and her husband Uncle Henry were substituted by a father (Dad Asparagus) to retell "The Prodigal Son", a biblical parable from the Gospel.

In Magician of Oz (2009), by James C. Wallace II, Aunt Em fulfills a request and hosts the Grand Potato Soup Luncheon (Chapter 22) at the Tin Palace of the Tin Woodman.

Actresses

The following actresses have portrayed Aunt Em on film:

• Eugenie Besserer, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1910)
• Mary Carr, Wizard of Oz (1925)
• Clara Blandick, The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Margaret Hamilton, Journey Back to Oz (1974)
• Theresa Merritt, The Wiz (1978)
• Laurene Tuttle, Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz (1980)
• Piper Laurie, Return to Oz (1985)
• Lucie Arnaz, Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995)
• Queen Latifah, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005)
• Amy Lyndon, Apocalypse Oz (2006)
• Gwynyth Walsh, Tin Man (miniseries) (2007)