Emma Ridley (May 10th, 1972-) is an actress who portrayed Princess Ozma in Disney's 1985 Return to Oz and will appear in the upcoming documentary Remembering Return to Oz.
Her elder sister is the English television actress Joanne Ridley. After the film, she led a somewhat tempestuous private life with her first marriage at the age of fifteen to then 30 year old producer David Tyler. In 1992, she moved to the United States with her third husband Robert Pereno but has been married to her current husband Michael Carter since 2018.
She has made appearances at various Oz conventions plus a special interview in 2015 with Ryan Jay for the film's 30th anniversary where she revealed the studio had her lines dubbed by Walter Murch's daughter Beatrice who was uncredited. She explained the river scene was actually a hot jacuzzi. Due to a fall on set, her stunt double had to get stiches in her knee. For coming out of the mirror, the special effect was accomplished with plastic glass. Also they originally intended her to be in a golden dress. Her favorite scene is the ending with her appearing in Dorothy's mirror while holding Billina.
She recently did a special video for the International Wizard of Oz Club in 2020 by reading chapter 20 of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz while wearing the crown from the film.
At the end of this video, she recites the line "And remember I will look in on you from time to time and if you ever wish to return to Oz, I will make it so".
External Links[]
page for Emma Ridley