- Her father was the internationally known English clown Billy Burke, who came to the U.S. with P. T. Barnum's circus.
- She is the 21st great granddaughter of King Edward I.
- During her early years on the American stage, she mixed socially with Mark Twain, Booth Tarkington, Enrico Caruso, and Somerset Maugham.
- The $40,000 she was paid for eight weeks work for Peggy (1916) was the largest salary ever paid up to that point to an actor for a single film.
- Daughter, with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.: Patricia Ziegfeld Stephenson, born 1916.
- A 1919 Cadillac, owned by her and husband Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. is now in the possession of best-selling author Clive Cussler.
- Best known as Glinda, the Good Witch of the North in The Wizard of Oz (1939).
- She turned down the role of Aunt Pittypat in "Gone With The Wind" (1939).
- She was played by Myrna Loy in "The Great Ziegfeld".
- Although she seemed to appear much younger when she played Glinda The Good Witch of the North in "The Wizrd of Oz , Billie Burke was actually 54 years old when the movie was filmed.
- Biography in "Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties" by Axel Nissen.
- Began her show business career on stage in the British provinces.
- Interred at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, USA.
- Grandmother to Florenz (b. March 11, 1940), Cecelia (b. January 23, 1942), William (b. September 29, 1946) and Susan Stephenson (b. November 9, 1950).
- On Feb. 16, 1917, a car being driven by her chauffeur in which she was a passenger, struck a seven-year-old boy, Tony Burk, in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. They rushed him to a nearby hospital, where it was discovered that three of his ribs had been broken, but he recovered.
- Founded the Ziegfeld Club in 1936: a charitable organization, which to this day is devoted to supporting women in musical theater.
- Has been played on stage by Tony Award nominee Carolee Carmello, Ned York, and Jennifer Hope Wills in the musical "Ghostlight" written by Matthew Martin and Tim Realbuto.
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