Marjorie Grande, Ariana Grande’s grandma, has quite literally seen all there is to see in the world of movies that take place in the land of Oz.
Ariana, who plays the role of Glinda in Wicked, the well-known “good witch” who was introduced to the public for the first time in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, documented her trip to the movies with her boyfriend Ethan Slater and her family, including her mother Marjorie, by posting multiple photos and a video to Instagram. The trip was taken from Boca Raton, Florida, where she was raised. During Glinda’s breakout performance, “Popular,” the film showed her grandma happy and holding hands with the rest of the family.
During the time when The Wizard of Oz was first shown in cinemas in August of 1939, Marjorie, who just turned 99 years old — Ariana’s brother Frankie sent a birthday tribute to her on Instagram on October 13 — was only 13 years old. This indicates that the grandmother of the Grande family has experienced each and every movie representation of Glinda, culminating in her own granddaughter playing the lead role in Wicked opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba.
The role of Glinda in The Wizard of Oz was played by Billie Burke, who passed away in 1970 at the age of 85. There have been more than a dozen adaptations of Frank L. Baum’s Oz books created between the debut of The Wizard of Oz and the release of Wicked in cinemas. Grande is one of the many performers who have played the legendary witch on the big or small screen.
With the release of Oz the Great and Powerful in 2013, Michelle Williams became the final actress to represent Glinda in a film. Wicked was the first film to include her in the role. In the years leading up to the release of Wicked, the character was also featured in a number of other television shows.
All the way back in 2012, Ariana uploaded a video on YouTube in which she revealed that Marjorie and her grandpa, Frank, had their first encounter when Marjorie was 11 years old. When Ariana’s grandparents were adolescents, they started dating and ultimately became parents to two girls, one of them being Joan, who ended up becoming Ariana and Frankie’s mother.
Marjorie had a recent appearance as a featured artist on Ariana’s album Eternal Sunshine, namely on the closing track of the album, which was titled “ordinary things.” When the feature was released in March, it made Marjorie the oldest individual in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to ever chart.
