L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author, and the creator of one of the most popular books ever written in American children's literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Miscellaneous anecdotes

• When the wardrobe department of MGM began to buy costumes for the 1939 movie version of The Wizard of Oz, they purchased second hand clothes from rummage sales around Hollywood. Actor Frank Morgan who played the Wizard, was given one such second-hand overcoat to wear, and he happened to notice that the lining of the coat had a label saying, "Property of L. Frank Baum". In early publicity for the movie, MGM emphasized that this was a true story. Soon after the movie was released, the coat was taken to Baum's wife, who confirmed that it had been his.http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/ozcoat.htm
• The name Oz for the travellers destination was inspired by the labels on the author's filing cabinet: A-N, O-Z (transmitted on BBC Radio 4 around 2003).
• John Ritter portayed Baum in a 1990 made for TV movie, '. The film was largely fiction, but retain some of the basic details of Baum's life such as his the many failures of his adult life before Oz and a few of the elements that inspired the books.