Who was the Wizard of Oz?

McGruff

Like so many other characters, the Wizard didn't have a name in the original novel. But in his second appearance in the Oz books, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, he reveals that his name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Issac Norman Henkle Emmanuel Ambroise Diggs. Of course, this meant that the poor man's initials were O. Z. P. I. N. H. E. A. D. When he grew up, he shortened this to O. Z., and thus became Oz professionally. (The rest of the initials spelled "pinhead," which he felt reflected badly on his intelligence.) He worked in a circus as a magician, ventriloquist, and balloonist, and put his new name on all of his possessions, including his balloon. When an accident brought him to the land of Oz, the citizens, seeing the name of their country on the balloon, thought he was their new ruler. He's now generally called Oz or Wizard. In Russia, he is named James Goodwin. In the film version of The Wiz, he was named Herman Smith. http://www.eskimo.com/~tiktok/faq05.html#22 Mar 15 05, 12:05 AM