Harold "Harry" Wormwood is the father of Michael and Matilda Wormwood and the husband of Zinnia Wormwood. In the 1996 movie he's played by American actor Danny DeVito (who also directed, produced and narrated the film) while in the 2022 movie musical is played by British actor Stephen Graham. He is the secondary antagonist of the novel and the film.
Biography[]
Harry was a used car salesman who ran Wormwood Motors, which sold used cars for more than what they were worth (especially since they were defunct and quite broken) while also dealing in stolen car parts.
He is the husband of Mrs. Wormwood, with whom he had two children, Michael and Matilda. Although he treated his son Michael quite well, he was rather rude and dismissive towards his daughter Matilda, whom he described as a "mistake".
He is first seen grunting at the newborn baby Matilda, then he tells his wife that the trip to the hospital was a painful and expensive waste of time. After they get in the car, he drives recklessly to his house, when they arrived, he told people to get off the street, and called them "little dodos". He and his family also left Matilda in the trunk.
After returning from work having made a lot of money, he had Michael add up the total of his profits from selling the cars Harry had sold. Matilda was able to correctly get the right answer, though Harry just accused her of cheating and claimed that she could see the paper Michael was working out the total on (despite it being at a distance that Matilda couldn't have been able to see it) and accused Matilda of being smart with him and said "when a person is bad, that person has to be taught a lesson".
Unknown to him, Harry had given Matilda the first piece of practical advice she could use; although he said 'person', he meant to say 'child' and introduced the idea that children could punish their parents. The next day, Matilda bleached Harry's hair (giving it a blonde look), making him shriek and thud, and after he took her and Michael to work that day, she got payback against him after he talked down on her by gluing his hat to his head.
While the rest of the Wormwoods (Harry, Zinnia, and Michael) were eating dinner and watching TV, Matilda was reading a book from the library. Harry --Matilda's father-- disallowed everything (including school, library, reading, and schoolwork). And thus, if Matilda was caught reading books or books of friends, Harry would spank/beat her and destroy her books. Harry, he did not believe in reading books nor schoolwork. So (on the same night) when Matilda was reading a book from the library, Harry destroyed it. (After he destroys the library book Matilda is reading --titled Moby Dick-- he throws it on the ground. And the destroyed library book, it magically disappears after it hits the floor with a thud.) And he made her daughter look at the TV.
One of his customers at his car dealership was Agatha Trunchbull, the headmistress (principal) of Crunchem Hall. After he sold her a used car, he arranged to have his daughter attend Crunchem Hall.
Later, when Miss. Trunchbull was driving the car she bought from Wormwood, it broke down, with the engine falling out onto the road (in the book). It was then that Trunchbull discovered that she had been cheated, and in the film, she called Wormwood on the phone, making threats while taking her anger on Matilda and locked her in the Chokey (a prison cell in her office). (The Chokey was a place for not just students, but also the students's parents and other teachers and staff at Crunchem Hall Elementary and other schools in the Crunchem Hall school district. And even the cops were put in there too.) During Trunchbull's teaching, Ms. Honey (Matilda's kind first grade teacher) rescued her from the Chokey. (That is, knowing that this was not supposed to happen.) However, Trunchbull doesn't do further investigation about this (on Matilda) until after the lesson.
Throughout the story, Wormwood's house was frequented by FBI agents. Near the end, after his scheme was busted, he fled the country with his wife and son. The family fled to Spain in the book, and to Guam in the 1996 film. (He --Harry-- retired his job at the auto services and found a new job in Guam in the 1996 film but Spain in the book.) In the book, he, Zinnia, and Michael leave Matilda with Miss Honey and escape before it too late, not caring even for saying goodbye to Matilda.
In the "adoption" scene, Zinnia revealed to Matilda that Harry retired from his job at the auto business and found a new job (in Guam). (The Wormwoods have successfully packed up their entire old house and are moving to the said place.) So she made Matilda come along with the rest of the family. (Harry and Zinnia --Matilda's real parents-- said that Matilda was no longer going to Crunchem Hall Elementary School because they were moving to Guam. In fact, she --Matilda-- was not going to school ever again.)
Rather begrudgingly, in the 1996 film and on a very last-minute decision, he --alongside Zinnia-- decided to sign the adoption papers to allow Matilda to be with Ms. Honey (the first time he and Zinnia had done anything good for Matilda). (That is, since Matilda wants to continue going to the same school --Crunchem Hall Elementary School-- where her teacher Ms. Honey is. And by extension, she --Matilda-- fears further child abuse from the Wormwoods if she joins them on their move to Guam. Though not seen in the film, Matilda had nightmares of herself in Guam and being further child abused by her family --the Wormwoods-- there. That is, after hearing from the day before that her family --the Wormwoods-- were moving to Guam.) Michael (from the car window) said that he would "be an only child again". (That is, as he says, "I MAY BE AN ONLY CHILD AGAIN!".)
In both book and film, he was not seen again afterwards. After he, his wife, and son moved to Guam, they --despite making it there (and successfully finding themselves a new house to live in)-- were presumably arrested by the the police (and permanently sentenced to jail) for their child abusing on Matilda, were charged with their crimes, and spent their lives in jail. That is, and they eventually died. (As a result, this ends Matilda's reign of terror over the Wormwoods for good.)
Subsequently, Matilda's things from the Wormwoods's old house (offscreen) are moved into her teacher Ms. Honey's house. At the end, Matilda lives a happy life. And she --now that she is with her teacher (Ms. Honey)-- she is safe and sound (safe from any wicked family who verbally abuses her again). The ending narration depicts a montage, scenes, and transitions of Matilda's happy life with her teacher Ms. Honey (both inside and outside Crunchem Hall and every year and season). Then --although offscreen-- Matilda's schoolfriends get the good news that Matilda is forever going to school with them (as the Wormwoods are no more). (That is, now that Matilda is living with Ms. Honey.) Matilda shares to her schoolfriends she is living with Ms. Honey and is going to continue going to school with them forever. And the students at the school --when they hear that from Matilda-- all cheer about it (the good news). In fact, she --Matilda-- is going to be in the Crunchem Hall school district --not just Crunchem Hall Elementary-- for the rest of her school life (now that she has Ms. Honey as her legal guardian). From then on, she (Matilda) continues going to Crunchem Hall, with no trouble.
Personality[]
Unlike most parents, Harry Wormwood is shown to be greedy, sneaky, selfish, dishonest, arrogant, and bad-tempered. Also, he frequently abused his daughter Matilda by calling her names and tearing her books apart, as well as being dismissive. In addition, he did not appreciate his daughter's thirst for knowledge and her precocious gifts, instead scoffing at the idea of education, which deeply offended Matilda's teacher Miss Honey. When his daughter, Matilda, tried to warn him about his illegal dealings, he rudely shut her down and called her names.
He had a good relationship with his wife and son, but not his daughter, which ultimately resulted in the breakdown of the family, as Matilda refused to join them when the family fled the country to avoid the authorities. His dishonesty, arrogance and selfishness led to his downfall, costing him his home, his business and his money. His exact fate is unknown, although he was likely caught and arrested for his illegal dealings and sentenced to prison.
Gallery[]
Matilda[]
Matilda the Musical[]
Trivia[]
- In real life, while the movie 1996 was being made, Mara Wilson’s mother had cancer (and then she died before the film was officially released to cinemas) so in between making scenes to the movie Danny (Harry Wormwood) and his (then) wife Rhea Perlman (Zinnia Wormwood) took care of Mara, opposite that on camera they were mean to her.
- Also, Danny had shown Suzie Wilson (Mara's mum) the final cut of the movie four and a half months before its release, so that she was able to see Mara's performance. Danny added a caption at the end of the film for its theatrical (and later VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray) releases, dedicating it to her memory.
- Several changes were made to the film Harry:
- He is chubby as opposed to being tall and thin.
- A library copy of the Herman Melville novel Moby Dick is defaced for its presumably offending title instead of John Steinbeck's The Red Pony on reasons of American authors being morally bankrupt.
- He shares several similarities with Vernon Dursley from the Harry Potter franchise.
- Both are loving to their wife, and their one child and, but are downright negligent and abusive towards the other.
- Both show minimum to no remorse for their actions, while their respective wives show some remorse towards the end.