Hattie McDaniel

Known for ActingBorn 1893-06-10Died 1952-10-26Wichita, Kansas, USA

Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 - October 26, 1952) was an American actress whose portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939) won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first black person to win an Academy Award. After working as early as the 1910s as a band vocalist, Hattie McDaniel debuted as a maid in The Golden West (1932). Her maid-mammy characters became steadily more assertive, showing up first in Judge Priest (1934) and becoming pronounced in Alice Adams (1935). In this one, directed by George Stevens and aided and abetted by star Katharine Hepburn, she makes it clear she has little use for her employers' pretentious status seeking. By The Mad Miss Manton (1938) the character she portrays actually tells off her socialite employer Barbara Stanwyck and her snooty friends. This path extends into the greatest role of McDaniel's career, Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939). Mammy is, in a number of ways, superior to most of the white folk surrounding her. From that point, McDaniel's roles unfortunately descended, with the characters becoming more and more menial. McDaniel played on the "Amos and Andy" and Eddie Cantor radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s, the title character in her own radio show "Beulah" (1947-51), and the same part on TV (Beulah, 1950).Read more

Movies & web series

Mississippi Moods

Mickey's Rescue

City Park

Hollywood Black

Hi, Beautiful

3 Is a Family

The Impatient Maiden

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

Becoming Marilyn

Explained

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

Everybody's Baby

The Wildcatter

The First Baby

Fate's Fathead

The Chases of Pimple Street

Gone with the Wind

Merry Go Round of 1938

The Beulah Show

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Janie Gets Married

We're Only Human

Libeled Lady

Margie

Mickey

The Great Lie

Johnny Come Lately

Vivacious Lady

Imitation of Life

Postal Inspector

Reunion

The Singing Kid

Star for a Night

Gentle Julia

Can This Be Dixie?

Wig-Wag

Okay Toots!

In This Our Life

The Boiling Point

Hypnotized

The Shopworn Angel

Anniversary Trouble

Blonde Venus

The Washington Masquerade

They Died with Their Boots On

The Shining Hour

Carefree

Show Boat