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Hattie McDaniel
Actor
Died October 26, 1952 (57 years)
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).
Filmography
| 2004 | TV in Black: The First Fifty Years · as actor |
| 2003 | Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty · as Aunt Dilsey (clip from Judge Priest (1934)) |
| 1993 | Mo' Funny: Black Comedy in America · as Mammy |
| 1986 | Laurel & Hardy (TV Series) · as Delilah (1986) |
| 1984 | George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey · as Unknown |
| 1949 | The Big Wheel · as Minnie |
| 1948 | Mickey · as Bertha |
| 1947 | The Flame · as Celia |
| 1946 | Never Say Goodbye · as Cozy |
| 1946 | Song of the South · as Aunt Tempy |
| 1944 | Since You Went Away · as Fidelia |
| 1944 | Three Is a Family · as Maid |
| 1943 | Johnny Come Lately · as Aida |
| 1942 | George Washington Slept Here · as Hester |
| 1942 | In This Our Life · as Minerva Clay |
| 1941 | They Died with Their Boots On · as Callie |
| 1941 | The Great Lie · as Violet |
| 1939 | Gone with the Wind · as Mammy |
| 1939 | Zenobia · as Dehlia |
| 1938 | Carefree · as Hattie (uncredited) |
| 1938 | Vivacious Lady · as Hattie - Maid at Prom Dance (uncredited) |
| 1938 | The Mad Miss Manton · as Hilda |
| 1938 | The Shopworn Angel · as Martha |
| 1938 | The Shining Hour · as Belvedere |
| 1937 | Saratoga · as Rosetta |
| 1937 | Sky Racket · as Jenny |
| 1937 | Nothing Sacred · as Mrs. Walker (uncredited) |
| 1936 | Libeled Lady · as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited) |
| 1936 | The Bride Walks Out · as Mamie |
| 1936 | Postal Inspector · as Deborah |
| 1935 | Murder by Television · as Isabella |
| 1935 | The Little Colonel · as Becky "Mom Beck" Porter |
| 1935 | Alice Adams · as Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner |
| 1935 | China Seas · as Isabel McCarthy (uncredited) |
| 1935 | Harmony Lane · as Liza - the Cook |
| 1934 | King Kelly of the U.S.A. · as Mop Buyer |
| 1934 | Judge Priest · as Aunt Dilsey |
| 1934 | Little Men · as Asia |
| 1934 | Imitation of Life · as Woman at Funeral (uncredited) |
| 1934 | Operator 13 · as Annie (uncredited) |
| 1934 | Lost in the Stratosphere · as Ida Johnson |
| 1933 | I'm No Angel · as Manicurist |
| 1933 | Hello, Sister! · as Woman in Apartment House |
| 1933 | Good-bye Love · as Edna the Maid |
| 1932 | Blonde Venus · as Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited) |
| 1932 | Hypnotized · as Powder Room Attendant |