Hattie McDaniel
AKA: Hattie McDaniels
Birthday: 1893-06-10
Died: 1952-10-26
Birthplace: Wichita, 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).
Filmography
Character: Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)
Character: Hattie (uncredited)
Character: Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner
Character: Cynthia, Sue's Cook
Character: Caroline - the Cook (uncredited)
Character: Performer entering radio station
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: April, Conway's Maid
Character: Hattie (uncredited)
Character: Powder Room Attendant
Character: Pearl (uncredited)
Character: 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: Manicurist (uncredited)
Character: Buckwheat's Mother
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Mrs. Walker (uncredited)
Character: Maid (uncredited)
Character: Mamie (uncredited)
Character: Hattie (Amanda in credits)
Character: Hattie (uncredited)
Character: Mandy - the Maid
Character: Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)
Character: Bunny's Maid (uncredited)
Character: Abigail (uncredited)
Character: Martha Smith (uncredited)
Character: Woman in Apartment House
Character: Gossip in "Ice Cold Katie" Number
Character: Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited)
Character: Maid (uncredited)
Character: Rosalie (uncredited)
Character: Injured Patient (uncredited)
Character: Becky "Mom Beck" Porter
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Self (archive footage)
Character: Annie (uncredited)
Character: Woman at Funeral (uncredited)
Character: Nellie (uncredited)
Character: Hattie - Gertrude's Maid (uncredited)
Character: Maid (uncredited)