Hattie McDaniel

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).

Gone with the Wind

7.9

Song of the South

6.4

Blonde Venus

6.8

Libeled Lady

7.3

Explained

7.5

They Died with Their Boots On

6.6

Nothing Sacred

6.2

Imitation of Life

7.0

Carefree

6.6

Vivacious Lady

6.9

Alice Adams

6.7

And the Oscar Goes To...

7.0

I'm No Angel

6.4

Since You Went Away

6.5

In This Our Life

6.8

The Great Lie

6.8

Show Boat

6.7

The Mad Miss Manton

6.4

China Seas

6.3

Thank Your Lucky Stars

6.1

The Little Colonel

6.3

Judge Priest

6.5

The Shining Hour

6.6

True Confession

5.8

Murder by Television

3.7

Saratoga

6.3

The Shopworn Angel

7.1

Never Say Goodbye

6.3

Johnny Come Lately

6.7

George Washington Slept Here

6.3

The Bride Walks Out

5.3

Operator 13

5.7

Zenobia

4.6

Hello, Sister!

6.0

George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey

5.6

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

7.5

The Male Animal

4.1

The Big Wheel

5.8

The Flame

5.4

Margie

6.9

Traveling Saleslady

5.9

Valiant Is the Word for Carrie

6.3

Merry Wives of Reno

4.8

High Tension

5.4

Babbitt

6.0

Affectionately Yours

4.8

Battle of Broadway

4.2

Are You Listening?

5.0

Janie

5.5

Postal Inspector

6.2

Flirtation

4.4

Another Face

4.2

Family Honeymoon

5.7

Sky Racket

3.3

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

3.3

Arbor Day

6.0

The Washington Masquerade

6.5

Quick Money

4.0

Racing Lady

5.3

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

6.5

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

8.0

Lost in the Stratosphere

4.7

King Kelly of the U.S.A.

3.5

The Crime Nobody Saw

5.0

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

6.5

Janie Gets Married

6.0

Maryland

6.2

Over the Goal

3.0

We're Only Human

6.5

Good-bye Love

5.5

Anniversary Trouble

6.5

The Boiling Point

4.0

Mickey

6.0

Merry Go Round of 1938

5.0

Music Is Magic

4.0

Hi, Beautiful

9.5

The Singing Kid

4.0

Star for a Night

6.0

45 Fathers

1.0

The Chases of Pimple Street

6.0

The Beulah Show

7.0

Mickey's Rescue

0.0

Hypnotized

0.0

The Wildcatter

0.0

Hattie McDaniel: or A Credit to the Motion Picture Industry

0.0

Don't Tell the Wife

0.0

Fate's Fathead

0.0

City Park

0.0

3 Is a Family

0.0

Reunion

0.0

Everybody's Baby

0.0

The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 5

0.0

Mississippi Moods

0.0

The Impatient Maiden

0.0

Wig-Wag

0.0

The First Baby

0.0

Musical Comedy Tonight III

0.0

Gentle Julia

0.0

Can This Be Dixie?

0.0

Okay Toots!

0.0