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).
Acting
Movie
Gone with the Wind
as Mammy
1939
Movie
Song of the South
as Aunt Tempy
1946
Movie
Blonde Venus
as Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)
1932
Movie
Libeled Lady
as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited)
1936
TV
Explained
as Self - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage)
2018
Movie
They Died with Their Boots On
as Callie
1941
Movie
Nothing Sacred
as Mrs. Walker (uncredited)
1937
Movie
Imitation of Life
as Woman at Funeral (uncredited)
1934
Movie
Carefree
as Hattie (uncredited)
1938
Movie
Vivacious Lady
as Hattie (uncredited)
1938
Movie
I'm No Angel
as Manicurist (uncredited)
1933
Movie
Alice Adams
as Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner
1935
Movie
In This Our Life
as Minerva Clay
1942
Movie
Since You Went Away
as Fidelia
1944
Movie
The Great Lie
as Violet
1941
Movie
Show Boat
as Queenie
1936
Movie
The Mad Miss Manton
as Hilda
1938
Movie
Thank Your Lucky Stars
as Gossip in "Ice Cold Katie" Number
1943
Movie
China Seas
as Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)
1935
Movie
The Little Colonel
as Becky "Mom Beck" Porter
1935
Movie
Judge Priest
as Aunt Dilsey
1934
Movie
True Confession
as Ella
1937
Movie
Murder by Television
as Isabella
1935
Movie
The Shining Hour
as Belvedere
1938