Historical Figures

Hattie McDaniel, the first Oscar-winning black actress

Hattie McDaniel (1895 – 1952) was an American entertainer, actress, singer, and songwriter. She is the first black actress to receive an Oscar, in the category of best supporting actor for her role in Gone with the wind .

The Mighty Minstrels

Born June 10, 1895 in Kansas, Hattie McDaniel was the thirteenth child of Susan Holbert and Henry McDaniel, former slaves. A veteran of the Civil War, his father suffered from the effects of war wounds. Singer of religious music, her mother works as a servant.

In 1900, the McDaniel family moved to Colorado and Hattie went to school in Denver. At a very young age, she was noted for her talent for singing in church, at school and at home. In 1909, she left school to sing and dance with her brother Otis' troupe, The Mighty Minstrels. In 1911, Hattie married the pianist Howard Hickman, and embarked on the creation of all-female shows. In 1916, his brother Otis died, and the troupe began to lose money. In 1922, Hattie successively lost her husband and her father.

“Hi-Hat Hattie”

In the early 1920s, Hattie McDaniel joined George Morrison's troupe, Melody Hounds , and spent five years touring the United States. She then had the opportunity to sing on the radio for the first time with the Melody Hounds , and stands out. In the following years, she recorded several of her compositions in Chicago, until the stock market crash of 1929. Hattie was then forced to take a job as a waitress and dishwasher in a club in Milwaukee. Overcoming her boss's reluctance, she finally gets to perform on stage. In 1931, she joined her brother Sam and her sister Etta, artists also in Los Angeles. Sam gets her a radio column, where she plays "Hi-Hat Hattie", a servant who "doesn't know how to stay in her place". She then becomes extremely popular, although receiving only a miserable salary which forces her to work as a servant.

Hattie's film career

In 1932, Hattie McDaniel appeared in her first film, The Golden West . She regularly gets small roles, not credited in the credits, as a servant or as a singer in choirs. In 1934, she obtained her first important role in the film Judge Priest by John Ford. Subsequently, she will play alongside Clark Gable in China Seas , by James Stewart and Ginger Rogers in Vivacious Lady or Henry Fonda in The Mad Miss Manton . Hattie became friends with many Hollywood stars, including Joan Crawford, Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis and Shirley Temple. We then begin to criticize the frequent roles of servant that she accepts and the fact that she does not put pressure on the environment to obtain more interesting roles for African-Americans. In 1938, Hattie married Howard Hickman, from whom she divorced the same year. Thereafter, she will remarry with James Lloyd Crawford in 191 then Larry Williams in 1949.

Mammy and the Oscar

In 1939, Hattie McDaniel played the role of Mammy, servant of Scarlett O'hara, in the huge cinematic success Gone with the Wind (Gone with the Wind ). The following year, her portrayal of the character won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and Hattie became the first black woman to win the award; she was also the first to be nominated for an Oscar. Black actors, however, are not allowed to attend the premiere of the film, at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta, and they are also excluded from all promotion of the film in the Southern states. Clark Gable reportedly threatened to boycott the film's premiere if Hattie wasn't allowed in, but she convinces him to attend.

At the Academy Awards, Hattie was unable to sit with the other actors in the film and had to sit at a separate table. The role of Mammy and the Oscar received by Hattie received mixed receptions in black and white communities. Some southern white communities complain about the "familiarity" with which Mammy addresses her bosses. And if the Oscar received by a black actress is perceived as a victory in black communities, many believe that the film glorifies the slave system. The Oscar then demonstrated that only those who accepted the racist stereotypes of Hollywood could be successful there. Hattie is then accused of being part of the problem, not the solution.

Beulah

Thereafter, Hattie McDaniel still played a few domestic roles until her last film, Family Honeymoon, in 1949. She then resumed a radio career in the comedy series Beulah , then starred in the TV adaptation of the show. She takes over from actress Ethel Waters, who, after a season, has reservations about a role deemed stereotypical. The series is very popular but also very controversial for the stereotypes it maintains. In the spring of 1952, Hattie, who discovered she had breast cancer, was too ill to continue working and was replaced by Louise Beavers.

Hattie McDaniel died on October 26, 1952 at the age of 57. Throughout her career, she appeared in more than 300 films, appeared in the credits of only 80 films and played 74 domestic roles.