HATTIE MCDANIEL

Hattie McDaniel, a beloved Hollywood actress, broke the movie industry’s color barrier when she became the first African-American to win an Academy Award, for her role as “Mammie,” a slave-maid, in the epic 1939 Civil War drama “Gone with the Wind.”

McDaniel was born to freed enslaved parents in 1893. Her father fought in the Civil War. Early in her career, she toured in minstrel shows and moved to Los Angeles in her mid-30s. 

Before her Oscar-winning performance, McDaniel had roles in nearly 70 movies, at times singing in choruses and often cast as a domestic servant. 

She was criticized for accepting roles that perpetuated black stereotypes but defended her decision to play the roles, once saying, “Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn’t, I’d be making $7 a week being one.”

McDaniel wasn’t allowed to attend the Atlanta premiere of “Gone with the Wind,” but she did attend its Hollywood premiere and the Oscars ceremony, despite the fact that the host Ambassador Hotel had a strict “no blacks” policy at the time. 

“I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry,” she said in her acceptance speech. 

McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – one for film and one for radio. She died in 1952 of lung cancer.