Hattie McDaniel
First African American Oscar winner, trailblazing actress and singer.
Hattie McDaniel was born on June 10, 1893, in Wichita, Kansas, the youngest of 13 children. Her parents had been enslaved, and her father served in the Civil War with the 12th United States Colored Troops. The family moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, in 1901, where she attended Franklin School; a plaque now marks their former home. They later settled in Denver, and McDaniel attended Denver East High School. In 1910, she won a gold medal for reciting a temperance poem. Her brother Sam and sister Etta also worked as actors.
McDaniel began her career in minstrel shows, first with her brother Otis’s carnival company and then, after his death in 1916, with her sister Etta in an all-female minstrel show. From 1920 to 1925, she toured with Professor George Morrison’s Melody Hounds, a Black ensemble. She became the first Black woman to sing on U.S. radio, performing with the group on Denver’s KOA station. Between 1926 and 1929, she recorded 16 blues sides for Okeh, Paramount, and Meritt Records. After the 1929 stock market crash, she worked as a washroom attendant at a Milwaukee club before convincing the owner to let her perform regularly.
In 1931, McDaniel moved to Los Angeles, where she joined her siblings. Unable to get film work, she took jobs as a maid and laundress. Her brother helped her land a radio spot on KNX, where she played a bossy maid called “Hi-Hat Hattie.” Her first film appearance was in *The Golden West* (1932), playing a house servant. She gained a significant part in Mae West’s *I’m No Angel* (1933) and joined the Screen Actors Guild in 1934. Fox Film Corporation signed her for *The Little Colonel* (1935). Major roles followed in *Judge Priest* (1934), *Alice Adams* (1935), *China Seas* (1935), and *Show Boat* (1936), where she sang with Paul Robeson. She appeared in more than 300 films but received on-screen credit for only 83.
McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy in *Gone with the Wind* (1939), becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. She experienced racism throughout her career: she could not attend the film’s Atlanta premiere because the theater was whites-only, and at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, she sat at a segregated table. Her other notable films include *Alice Adams*, *In This Our Life*, *Since You Went Away*, and *Song of the South*. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1975, and in 2006 became the first Black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp. In 2010, she was inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.
McDaniel died of breast cancer on October 26, 1952. Her final wish—to be buried in Hollywood Cemetery—was denied because the graveyard was segregated at the time.
- born
- June 10, 1893, Wichita, Kansas
- died
- October 26, 1952, breast cancer
- field
- Actress, singer-songwriter, comedian
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- First African American Oscar winner (Best Supporting Actress, Gone with the Wind, 1939)
Lore & Background
McDaniel, the youngest of 13 children, was born in 1893 to formerly enslaved parents in Wichita, Kansas. Her mother, Susan Holbert, was a singer of gospel music, and her father, Henry McDaniel, fought in the Civil War with the 12th United States Colored Troops. In 1901, the family moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, then to Denver. She attended Denver East High School from 1908 to 1910. In 1910, she won a gold medal for reciting 'Convict Joe' for a Women's Christian Temperance Union contest. Her brother Sam McDaniel played the butler in the 1948 Three Stooges' short film Heavenly Daze. Her sister Etta McDaniel was also an actress.
Reader's Guide
McDaniel recorded 16 blues sides between 1926 and 1929 and was a radio performer and television personality; she was the first black woman to sing on radio in the United States. Although she appeared in more than 300 films, she received on-screen credits for only 83. Her best known other major films are Alice Adams, In This Our Life, Since You Went Away, and Song of the South. McDaniel experienced racism and racial segregation throughout her career, and as a result, she was unable to attend the premiere of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta because it was held in a whites-only theater. At the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, she sat at a segregated table at the side of the room. In 1952, McDaniel died of breast cancer. Her final wish, to be buried in Hollywood Cemetery, was denied because at the time of her death, the graveyard was segregated.
Did You Know?
- McDaniel was the first African American to win an Oscar.
- She recorded 16 blues sides between 1926 and 1929.
- She was the first black woman to sing on radio in the United States.
- Her father fought in the Civil War with the 12th United States Colored Troops.
Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)
"I desire a white casket and a white shroud; white gardenias in my hair and in my hands, together with a white gardenia blanket and a pillow of red roses." — Hattie McDaniel "[1] Hattie speak on her funeral in 1952." — Hattie McDaniel "Frequent response to criticism she perpetuated a racist stereotype in her roles as a maid." — Hattie McDaniel "It has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future, I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry." — Hattie McDaniel
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