Hattie McDaniel
Acting • Born 1893-06-10 – Died 1952-10-26
Biography
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).
Filmography
98 credits
Gone with the Wind
Movie • 1939
Mammy
Judge Priest
Movie • 1934
Aunt Dilsey
King Kelly of the U.S.A.
Movie • 1934
Mop Buyer
Show Boat
Movie • 1936
Queenie
Blonde Venus
Movie • 1932
Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)
Song of the South
Movie • 1946
Aunt Tempy
Murder by Television
Movie • 1935
Isabella
George Washington Slept Here
Movie • 1942
Hester
Carefree
Movie • 1938
Hattie (uncredited)
Since You Went Away
Movie • 1944
Fidelia
Never Say Goodbye
Movie • 1946
Cozy
In This Our Life
Movie • 1942
Minerva Clay
The Mad Miss Manton
Movie • 1938
Hilda
Alice Adams
Movie • 1935
Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner
The Great Lie
Movie • 1941
Violet
Saratoga
Movie • 1937
Rosetta
They Died with Their Boots On
Movie • 1941
Callie
The Flame
Movie • 1947
Celia
Affectionately Yours
Movie • 1941
Cynthia, Sue's Cook
The Big Wheel
Movie • 1949
Minnie
Family Honeymoon
Movie • 1948
Phyllis
The Shopworn Angel
Movie • 1938
Martha
Zenobia
Movie • 1939
Dehlia
The Shining Hour
Movie • 1938
Belvedere
Margie
Movie • 1946
Cynthia
Battle of Broadway
Movie • 1938
Agatha
True Confession
Movie • 1937
Ella
The Crime Nobody Saw
Movie • 1937
Ambrosia
The Boiling Point
Movie • 1932
Caroline - the Cook (uncredited)
Are You Listening?
Movie • 1932
Performer entering radio station
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Movie • 1983
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mickey's Rescue
Movie • 1934
Maid
Janie
Movie • 1944
April, Conway's Maid
Janie Gets Married
Movie • 1946
April
Mickey
Movie • 1948
Bertha
Maryland
Movie • 1940
Aunt Carrie
Vivacious Lady
Movie • 1938
Hattie (uncredited)
Merry Go Round of 1938
Movie • 1937
Maid
Sky Racket
Movie • 1937
Jenny
Over the Goal
Movie • 1937
Hannah
Hypnotized
Movie • 1932
Powder Room Attendant
The Wildcatter
Movie • 1937
Pearl (uncredited)
I'm No Angel
Movie • 1933
Manicurist (uncredited)
Arbor Day
Movie • 1936
Buckwheat's Mother (uncredited)
We're Only Human
Movie • 1935
Molly
Hattie McDaniel: or A Credit to the Motion Picture Industry
Movie • 2004
Self (archive footage)
The Washington Masquerade
Movie • 1932
Maid (uncredited)
The Male Animal
Movie • 1942
Cleota
Don't Tell the Wife
Movie • 1937
Mamie (uncredited)
Music Is Magic
Movie • 1935
Hattie (Amanda in credits)
Quick Money
Movie • 1937
Hattie (uncredited)
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie
Movie • 1936
Ellen Belle
Fate's Fathead
Movie • 1934
Mandy - the Maid
China Seas
Movie • 1935
Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)
City Park
Movie • 1934
Tessie
The Bride Walks Out
Movie • 1936
Mamie
Postal Inspector
Movie • 1936
Deborah
Racing Lady
Movie • 1937
Abby
Merry Wives of Reno
Movie • 1934
Bunny's Maid (uncredited)
Flirtation
Movie • 1934
Abigail (uncredited)
Traveling Saleslady
Movie • 1935
Martha Smith (uncredited)
Hello, Sister!
Movie • 1933
Woman in Apartment House
High Tension
Movie • 1936
Hattie
3 Is a Family
Movie • 1944
Maid
Thank Your Lucky Stars
Movie • 1943
Gossip in "Ice Cold Katie" Number
Johnny Come Lately
Movie • 1943
Aida
Reunion
Movie • 1936
Sadie
Libeled Lady
Movie • 1936
Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited)
Everybody's Baby
Movie • 1939
Hattie
Hi, Beautiful
Movie • 1944
Millie
The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 5
Movie • 2022
The Singing Kid
Movie • 1936
Maid (uncredited)
Mississippi Moods
Movie • 1937
Babbitt
Movie • 1934
Rosalie (uncredited)
The Impatient Maiden
Movie • 1932
Injured Patient (uncredited)
The Little Colonel
Movie • 1935
Becky "Mom Beck" Porter
Star for a Night
Movie • 1936
Hattie
Good-bye Love
Movie • 1933
Edna the Maid
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Movie • 1940
Self
Wig-Wag
Movie • 1935
Cook
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie • 1988
Self (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Movie • 2009
Self (archive footage)
Operator 13
Movie • 1934
Annie (uncredited)
Imitation of Life
Movie • 1934
Woman at Funeral (uncredited)
Another Face
Movie • 1935
Nellie (uncredited)
The First Baby
Movie • 1936
Dora
Musical Comedy Tonight III
Movie • 1985
Gentle Julia
Movie • 1936
Kitty Silvers
Can This Be Dixie?
Movie • 1936
Lizzie
Lost in the Stratosphere
Movie • 1934
Ida Johnson
45 Fathers
Movie • 1937
Beulah
The Chases of Pimple Street
Movie • 1934
Hattie - Gertrude's Maid (uncredited)
Okay Toots!
Movie • 1935
Maid (uncredited)
Anniversary Trouble
Movie • 1935
Maid
Nothing Sacred
Movie • 1937
Mrs. Walker (uncredited)
Becoming Marilyn
Movie • 2022
The Beulah Show
TV • 1950
Beulah
Explained
TV • 2018
Self - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage)