Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel was an American actress and singer, the first Black performer to win an Academy Award.
She received the 1940 Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Mammy in *Gone with the Wind*.
McDaniel spent much of her career playing domestic servants, famously responding to criticism: "I'd rather play a maid than be one."
Top Hollywood honor
- Gone with the WindCivil War era epic
- 1940Early wartime year
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
acceptance speech · statuette · nomination · victory · Hollywood · film history · recognition · achievement
Civil War era epic
- filmographyListed screen credits
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- character rolesPersonas actors inhabit
- performerOne who entertains audiences
screen · cinema · role · Show Boat · Beulah · radio · television · film
Assigning actors similar roles
- racialConcerning ethnic origin
- pigeonholeClassify too rigidly
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
- domestic rolesFamily labor expectations
Jim Crow era · protest · controversy · civil rights · objectification
Mournful American music genre
- vaudevilleTheatrical variety entertainment
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- performerOne who entertains audiences
- contraltoLowest female vocal range
radio · recording artist · entertainer · melody · minstrel shows · bandleader · touring · nightclub
Early explorer or settler
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
- legacyWhat's passed down
- inspirationSource of creative impulse
Hollywood history · forerunner · Black excellence · representation · advocate · role model · precursor · commemoration
Academy Award
Top Hollywood honor
- Gone with the WindCivil War era epic
- 1940Early wartime year
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
ceremony · acceptance speech · statuette · nomination · victory · Hollywood · film history · recognition · achievement · historic
Gone with the Wind
Civil War era epic
- filmographyListed screen credits
- HollywoodAmerican film industry center
- character rolesPersonas actors inhabit
performer · screen · cinema · role · Show Boat · Beulah · radio · television · film · supporting actress
typecasting
Assigning actors similar roles
- racialConcerning ethnic origin
- pigeonholeClassify too rigidly
- caricatureExaggerated comic depiction
domestic roles · Jim Crow era · protest · controversy · civil rights · objectification
blues
Mournful American music genre
- vaudevilleTheatrical variety entertainment
- jazzImprovisational American music genre
- performerOne who entertains audiences
contralto · radio · recording artist · entertainer · melody · minstrel shows · bandleader · touring · nightclub · musical
pioneer
Early explorer or settler
- groundbreakingIntroducing radical new ideas
- pathfinderOne who discovers routes
- legacyWhat's passed down
inspiration · Hollywood history · forerunner · Black excellence · representation · advocate · role model · precursor · commemoration · postage stamp
Hattie McDanielsegregationists
Advocates for racial division
Hattie McDanielSidney Poitier
Hattie McDanielVivien Leigh