Hattie McDaniel is a pioneering multi-talentedAfrican American entertainer who became the first person of African descent to win an Oscar. She succeeded with her role in “Gone with the Wind” (1939).
The actress, singer, songwriter and comedian started her career on radio and was the first black woman to sing on American radio. She is one of the select number of people to have two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to radio and acting.
Hattie McDaniel was born the youngest of 13 children to her parents; Susan Holbert and Henry McDaniel on June 10, 1895 in Wichita, Kansas. Both of her parents were former slaves who gained freedom and raised a family. Her mother was a religious music singer and domestic worker, while her father joined the Army and fought with the 122nd United States Colored Troops in the Civil War.
McDaniel attended and graduated from Denver EastHigh School after the family moved from Kansas to Colorado in 1900. After high school, she began singing and acting. She performed on her brother Otis’ minstrel show before getting her big break in 1920 when she joined a black touring ensemble called Professor George Morrison’s Melody Hounds.
Sometime in the mid-1920s, she landed a job at Denver radio station KOA, singing with the Melody Hounds while recording her own songs on Okeh and Paramount Records to establish herself as a blues artist.
By 1929, McDaniel was unable to make ends with her former job, largely due to the stock market crash. She worked as a waitress and cleaner at a Milwaukee club. While performing her duties, McDaniel always tried to impress the club owner with her singing skills. At first he was reluctant to have her perform on his stage, but later gave her a chance, which turned out to be one of his best decisions when she wowed the audience. She immediately became a regular performer.
In 1931, Hattie McDaniel decided to take her talents to the show business capital of the world, Los Angeles, where some of her siblings were already living. She initially took jobs as a maid and cook before her brother got her a spot on his radio show, The Optimistic Do-Nut Hour, where she starred as the hi-hat Hattie. The show grew in popularity but did not result in a higher salary, meaning she had to continue her odd jobs.
The following year she made her first film appearance in ‘The Golden West’ (1932), playing a handmaid. Her next role was also that of a maid in ‘I’m No Angel’ (1933) after which things dried up as there were very limited roles for black actors.
After appearing in a number of films, she went uncredited and joined the Screen Actors Guild. After that, she began taking important roles in such films as Judge Priest (1934), Alice Adams (1935), Vivacious Lady (1938) and The Shopworn Angel. (1938) and particularly Gone With the Wind (1939), which cemented her talents among other major Hollywood stars.
Despite rising racial tensions in the country, part of this kept her from attending the film’s Atlanta premiere, and Hollywood honored her with the 1939 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her outstanding performance in the film. However, the black community was frustrated with Hattie McDaniel because she felt she was undermining the black civil rights movement by accepting and embracing stereotypical roles. They also believed that she received the award because she was not among those who protested the stereotype.
McDaniel continued her meteoric rise in Hollywood, fueled more by her decision to entertain US troops during World War II. She also appeared on Mickey (1948), Family Honeymoon (1949) and the CBS television show The Ed Wynn Show before returning to radio, where she starred on The Beulah Show (1947).
While filming the television version of her radio show, Hattie McDaniels suffered a heart attack. She later discovered that she had breast cancer, which forced her to quit her job. She died of breast cancer on October 26, 1952 and was subsequently buried in Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. However, McDaniel initially requested in her will that she be buried in Hollywood Cemetery, but because the cemetery was racially segregated, her family opted for her second choice.
Hattie McDaniel’s marriages
Hattie McDaniel has been married four times. Her first marriage was to pianist Howard Hickman in January 1911 until his death in 1915. Her second marriage was to George Langford, who died of gunshot wounds shortly after their marriage in January 1925.
In 1941, McDaniel gave the marriage a third tryTime to real estate salesman James Lloyd Crawford. The union lasted four and a half years before the actress filed for divorce and expressed jealousy at her partner’s success. The fourth time was about interior designer Larry Williams, who divorced McDaniels after just five months.
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