Hattie McDaniel was born on June 10th,
1895 to former slaves in Wichita, Kansas. She was the youngest of 13
children as well. Yeesh. Growing up she performed with her brothers
and sisters who also sang and did shows. At one point even though she
was performing on well known and popular radio shows she still had to
support herself by being a maid. She is best known for playing the
character Mammy in Gone With The Wind but it turns out that she was
in over 300 movies but only credited for 80.
She also performed on
stage, television, radio, and did comedy. Besides being the first
Black person to win an Academy Award in 1940 (Best Supporting
Actress) she was also the first Black woman to sing on the radio. I
did not know that. She was also the first Black Academy Award winner
to appear on a stamp back in 2006 and has two stars on the Walk of
Fame. One for movies and the other for radio. When she was given the
award she was criticized by some for the roles that she accepted.
They wanted her to make a statement. She just wanted to act and make
a living. “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.”
