Hattie McDaniel
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).
Gone with the Wind
as MammyThe spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical...
Movie pageSong of the South
as Aunt TempyUncle Remus draws upon his tales of Br'er Rabbit to help little Johnny deal with his confusion...
Movie pageThey Died with Their Boots On
as CallieThe story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his...
Movie pageLibeled Lady
as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited)When a major newspaper accuses wealthy socialite Connie Allenbury of being a home-wrecker, and...
Movie pageNothing Sacred
as Mrs. Walker (uncredited)When a small-town girl is incorrectly diagnosed with a rare, deadly disease, an unknowing...
Movie pageImitation of Life
as Woman at Funeral (uncredited)A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter....
Movie pageAnd the Oscar Goes To...
as Self (archive footage)The story of the gold-plated statuette that became the film industry's most coveted prize, AND...
Movie pageThe Great Lie
as VioletAfter a newlywed's husband apparently dies in a plane crash, she discovers that her rival for...
Movie pageI'm No Angel
as Manicurist (uncredited)The bold Tira works as dancing beauty and lion tamer at a fair. Out of an urgent need of money,...
Movie pageBlonde Venus
as Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)In an effort to be able to afford expensive treatment for her gravely ill American husband, a...
Movie pageShow Boat
as QueenieDespite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into...
Movie pageThank Your Lucky Stars
as Gossip in "Ice Cold Katie" NumberAn Eddie Cantor look-alike organizes an all-star show to help the war effort.
Movie pageSaratoga
as RosettaA horse breeder's granddaughter falls in love with a gambler in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Movie pageIn This Our Life
as Minerva ClayAn unhappy, self-centered woman runs off with her sister's husband, wreaking havoc and ruining...
Movie pageNever Say Goodbye
as CozyPhil and Ellen Gayley have been divorced for a year, and their 7-year old daughter, Flip, is...
Movie pageChina Seas
as Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)Captain Alan Gaskell sails the perilous waters between Hong Kong and Singapore with a secret...
Movie pageThe Mad Miss Manton
as HildaWhen the murdered body discovered by beautiful, vivacious socialite Melsa Manton disappears,...
Movie pageMurder by Television
as IsabellaJames Houghland, inventor of a new method by which television signals can be instantaneously...
Movie pageAlice Adams
as Malena Burns - Maid Serving DinnerIn the lower-middle-class Adams family, father and son are happy to work in a drugstore, but...
Movie pageSince You Went Away
as FideliaIn 1943, several people enter, re-enter, and exit the difficult life of a Midwestern family...
Movie pageVivacious Lady
as Hattie (uncredited)College town life gets turned upside down after a button-down botany professor secretly weds a...
Movie pageThe Shopworn Angel
as MarthaDuring WWI Bill Pettigrew, a naive young Texan soldier is sent to New York for basic training....
Movie pageZenobia
as DehliaA modest country doctor in the antebellum South has to contend with his daughter's upcoming...
Movie pageGeorge Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Biography of the legendary filmmaker directed by his son.
Movie pageJudge Priest
as Aunt DilseyJudge Priest, a proud Confederate veteran, restores the justice in a small town in the...
Movie pageGeorge Washington Slept Here
as HesterNew Yorkers Bill and Connie Fuller have to move from their apartment. Without Bill's knowledge,...
Movie pageThe Little Colonel
as Becky "Mom Beck" PorterAfter Southern belle Elizabeth Lloyd runs off to marry Yankee Jack Sherman, her father, a former...
Movie pageCarefree
as Hattie (uncredited)Dr. Tony Flagg's friend Steven has problems in the relationship with his fiancée Amanda, so he...
Movie pageOperator 13
as Annie (uncredited)American Civil War, 1862. After the disaster of the Second Battle of Bull Run, Major Allen,...
Movie pageBabbitt
as Rosalie (uncredited)Middle aged George F. Babbitt is a leading citizen in the town of Zenith, the fastest growing...
Movie pageThe Shining Hour
as BelvedereA nightclub dancer shakes the foundations of a wealthy farming family after she marries into it.
Movie pageThe Bride Walks Out
as MamieCarolyn Martin is a fashion model who hastily marries her boyfriend, engineer Michael Martin....
Movie pageMargie
as CynthiaA woman reminisces about her teenage years in the 1920s, when she fell in love with her teacher.
Movie pageHollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas,...
Movie pageJohnny Come Lately
as AidaCagney is a human dynamo as a drifter who helps save ailing Grace George from losing her...
Movie pageCavalcade of the Academy Awards
as SelfThis 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including...
Movie pageThe Big Wheel
as MinnieThe ambitious son of an accomplished race driver struggles to outrun his father's legacy and...
Movie pageAffectionately Yours
as Cynthia, Sue's CookA married reporter's assignments carry him all over the world, which gives him ample opportunity...
Movie page3 Is a Family
as MaidBased on a play by Phoebe and Henry Ephron, "3 Is a Family" is a 1940s farce. Charlie Ruggles...
Movie pageStar for a Night
as HattieBlind Mrs. Lind comes to American to visit her three children whom she thinks are successful.
Movie page1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage)This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips...
Movie pageThe Impatient Maiden
as Injured Patient (uncredited)A maid's dream comes true but are not quite what she expected.
Movie pageCan This Be Dixie?
as LizzieA young girl and her uncle who run a traveling medicine show lend their efforts to salvage an...
Movie pageArbor Day
as Buckwheat's MotherTruant officers mistake 2 midgets for members of the gang.
Movie pageHello, Sister!
as Woman in Apartment HousePeggy and her friend Millie are strolling down Broadway while Jimmy and Mac are trolling...
Movie pageThe Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage)This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests,...
Movie pageHigh Tension
as HattieBrawling cable layer Steve Reardon doesn't want to marry girlfriend Edith but he also doesn't...
Movie pageTrue Confession
as EllaA writer takes a job as a secretary because her scrupulous husband isn't bringing in the dough...
Movie pageMaryland
as Aunt CarrieA woman tormented by the hunting death of her husband forbids her son to have anything to do...
Movie pageJanie Gets Married
as AprilNewlywed Janie's (Joan Leslie) World War II-veteran husband (Robert Hutton) goes to work at her...
Movie pageThe Flame
as CeliaGeorge McAllister, the black sheep of a wealthy family who has squandered his share of the...
Movie pageKing Kelly of the U.S.A.
as Mop BuyerA theatrical troupe headed by a flashy showman finds itself in the tiny--and bankrupt--kingdom...
Movie pageThe Male Animal
as CleotaThe trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being...
Movie pageMickey
as BerthaA pretty, tomboyish teenager comes of age in an American small town.
Movie pageFamily Honeymoon
as PhyllisGrant Jordan, bachelor botany professor, marries Katie, a widow with three kids, despite the...
Movie pageThe Singing Kid
as Maid (uncredited)Neurotic Broadway star Al Jackson faces professional ruin when he loses his voice. While...
Movie pageGood-bye Love
as Edna the MaidA sexy golddigger lands who she thinks is a wealthy big-game hunter from a royal family. What...
Movie pageThe Chases of Pimple Street
as Hattie - Gertrude's Maid (uncredited)In order to get out of his boss's doghouse, Charley pairs his troublesome sister-in-law with an...
Movie pagePostal Inspector
as DeborahPostal inspectors track down money stolen from a railroad car.
Movie pageQuick Money
as Hattie (uncredited)Bluford H. Smythe, who has made it big in the big city, has returned to his small hometown of...
Movie pageAnniversary Trouble
as MaidThe gang's treasury is entrusted to Spanky, who accidentally gets it mixed up with his father's...
Movie pageHollywood: The Selznick Years
as 'Gone with the Wind' screen test (archive footage) (uncredited)Henry Fonda hosts this retrospective on the career and films of iconic filmmaker David O....
Movie pageSky Racket
as JennyA government agent sets out to capture a gang of airmail bandits who use a death ray to blow...
Movie pageGentle Julia
as Kitty SilversA shy newspaperman nearly gives up when his girlfriend falls for the new guy in town till...
Movie pageLost in the Stratosphere
as Ida JohnsonTwo military pilots are close friends, and share in a lot of hazardous missions while engaging...
Movie pageFate's Fathead
as Mandy - the MaidAccidental meetings and misconceptions lead a blissfully happy couple to fight and squabble.
Movie pageDon't Tell the Wife
as Mamie (uncredited)After being released from prison, con man Thurston Hall gathers his gang of cronies--along with...
Movie pageMerry Go Round of 1938
as MaidTwo screwy characters travel to Hollywood and cause mischief.
Movie pageOver the Goal
as HannahThe Carlton State star quarterback is wrongly thrown in jail, almost guaranteeing a major loss...
Movie pageWe're Only Human
as MollyA cop, who plays by his own rules, brings down a notorious gangster.
Movie pageTraveling Saleslady
as Martha Smith (uncredited)A toothpaste magnate's mischievous daughter, tired of her father's traditional ways of...
Movie pageReunion
as SadieNewspapers around the world proclaim the birth in Moosetown, Canada of the 3,000th baby brought...
Movie pageMusic Is Magic
as Hattie (Amanda in credits)An aging star finally recognizes the truth when she is replaced in her new movie by a girl from...
Movie pageJanie
as April, Conway's MaidTeenage Janie falls in love with a private from an Army base opposed by her editor father.
Movie pageEverybody's Baby
as HattieThe Jones family encounters new theories of childrearing when an author arrives in town to...
Movie pageValiant Is the Word for Carrie
as Ellen BelleCarrie Snyder is a prostitute, who is forced out of the fictional southern town of Crebillon,...
Movie pageThe Crime Nobody Saw
as AmbrosiaThree playwrights develop a plot around a drunk who gets killed in their apartment.
Movie pageBattle of Broadway
as AgathaThe wealthy owner of a Pennsylvania steel business travels to New York to break up his son's...
Movie pageCity Park
as TessieThe old men meet a young girl, broke, hungry and discouraged, in the park. Colonel Henry...
Movie pageRacing Lady
as AbbyA shrewd millionaire who owns races horses for publicity for his automobile business, claims...
Movie page45 Fathers
as BeulahAn orphan girl becomes adopted by a group of old men and is placed in the home of one of them....
Movie pageThe Wildcatter
as Pearl (uncredited)Eager to take advantage of a new oil boom, "Lucky" Conlon leaves his gas station and diner for...
Movie pageFlirtation
as Abigail (uncredited)A naive farmer encounters a beautiful burlesque dancer on the streets of New York and agrees to...
Movie pageAre You Listening?
as Performer entering radio stationWBLA is on the air, presenting the live music, the sudsy dramas and the sell-sell-sell of...
Movie pageAnother Face
as Nellie (uncredited)The surgeon who did the job was dead. Only the nurse knew what this gangster looked like in his...
Movie pageHypnotized
as Powder Room AttendantA Gypsy violinist searches for her missing fiance, a circus worker who recently won a...
Movie pageWig-Wag
as CookWhen Dorothy jilts her fiancee, he tries to make her jealous by getting a friend of his to dress...
Movie pageMickey's Rescue
as MaidWhen Billy get adopted by a rich couple, Mickey and the gang spring into action to bring their...
Movie pageMusical Comedy Tonight III
as uncreditedSylvia Fine hosts this musical show featuring some great American singing and dancing stars,...
Movie pageThe Boiling Point
as Caroline - the Cook (uncredited)Jimmy's uncle gives him 30 days probation on Kirk's ranch to control his temper or lose his...
Movie pageHattie McDaniel: or A Credit to the Motion Picture Industry
as Self (archive footage)“I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry,”...
Movie pageMerry Wives of Reno
as Bunny's Maid (uncredited)Three couples raise a ruckus when they travel to Nevada for quickie divorces.
Movie pageThe Washington Masquerade
as Maid (uncredited)An honest, talented and well respected attorney defeats a corrupt incumbent U.S. Senator. After...
Movie pageThe First Baby
as DoraWhen a couple become parents for the first time, they discover grandmothers can be almost as...
Movie pageThe Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 5
as uncreditedThe Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 5 contains the next 12 Our Gang sound...
Movie pageExplained
as Self - First Black Oscar Winner (archive footage)This documentary series, made in partnership with Vox, explain some of the world's current...
TV Show page