Hattie McDaniel and Clark Gable from Gone with the Wind.
On February 29, 1940, Gone with the Wind was honored with
eight Oscars by the American Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences.
An epic Southern romance set during the hard times of the
Civil War, the movie swept the prestigious Best Picture,
Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction, Film
Editing, and Actress categories.
However, the most momentous award that night undoubtedly
went to Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of “Mammy,” a
housemaid and former enslaved woman. McDaniel, who
won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, was the
first African American actress or actor ever to be honored
with an Oscar.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1895, McDaniel demonstrated
her talents as a singer and actress while growing up in
Denver, Colorado.
She left school while a teenager to become a performer in
several traveling minstrel groups and in 1924 became one
of the first African American women to sing on U.S. radio.
With the onset of the Great Depression, she was forced to
take work as a ladies’ washroom attendant in a Milwaukee
club.
The club, which hired only white performers, eventually
made an exception and let her sing, and she performed
there for a year before setting her sights on Hollywood.
On August 26, 1951, McDaniel suffered a stroke,
complicated by diabetes and a heart ailment,
and was admitted to the Temple Hospital in
Los Angeles.
She died of breast cancer on October 26, 1952.
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