On February 29, 1940, Gone with the Wind is 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,” the
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.

(FOX News) – Actress Michelle Trachtenberg was found dead
in a New York City apartment today. She  was 39.

Authorities found Trachtenberg after responding to a 911 call
around 8 a.m. local time. The actress was unconscious and unresponsive, according to the New York Police Department.

Police sources told ABC-7 that Trachtenberg had recently
undergone a liver transplant and may have been experiencing complications.

The actress starred as Dawn Summers on "Buffy the Vampire
Slayer" for three years. The series ran from 1997-2003 on WB.

(TNND) — The U.S. Postal Service will be celebrating and
honoring beloved actress Betty White with a new forever
stamp bearing her likeness.

USPS said in a news release the stamp will commemorate
her "warmth, wit and charisma."

A forever stamp means it never expires and is equal to the
price of 1-ounce First-Class mail.

The actress was best known for roles in “The Golden Girls,
" “The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and “Boston Legal."

She died less than three weeks before her 100th birthday in
late December 2021.

The Postal Service announced it will host a special event on
March 27 to unveil the new stamp at the Los Angeles Zoo
and Botanical Gardens.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) began selling
Forever stamps on April 12, 2007. The first Forever
stamp featured the Liberty Bell.

  2015

The guitar destroyed by Kurt Russell’s character was not a prop
but an antique 1870s Martin guitar lent by the Martin Guitar
Museum. According to sound mixer Mark Ulano, the guitar was
supposed to have been switched with a copy to be destroyed,
but this was not communicated to Russell; everyone on the set
was "pretty freaked out" at the guitar’s destruction, and actress
Jennifer Jason Leigh’s reaction was genuine, though "Tarantino
was in a corner of the room with a funny curl on his lips, because
he got something out of it with the performance."

Museum director Dick Boak said that the museum was not told
that the script included a scene that called for a guitar being s
mashed, and determined that it was irreparable.

The insurance remunerated the purchase value of the guitar
and as a result of the incident, the museum no longer lends
props to film productions.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Kurt Russell will be 74 in March.

Director Quentin Tarantino.

The first Emmy Awards ceremony was held on January 25, 1949
at the Hollywood Athletic Club.

The awards recognize excellence in television (which in the
1940s was a novel medium).

Hollywood’s first television academy had been founded three
years earlier by Sydney Cassyd, a former film editor for Frank
Capra who later worked as a grip at Paramount Studios and
an entertainment journalist.

Sydney Cassyd (1908 – 2000)