Hattie McDaniel
Actor
1893 - 1952
Profession
ActorSinger
Hometown
Wichita, KS
Overview
Hattie McDaniel won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), marking the first time a Black person would win an Oscar. As one of the most prominent Black actors of her time, she was put in the impossible position of having to represent an entire race, and was often criticized for taking stereotypical roles. More recent observers, like Donald Bogle, now see challenges to her era’s racist depictions of Black women in her performances, McDaniel finding unexpected ways to give her characters agency.
About the Filmography
The selected filmography for the years 1897–1971 includes works featured in the exhibition and others that are considered historically, socially, or politically relevant. Hollywood productions are generally excluded; the focus is instead on independent films, particularly the work of Black filmmakers. Black Academy Award nominees and winners are noted. This filmography was compiled using the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and various filmographies, including those by Klotman, Richards, and Hyatt. Primary production materials and contemporaneous film reviews were also consulted. Complete credits for many of the films are unavailable. All films are US productions unless otherwise noted, and distribution credits refer to the original distributors.