HATTIE MCDANIEL

Hattie McDaniel was an actress from the 1930s to the 1950s. She was one of the first black African American performers to achieve success in mainstream Hollywood movies. She is best remembered for her role as "Mammy" in "Gone with the Wind", and she appeared in 95 movies between 1932 and 1949, and she had her own TV show, "Beulah", in the 1950s. She was even the inspiration for the "Mammy Two Shoes" character in the Tom & Jerry cartoons! But because she almost exclusively played stereotyped roles throughout her career, her work is little seen today (except of course for "Gone with the Wind"). That is especially unfortunate, because she had an even more significant career than most people realize. She is believed to be the first black woman to sing on the radio (in 1915), and she was a major vaudeville and cabaret singing star in the 1910s and 1920s! Perhaps a movie can be made about her remarkable career. McDaniel passed away in 1952 at the age of 59.