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Born in 1895, 10 June
Died in 1952, 26 October (aged 57)
She was a stage actress, a singer/songwriter and a comedian
Hattie’s parents (Henry McDaniel and Susan Holbert) was former slaves.
Susan Holbert (Hattie's mother) was a singer of religious music.
Henry McDaniel (Hattie’s father) was in the civil war.
• After high school Hattie started to work with her brother and his minstrel show
• After her brother died in 1916, Hattie first appeared again in 1920 with
Professor George Morrison’s Melody Hounds
• In the middle of 1920s, Hattie started on her radio career, where she sang with
the Melody Hounds
• From 1926 to 1929, Hattie recorded some of her songs for Okeh Records and
Paramount Records.
• In 1931 Hattie moved to los angels to join some of her siblings and ended up
getting a job at KNX radio
• In the 1930s Hattie got several film roles, where some of them was uncredited
• In 1934, Hattie joined the Screen Actors Guild and started to get larger film
roles.
• 1940 – Hattie wins the award for best supporting actress, for
her role in ‘gone with the win
• She was the first black person to win an Oscar
• Her role was much debated, some (whites in the South) saying
it wasn’t consistent with either the book or the historical
period
• Others (black people) saw the Oscar as a victory, but also
meant, that her role/the movie supported slavery and helped
those against black civil rights
• Because of segregation laws , Hattie wasn’t allowed to
attend the premiere, which was held in Atlanta, Georgia
• 1947 – First black woman to star in a radio show, in the role as ‘Beulah’ (in 1951 she
got cast for the TV-version, but died after six episodes)
• She wanted to be buried in the Hollywood Cemetery, but couldn’t since it was a
whites only cemetery
• Two stars on the walk of fame in Hollywood, one for contributions to radio and one
for acting in motion pictures
• 2006 – First black Oscar winner to be on a postage stamp