
Hattie McDaniel (June 10, 1893 - October 26, 1952) was an American actress whose portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939) won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first black person to win an Academy Award.
After working as early as the 1910s as a band vocalist, Hattie McDaniel debuted as a maid in The Golden West (1932). Her maid-mammy characters became steadily more assertive, showing up first in Judge Priest (1934) and becoming pronounced in Alice Adams (1935). In this one, directed by George Stevens and aided and abetted by star Katharine Hepburn, she makes it clear she has little use for her employers' pretentious status seeking. By The Mad Miss Manton (1938) the character she portrays actually tells off her socialite employer Barbara Stanwyck and her snooty friends. This path extends into the greatest role of McDaniel's career, Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939). Mammy is, in a number of ways, superior to most of the white folk surrounding her.
From that point, McDaniel's roles unfortunately descended, with the characters becoming more and more menial. McDaniel played on the "Amos and Andy" and Eddie Cantor radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s, the title character in her own radio show "Beulah" (1947-51), and the same part on TV (Beulah, 1950).

Gone with the Wind
1939 · as Mammy

Song of the South
1946 · as Aunt Tempy

Vivacious Lady
1938 · as Hattie (uncredited)

Libeled Lady
1936 · as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited)

They Died with Their Boots On
1941 · as Callie

Hello, Sister!
1933 · as Woman in Apartment House

Zenobia
1939 · as Dehlia

Family Honeymoon
1948 · as Phyllis

The Flame
1947 · as Celia

China Seas
1935 · as Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)

The Great Lie
1941 · as Violet

Affectionately Yours
1941 · as Cynthia, Sue's Cook

I'm No Angel
1933 · as Manicurist (uncredited)

Wig-Wag
1935 · as Cook

Imitation of Life
1934 · as Woman at Funeral (uncredited)

Racing Lady
1937 · as Abby

Blonde Venus
1932 · as Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)

The Big Wheel
1949 · as Minnie