Heartbreaking Story of Hattie McDaniel, The First Black Oscar Winner

The Oscars are right around the corner, and as usual, we’re rooting for everybody Black, but this year the competition is especially exciting with multiple Black talents, including Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Teyana Taylor in the race for the coveted award. While we get ready to place our bets on which Oscar nominee we think will win the gold, it’s important to take the time to remember the Black woman who first broke down the racial barriers of entry in the Academy Awards: Hattie McDaniel. Here’s everything you need to know about the award-winning actress.

Early Life

Born June 10, 1895, in Wichita, Kansas, Hattie McDaniel was the youngest of 13 siblings, according to Vanity Fair. Her dad, Henry McDaniel, was a Civil War veteran, while her mom, Susan Holbert, was a domestic worker. Although she was born in Wichita, the family moved to Denver in 1901, where she grew up.

A Young Performer

McDaniel’s knack for entertainment came at an early age. As a youngster, she was a part of her local church choir and would sing so much at home that McDaniel once said her mom would give her a nickel to get her to stop, per Vanity Fair.

Leaving Highschool To Pursue Her Dream

The future Oscar winner never completed high school as she dropped out to focus on her passion for performing. With her sister, Etta, McDaniel started an all-woman minstrel show called the McDaniel Sisters Company, according to her website. The shows challenged racism and stereotypes of Black female characters.

Career As A Blues Singer

While Hattie McDaniel is mainly known for her acting, she was also a pioneer in her music career. Before becoming a successful actress, McDaniel was the first Black woman to sing with an orchestra on the radio, according to the women’s history podcast “The History Chicks.”

Touring Across The United States

By 1929, McDaniel was touring the United States as part of the touring company of Florenz Ziegfeld, an American Broadway impresario. However, she lost her job after the stock market crash and took up a role cleaning in a Milwaukee nightclub. It would be there that McDaniel would stand in as a performer one night and blow the nightclub crowd away, earning her enough money to go to Hollywood, according to Vanity Fair.

Road To Hollywood

In 1931, McDaniel left the Milwaukee nightclub and headed straight to Los Angeles to break into the film industry. At first, she struggled to find work and did odd jobs as a maid to keep herself afloat, but she was able to get her big break after her brother got her a position on a radio program, according to the archive site Confinity.

First Major Role

Before McDaniel became famous for her role in “Gone With the Wind,” she first gained major recognition alongside Shirley Temple in the 1935 comedy film “The Little Colonel.”

Barred From The “Gone With The Wind” Premiere

Because of segregation laws in Atlanta, Hattie McDaniel was banned from the premiere of “Gone With the Wind” in 1939. Infuriated by this, her co-star and leading man of the film, Clark Gable, threatened to boycott unless McDaniel was allowed to attend. However, she convinced him to go without her, according to the Hattie McDaniel website.

Historic Oscar Win

In 1940, McDaniel made history by becoming the first Black person to win an Academy Award. In her speech, the award-winning actress said that she’d “sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry,” according to the Academy Awards.

Although she won the Oscar, McDaniel wasn’t allowed to sit alongside her co-stars during the ceremony. Instead, she sat at a small table against the back wall with her escort, F.P. Yober, and her agent, William Meiklejohn, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Faced Backlash For Her Career

Even after making history, McDaniel continued to be typecast as a “Mammy” character throughout the rest of her career and received backlash from civil rights activists for playing stereotypical roles, according to The Washington Post. Addressing the criticism she received, McDaniel responded that she’d rather earn $700 a week playing a maid than $7 being one.

Fight For Housing Rights

Hattie McDaniel didn’t only help to break barriers within the entertainment industry. In 1946, the actress led her Black neighbors in Los Angeles to a legal victory against white residents who sought to enforce covenants that would have forced them to lose their homes, according to the Nashville newspaper The Tennessean.

Died From Breast Cancer

Unfortunately, McDaniel died of breast cancer in 1952 at age 57. However, before her passing, McDaniel threw a “deathbed party” and gave specific instructions for how she’d like to be put to rest: with white gardenias in her hair and hands and a pillow of red roses, according to Oprah Daily.

Final Wish

Her final wishes included being buried in Hollywood Memorial Park, a famous burial place for movie stars. This wish was not fulfilled because of the cemetery’s “whites only” policy, according to the Hollywood Cemetery Guide. She was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles instead. However, in 1999, a memorial was placed in the cemetery to honor the actress.

Oscar Returned To Howard

Another one of McDaniel’s final wishes was to donate her Academy Award to Howard University. While her Oscar was given to the university, it went missing in the 1960s and the Academy did not send a replacement until 2023. The award now has a home in the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, according to Howard Magazine.

Missing Credits

Though McDaniel starred in over 300 films throughout her career, she has only been credited in 83. The Hattie McDaniel estate continues to fight for her recognition in various Hollywood projects, according to her site.