McDaniel, Hattie

By: Monique M. Chism

Source:

 Black Women in America, Second Edition

McDaniel, Hattie

Sex:  Female

Born:  Wichita, Kansas, United States
10 June 1895

Died:  Woodland Hills, California, United States, Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital
26 October 1952

Activity/Profession:  Stage / Screen Actor, Blues Musician / Singer, Radio Actor

(b. 10 June 1895; d. 26 October 1952),
actress.

A woman of strong character, committed to the uplift of the black community, and willing to fight for the causes she believed in, Hattie McDaniel is best remembered for her Academy Award–winning performance as Mammy in the 1939 production of Gone With the Wind. McDaniel was the first African American to win this distinguished honor; in fact, her career included many notable firsts in vaudeville, radio, and film. In many respects, her life exemplified the burden an individual is faced with when called upon to represent an entire race of people. While McDaniel was celebrated for her Hollywood success, she was just as often criticized for taking roles that perpetuated racist stereotypes of African Americans. Although her portrayal as subservient maids may have infuriated some black activists, she knew how to pick her battles and contributed to the fight for equal rights on many fronts, often without public recognition.

Early Life and Career

McDaniel was born in Wichita, Kansas, the youngest of thirteen children. While McDaniel loved both of her parents, she particularly admired her father, Henry McDaniel, and his work ethic, and wanted to fulfill his wish that none of his children work as domestics. Also, through her father, once a performer in minstrel shows, McDaniel was exposed to “show business.” She loved every aspect of performing—it connected her to her family, her creativity, and in a sense was all that she knew.

Hattie McDaniel, c. 1940s. At the left is Walter Francis White, a leader of the NAACP.

Library of Congress

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Despite the racial climate of the United States, coming of age during this time was also filled with hope and belief in new opportunity. Although there were still forms of discrimination in Denver, where the McDaniels made their home, social conditions were much different than those in the South. Though McDaniel was one of two black children to attend the predominately white elementary and high school, she was loved by her teachers and classmates. In fact, her teacher, Louise Poirson, often permitted her to sing and recite poetry to the class. Throughout high school, she continued to work on her theatrical skills. As early as 1908, when she was only thirteen, she was billed in J. M. Johnson's “Mighty Modern Minstrels,” a minstrel show that included her sister Etta and brothers Otis and Samuel. At fifteen, McDaniel competed in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union oratorical competition. Her recitation of “Convict Joe,” a story about a wayward drunk, earned her the gold medal.

Around 1910 McDaniel's father formed the “Henry McDaniel Minstrel Show,” which performed all over Colorado. At first, her mother did not allow her to travel with the group because of the risks involved. Determined to pursue her heart's desire, McDaniel left school her sophomore year and convinced her mother to let her travel. During this time, she toured with a number of minstrel groups, often writing many of the songs. When Hattie's brother Otis died in 1916 at the age of thirty-five, the family show experienced some difficulty, forcing McDaniel to take domestic work to help pay the bills. In 1920 she joined Professor George Morrison and his “Melody Hounds.” Morrison was a well-known musician in Denver and offered McDaniel the exposure and opportunities she needed to advance her career. While traveling with the Morrison Orchestra, she was billed as the female Bert Williams, an internationally known vaudeville performer. In 1922, just as her career was flourishing, McDaniel experienced two great losses: her father died at the age of eighty-two and her husband, George Langford, to whom she had been married for only three months, was shot and killed.

The beginning of the 1920s also marked the great broadcasting boom throughout the nation. The necessity of advanced technology during World War I had improved radio capabilities and stations were popping up all over the nation. On 15 December 1924, the radio station KOA in Denver aired its first broadcast, marking the beginning of McDaniel's extended radio career. McDaniel was the first black person to sing at the station, making her one of the first, if not the first, black person to sing on radio in the nation. Her radio successes led to extensive travel on the black entertainment circuit. McDaniel was booked as a blues singer, primarily through the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA), which helped launch the careers of Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, and many others. The organization was also well known for cheating their entertainers out of their earnings, which meant that McDaniel often had little money and was not guaranteed housing.

The TOBA run ended, as did the roaring twenties, in 1929, when the stock market crashed. McDaniel was stuck in Chicago with no job and decided to head for Milwaukee on the chance that she might find work at Sam Pick's Club Madrid. Indeed, she was hired, but only as a ladies room attendant. She earned one dollar per week plus tips. However, during one slow night and at the encouragement of patrons who had heard her sing in the ladies room, McDaniel was given the opportunity to sing at the establishment, which booked only white performers. Her show-stopping performance, singing “St. Louis Blues,” earned her $90.36 in tips, as well as a regular booking.

However, the Depression brought an end to the club's prosperity. In 1931, with twenty dollars in her pocket, McDaniel joined her sister Etta and brother Sam in Los Angeles. Her brother was able to get her a part on KNX's The Optimistic Do-Nut Hour, where McDaniel had immediate success and soon became known as “Hi-Hat Hattie,” a name given to her when she showed up for the first broadcast in formal evening wear. In 1932 McDaniel made her first movie appearance in Fox's The Golden West, in which she played a house servant. This was the first of over three hundred film appearances, for which in the beginning she earned just five dollars per film.

African Americans first began appearing on screen around 1898; however, the depictions mostly fell in line with the racial stereotypes of the day. Blacks were portrayed as chicken thieves, venal preachers, and savages to be feared. Most memorable, perhaps, was D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, in which the black men were presented as murderous tormenters out to defile white southern womanhood. It was, in part, as an effort to curtail the negative images coming out of Hollywood that the black cinema emerged. There were several noble production attempts early on, but things did not take off until after World War I. The films gave their audiences success stories, adventures, and dramas illustrating a variety of issues within the black community. While independent black artists persisted, blacks in mainstream Hollywood were still mostly restricted to playing servants.

In 1935 McDaniel appeared in Fox's The Little Colonel as Mom Beck. The movie starred Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore and was criticized for implying that blacks wanted to return to the “comforts of slavery,” where they were supposedly happier and economically stable. For McDaniel, the film marked the beginning of tension between her and black activists, critical of Hollywood for its inaccurate, stereotypical, and racist depictions of black people. That same year, McDaniel appeared in RKO's Alice Adams, in which she played Malena Burns, a sassy servant. This portrayal produced a great deal of resistance from white southerners who were more accustomed to seeing black domestics as docile and submissive. White southern patrons pressured film- makers to conform to these stereotypical portrayals of blacks and threatened to boycott any film that did not comply with their expectation.

The conversations around the characters McDaniel portrayed were much bigger than the roles she took; she was caught in the middle of an ideological and political debate that would not soon end. In this climate of racial unrest, she was charged with the challenge of mending race relations in America, a daunting task for anyone, let alone one who was just beginning to make a name for herself as an actress. McDaniel defended her right to choose her roles, noting that many of her characters had shown themselves equal to their white employers. She often responded to criticisms by saying “I would rather play a maid and make $700 a week than be a maid for $7.”

Gone with the Wind

McDaniel's big break came when she was cast in David O. Selznick's Gone with the Wind, an adaptation of Margaret Mitchell's best-selling novel. From the beginning, there was no doubt that the movie would be a success. McDaniel won the role over several other talented actresses, signing a contract with Selznick for $450.00 per week. Arguments ensued immediately about the depiction of blacks in the upcoming movie. McDaniel was direct with Selznick and joined others in voicing her concern about racist language in the script. Selznick decided to leave in “darkie” but compromised by removing the word “nigger.” This was a major accomplishment for McDaniel and the others, given the situation. On the set, McDaniel personified her character, and her performances often overwhelmed her fellow cast members. Everyone speculated that she would be a sure candidate for an Academy Award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agreed. She was nominated for and won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal of Mammy in 1940, beating her co-star Olivia de Havilland. McDaniel's win made her the first black person ever to receive an award from the academy since its inception in 1916.

Despite her popularity and newfound celebrity status, McDaniel was unable to escape the perils of a racist society. In fact, she had a double burden to bear. She faced a daily battle for respect, fair housing, equal pay, and equality, which mirrored the experiences of black Americans all over the nation. In addition, she faced the emotionally trying challenge of fighting off criticism from leaders in the black community, who asserted that her work hindered the progress of black Americans by perpetuating racist stereotypes. Her strongest critic was Walter White, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). McDaniel and other actors under attack formed their own group, the Fair Play Committee (FPC), which focused on the battles they had won in Hollywood. Nevertheless, McDaniel took the criticism to heart and was often perplexed by the complexity of the issue.

Activities During World War I and Later

Although one would not readily identify her as a social activist, McDaniel led quietly by example. During World War II, she was a captain in the American Women's Volunteer Service, and she headed a black subcommittee of the Hollywood Victory Committee, which raised funds so that black soldiers could enjoy performances. In addition, she sold war bonds to help raise money for the war effort. Perhaps more importantly, McDaniel was involved with a court case that had a substantial affect on fair housing policies for black Americans. In 1942 McDaniel moved into a thirty-two-room mansion in a predominantly white West Adams neighborhood known as “Sugar Hill.” In 1945, an association of white property owners sought to enforce a code of restrictive covenants, a residential deed that designated neighborhoods as “white only” or limited the number of houses that could be sold to minorities. Enforcement of such a statute would have meant that McDaniel could be evicted from her home. A total of fifty defendants, including neighbors Ethel Waters and Louise Beavers, fought the action, and on 6 December 1945 the judge ruled in favor of the defendants, citing the rights of full citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. This important ruling set the precedent for the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court case, Shelly v. Kraemer, which declared restrictive covenants unconstitutional.

On 24 November 1947, McDaniel made history again when she was named star of the CBS radio production of The Beulah Show, which was about a black maid and the white family she worked for. The show had been on the air for a number of years, but white male actors had played Beulah. McDaniel became the first black person to star in a radio program intended for a general audience. However, before she signed the contract, she insisted on being allowed to alter any script that she did not like and refused to speak in dialect. Producers readily agreed to her conditions. Ratings soared, and it is estimated that over seven million listeners heard the show each weeknight. This number grew to approximately fifteen million by the time the program ended its run. In 1950, the show continued to air on radio and also ventured into the realm of television. While McDaniel continued starring in the radio version, Ethel Waters was cast for the television show. However, in 1951, by popular demand, McDaniel starred in the radio version and filmed six episodes for television. When a health condition forced her to stop, Louise Beavers replaced her, followed by Lillian Randolph. The six shows she filmed were never broadcast.

While McDaniel's career soared, her personal life was plagued with disappointment and failed relationships. Beleaguered by the stresses of Hollywood, criticism from leaders in the black community, court cases, and four failed marriages, McDaniel was constantly in search of happiness and unconditional love. Thus, in 1944, while still married to Lloyd Crawford, her third husband, she was ecstatic to find out that she was pregnant, and publicly declared her excitement, only to find out that doctors had misread her condition. The news sent her into a deep depression that culminated in 1949, when she tried to end her life with a bottle of sleeping pills. Only a timely visit from a friend saved her life.

Soon thereafter McDaniel's physical health began to deteriorate after she suffered a series of strokes and heart attacks and to further complicate matters, in 1952, doctors diagnosed her with breast cancer. Perhaps sensing that the end was near, with the help of her friend and secretary Ruby Goodwin, she began to sell her belongings, donating memorabilia such as her Oscar to Howard University. After she sold her house, she moved into the Motion Picture Home and Hospital, a building she had helped dedicate just a year earlier. She was the first black resident.

At the age of fifty-seven, McDaniel passed away. Her funeral six days later was a spectacular Hollywood homecoming. More than five thousand people arrived for the service, and the procession included 125 limousines. In her will, McDaniel asked to be buried at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, but her request was not honored because the cemetery did not accept blacks. Despite protest by some, she was buried in the Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery, another facility that had previously been reserved for whites. Fifty years after her death, the new owner of the Hollywood cemetery, renamed Hollywood Forever, installed a memorial to recognize her.

Throughout McDaniel's forty-five-year span as an entertainer, she bridged many gaps and opened a number of doors for black performers that came after her. She started from humble beginnings, with a natural talent and drive to achieve her dream. The road to stardom was difficult; however, after she gained her due respect from the industry, she was able to voice her concerns and help change the negative stereotypes that permeated the film and radio industry.

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