Maybe it was mentioned
in the “too white” Oscar flub-a-dub, but I’ll just rack ‘em up one more time
for Hattie McDaniel.
If you’re asking
“Who’s Hattie McDaniel?” you’re not a Gone
With The Wind fan.
Hattie McDaniel
(1895-1957) was “Mammy” in that remarkably durable romantic swashbuckler.
She also was the first
black thespian to earn an Oscar. She took Best Supporting Actress in 1940, one
of the eight Oscars awarded to Gone With
The Wind.
Hattie had many
talents. She sang in traveling minstrel groups as a teenager, and was one of
the first black women to be a radio singer in the U. S. She started doing films
in 1932, and played the roles of maids and cooks in almost 40 films in the
1930s, capping that run with her memorable role as a house slave, opposite Clark
Gable and Vivien Leigh.
Hattie’s portrayal of
stereotypical black servants was criticized in some quarters, but she shrugged
that off, saying she’d rather play a maid than be one.
Too bad it’s too late
to say “You go, girl!”
p.s. my trusted personal advisor notes
that Hattie—the only black person who was sitting down at the Oscar awards
ceremony—wasn’t seated at one of the banquet tables with the white folks, she
sat with her escort at a small round table near the kitchen door. Oh yeah,
another thing: Clark Gable had intended to escort Hattie to the premiere of Gone With The Wind in Atlanta, but he
was waved off—neither Hattie nor any other black person was allowed to attend
the film showing.
Homework....think again....
Homework....think again....
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2016
All rights reserved.
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