---
name: "Hattie McDaniel"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/hattie-mcdaniel"
fi1m_id: "hattie-mcdaniel"
imdb_id: "nm0567408"
tmdb_id: 11498
wikidata_id: "Q228904"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "10 June 1893"
died: "26 October 1952"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 68
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-09-25T02:09:04.917832+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Hattie McDaniel

## Identity

Hattie McDaniel

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/hattie-mcdaniel
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** hattie-mcdaniel
- **IMDb ID:** nm0567408
- **TMDB ID:** 11498
- **Wikidata ID:** Q228904
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228904, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567408/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11498

Actor. Born 10 June 1893 in Wichita, Kansas, USA. Died 26 October 1952.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 10 June 1893, Wichita, Kansas, USA
- **Died:** 26 October 1952
- **Active:** 1934–1944
- **Also known as:** Hattie McDaniels
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 acting, 1 other
- **Frequently works with:** [David O. Selznick](https://film.one/person/david-o-selznick.md)
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 68, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 72 (4), 1940s 63 (1)
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 3 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Drama 4, Romance 3, Comedy 1, War 1
- **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $403m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hattie_McDaniel, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q228904, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567408/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11498

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Gone with the Wind*](https://film.one/film/gone-with-the-wind.md) (74)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Hattie McDaniel

> Hollywood gave Hattie McDaniel one part, the maid who answers back, and she played it with more authority than the films deserved. In *Gone with the Wind* she alone never seems to be acting, and the film uses that to make slavery look kind.

Hattie McDaniel walks into a room, tells the white people in it what she thinks of them, and they listen. That was the part the studios had for her, and she played it in film after film through the 1930s and 1940s: the maid or the mammy who speaks her mind, gives advice nobody asked for and is usually right. In *Gone with the Wind* (1939) she gives Mammy a force the script does not extend to anyone else in service, and she does it largely by standing still and refusing to be hurried. Everyone else in the house is in a flap. She is not.

She came to films late and from the stage. There were family minstrel shows and vaudeville as a teenager, then singing on the radio in Denver, then Los Angeles and a screen debut in 1932 in the small maid parts that were the only ones on offer to a Black woman. John Ford's *Judge Priest* (1934) got her noticed as Aunt Dilsey, and *Alice Adams* (1935) let her be funny. She auditioned for Mammy in a real maid's uniform and said afterwards that she had tried to make the woman live as she appeared to her in the book. After 1939 the parts did not change, only the billing: *Song of the South* (1946), three films alongside Clark Gable, and from 1947 the lead in *Beulah* on radio, one of the first times a Black performer had carried a mainstream programme.

What works is the authority, and it is also the problem. Our review of *Gone with the Wind* found Mammy given real force, and we stand by it: watching the film again, she was the one person at Tara we believed, and we were uneasy at how much the film needs us to. The writing treats her service as a reassuring part of the social order, and her conviction is exactly what makes that order look benign. A lesser actor would have let the film off the hook. She made it worse by being good.

She knew the argument. Some Black commentators of her day, the NAACP among them, said the parts kept the mammy stereotype alive and closed doors for the performers who came after, and she answered that she had never apologised for the roles and that, as she liked to put it, "I'd rather play a maid than be one." Both sides were right, which is what made it painful then and makes it painful now.

See *Gone with the Wind* for Vivien Leigh, as we said, but watch McDaniel too, and watch what the film does with her. Nobody in 1939 wrote her a part her size. She played the one she was given as though it were.

## Biography

Hattie McDaniel was an American actress and singer. She began performing in minstrel shows and on radio in the 1910s and 1920s before making her film debut in *The Golden West* (1932). She appeared in dozens of films, frequently in supporting roles as maids or servants.

McDaniel's portrayal of Mammy in *Gone with the Wind* (1939) won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1940, the first Oscar awarded to an African American performer. She later starred as the title character in the radio series *The Beulah Show* (1947–51) and its television adaptation.

*Sources: britannica.com, biography.com, en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Performed in (4) — the average rests on these

- *Since You Went Away* (1944), Fi1m 63, as Fidelia — [page](https://film.one/film/since-you-went-away.md)
- *Gone with the Wind* (1939), Fi1m 74, as Mammy — [page](https://film.one/film/gone-with-the-wind.md)
- *Alice Adams* (1935), Fi1m 79, as Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner — [page](https://film.one/film/alice-adams.md)
- *Judge Priest* (1934), Fi1m 58, as Aunt Dilsey — [page](https://film.one/film/judge-priest.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Libeled Lady* (1936), Fi1m 77, as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/libeled-lady.md)

## Complete filmography (94)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *1939: Secrets of Hollywood's Golden Year* (2023), series, Actor
- *Becoming Marilyn* (2022), as (archive footage)
- *The Little Rascals - The ClassicFlix Restorations, Volume 5* (2022), Actor
- *Musical Comedy Tonight III* (1985), Actor
- *The Beulah Show* (1950), series, as Beulah
- *The Big Wheel* (1949), as Minnie
- *Family Honeymoon* (1948), as Phyllis
- *Mickey* (1948), as Bertha
- *The Flame* (1947), as Celia
- *Song of the South* (1946), as Aunt Tempy
- *Never Say Goodbye* (1946), as Cozy
- *Margie* (1946), as Cynthia
- *Janie Gets Married* (1946), as April
- *Hi, Beautiful* (1944), as Millie
- *3 Is a Family* (1944), as Maid
- *Janie* (1944), as April, Conway's Maid
- *Since You Went Away* (1944), as Fidelia — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/since-you-went-away.md)
- *Thank Your Lucky Stars* (1943), as Gossip in "Ice Cold Katie" Number
- *Johnny Come Lately* (1943), as Aida
- *George Washington Slept Here* (1942), as Hester
- *In This Our Life* (1942), as Minerva Clay
- *The Male Animal* (1942), as Cleota
- *They Died with Their Boots On* (1941), as Callie
- *Affectionately Yours* (1941), as Cynthia, Sue's Cook
- *The Great Lie* (1941), as Violet
- *Maryland* (1940), as Aunt Carrie
- *Gone with the Wind* (1939), as Mammy — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/gone-with-the-wind.md)
- *Zenobia* (1939), as Dehlia
- *Everybody's Baby* (1939), as Hattie
- *The Shining Hour* (1938), as Belvedere
- *The Mad Miss Manton* (1938), as Hilda
- *Carefree* (1938), as Hattie (uncredited)
- *The Shopworn Angel* (1938), as Martha
- *Vivacious Lady* (1938), as Hattie (uncredited)
- *Battle of Broadway* (1938), as Agatha
- *True Confession* (1937), as Ella
- *Quick Money* (1937), as Hattie (uncredited)
- *45 Fathers* (1937), as Beulah
- *Nothing Sacred* (1937), as Mrs. Walker (uncredited)
- *Merry Go Round of 1938* (1937), as Maid
- *Over the Goal* (1937), as Hannah
- *Sky Racket* (1937), as Jenny
- *Saratoga* (1937), as Rosetta
- *Mississippi Moods* (1937), Actor
- *The Wildcatter* (1937), as Pearl (uncredited)
- *The Crime Nobody Saw* (1937), as Ambrosia
- *Don't Tell the Wife* (1937), as Mamie (uncredited)
- *Racing Lady* (1937), as Abby
- *Reunion* (1936), as Sadie
- *Can This Be Dixie?* (1936), as Lizzie
- *Libeled Lady* (1936), as Scrubwoman in Grand Plaza Hall (uncredited) — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/libeled-lady.md)
- *Valiant Is the Word for Carrie* (1936), as Ellen Belle
- *Star for a Night* (1936), as Hattie
- *Postal Inspector* (1936), as Deborah
- *The Bride Walks Out* (1936), as Mamie
- *High Tension* (1936), as Hattie
- *Show Boat* (1936), as Queenie
- *Arbor Day* (1936), as Buckwheat's Mother (uncredited)
- *The Singing Kid* (1936), as Maid (uncredited)
- *Gentle Julia* (1936), as Kitty Silvers
- *The First Baby* (1936), as Dora
- *We're Only Human* (1935), as Molly
- *Another Face* (1935), as Nellie (uncredited)
- *Music Is Magic* (1935), as Hattie (Amanda in credits)
- *Murder by Television* (1935), as Isabella
- *Alice Adams* (1935), as Malena Burns - Maid Serving Dinner — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/alice-adams.md)
- *China Seas* (1935), as Isabel McCarthy, Dolly's Maid (uncredited)
- *Wig-Wag* (1935), as Cook
- *Traveling Saleslady* (1935), as Martha Smith (uncredited)
- *Anniversary Trouble* (1935), as Maid
- *The Little Colonel* (1935), as Becky "Mom Beck" Porter
- *Okay Toots!* (1935), as Maid (uncredited)
- *The Chases of Pimple Street* (1934), as Hattie - Gertrude's Maid (uncredited)
- *Babbitt* (1934), as Rosalie (uncredited)
- *Imitation of Life* (1934), as Woman at Funeral (uncredited)
- *Fate's Fathead* (1934), as Mandy - the Maid
- *Lost in the Stratosphere* (1934), as Ida Johnson
- *Flirtation* (1934), as Abigail (uncredited)
- *Judge Priest* (1934), as Aunt Dilsey — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/judge-priest.md)
- *King Kelly of the U.S.A.* (1934), as Mop Buyer
- *Operator 13* (1934), as Annie (uncredited)
- *City Park* (1934), as Tessie
- *Merry Wives of Reno* (1934), as Bunny's Maid (uncredited)
- *Mickey's Rescue* (1934), as Maid
- *Good-bye Love* (1933), as Edna the Maid
- *I'm No Angel* (1933), as Manicurist (uncredited)
- *Hello, Sister!* (1933), as Woman in Apartment House
- *Hypnotized* (1932), as Powder Room Attendant
- *The Golden West* (1932), as Mammy Lou
- *Blonde Venus* (1932), as Cora, Helen's Maid in New Orleans (uncredited)
- *The Boiling Point* (1932), as Caroline - the Cook (uncredited)
- *The Washington Masquerade* (1932), as Maid (uncredited)
- *Are You Listening?* (1932), as Performer entering radio station
- *The Impatient Maiden* (1932), as Injured Patient (uncredited)

## Gallery

- ![Hattie McDaniel](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-5c5f41d44a9a.jpg) Hattie McDaniel — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Studio_publicity_Hattie_McDaniel.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Hattie McDaniel leading entertainers from her Los Angeles home to Minter Field for a performance for World War II soldiers in 1942. McDaniel (center), in front ](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-69eeea46f2b2.jpg) Hattie McDaniel leading entertainers from her Los Angeles home to Minter Field for a performance for World War II soldiers in 1942. McDaniel (center), in front  — Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/%22Hattie_McDaniel_%28center%29%2C_Chairman_of_the_Negro_Division_of_the_Hollywood_Victory_Committee%2C_takes_time_off_from_rehear_-_NARA_-_535875.jpg/1280px-%22Hattie_McDaniel_%28center%29%2C_Chairman_of_the_Negro_Division_of_the_Hollywood_Victory_Committee%2C_takes_time_off_from_rehear_-_NARA_-_535875.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Publicity photo for Gone with the Wind, 1939](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-ccbc56093ac2.jpg) Publicity photo for Gone with the Wind, 1939 — Selznick International Pictures; Fred Parrish, photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Gone_With_The_Wind_featuring_McDaniel_%26_de_Havilland_%26_Leigh.jpg/1280px-Gone_With_The_Wind_featuring_McDaniel_%26_de_Havilland_%26_Leigh.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Academy Award winning actress Hattie McDaniel at her dressing table mirror in Los Angeles, California on February 11, 1940](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-ece82983362c.jpg) Academy Award winning actress Hattie McDaniel at her dressing table mirror in Los Angeles, California on February 11, 1940 — Los Angeles Times, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/HattieMcDaniel1940.jpg/1280px-HattieMcDaniel1940.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Hattie McDaniel](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-7eb887b17e92.jpg) Hattie McDaniel — Image via TMDB
- ![Hattie McDaniel](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-31ba976ebecf.jpg) Hattie McDaniel — Image via TMDB
- ![Photo of Hattie McDaniel as Beulah from the radio program of the same name. The original role was voiced by actor en:Marlin Hurt. Shortly after his sudden death (1951)](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-bdfecdeb9038.jpg) Photo of Hattie McDaniel as Beulah from the radio program of the same name. The original role was voiced by actor en:Marlin Hurt. Shortly after his sudden death (1951) — CBS Radio, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Hattie_McDaniel_Beulah_1951.jpg/1280px-Hattie_McDaniel_Beulah_1951.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Actress Hattie McDaniel at her dressing table mirror (1940)](https://film.one/media/person/103501/gallery-723cbabec927.jpg) Actress Hattie McDaniel at her dressing table mirror (1940) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Hattie_McDaniel_at_her_dressing_table_mirror.jpg/1280px-Hattie_McDaniel_at_her_dressing_table_mirror.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1940: Best Supporting Actress (won), for *Gone with the Wind*

### Other awards — 2 won

- Colorado Women's Hall of Fame 2010: Colorado Women's Hall of Fame (won)
- Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame 1975: Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/hattie-mcdaniel