Trivia

Was the first African-American to win an Academy Award. She won as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role of Mammy in Lo que el viento se llevó (1939). She became the first African-American to attend the Academy Awards as a guest, not a servant.

When black actors and actresses couldn't find a decent place to stay in Los Angeles, Hattie opened her doors to them at her home.

Despite the fact Clark Gable played a joke on her during the filming of Lo que el viento se llevó (1939) (he put real brandy in the decanter instead of iced tea during the Bonnie Blue birth celebration scene), McDaniel and Gable were good friends. Gable later threatened to boycott the premiere in Atlanta because McDaniel was not invited, but later relented when she convinced him to go.

Attacked by the NAACP during her career for appearing in negative, stereotyped servile roles, Hattie strongly and proudly stated that she did the best she could. She went on to state that she worked not only for herself but thought she was working for future generations of African-Americans as well. She always hoped people would come around and understand what she had to go through in Hollywood and was extremely hurt at the way she was treated, for the roles she couldn't get, and how the NAACP kept pushing the image of Lena Horne on her.

The human "Mammy" character in the Tom+Jerry Cartoons was based on her. This human supporting character was best remembered for shouting "THOMAS" very loudly.

47 years after her death, has been memorialized by a pink-and-gray granite monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Her wish to be buried in Hollywood at her death in 1952 was denied amid the racism of the era. (1999)

Her father was a slave, who was eventually freed.

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard and for Motion Pictures at 1719 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Despite her substantial salaries for her various roles, her estate was valued at less than $10,000 when her will was made public. She left her last husband, Larry Williams, only $1.

She willed her Oscar to Howard University, but the Oscar was lost during the race riots at Howard during the 1960s. It has never been found.

When the date of the Atlanta premiere of Lo que el viento se llevó (1939) approached, McDaniel told director Victor Fleming she would not be able to make it, when in actuality she did not want to cause trouble due to the virulent racism that was rampant in Atlanta at the time.

Lived in a middle class African American section of Los Angeles coined "Sugar Hill".

Pictured on a USA 39¢ commemorative postage stamp in the Black Heritage series, issued 25 January 2006.

Is one of 7 African-American actresses to receive the Academy Award. The others, in chronological order, are Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost, la sombra del amor (1990), Halle Berry for El pasado nos condena (2001), Jennifer Hudson for Soñadoras (2006), Mo'Nique for Precious (2009), Octavia Spencer for Historias cruzadas (2011) and Viola Davis for Barreras (2016).

Was referenced in both George Clooney and Mo'Nique's Oscar acceptance speeches.

Hattie's controversial career was examined in the AMC-TV documentary Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel (2001) hosted by Whoopi Goldberg.

Arguably the first African-American woman to sing on radio (1915, with Professor George Morrison's Negro Orchestra, Denver, CO); first African-American to be buried in Los Angeles' Rosedale Cemetery

Although her gravestone at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles and her memorial cenotaph at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery show 1895 as her year of birth, Kansas census records for her household dated March 1st, 1895 show her age as 2, confirming that the year on her funerary markers is incorrect.

A huge vaudeville star in her day as a singer and dancer.

She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Imitation of Life (1934), Show Boat (1936), and Lo que el viento se llevó (1939).

Sister of actress Etta McDaniel.

Sister of Sam McDaniel.

Was the 13th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Lo que el viento se llevó (1939) at The 12th Academy Awards on February 29, 1940.

McDaniel and Louise Beavers, both of whom played the title character Beulah (1950) in the 1950s TV series, died ten years apart on October 26th.

Appeared in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: Imitation of Life (1934), La mujer que supo amar (1935), Los enredos de una dama (1936), and Lo que el viento se llevó (1939), with Gone with the Wind winning in the category.

Is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated.

Her Academy Award was presented by Fay Bainter.

Profiled in book "Funny Ladies" by Stephen Silverman. (1999)

McDaniel played the lead on the radio show "Beulah" from 1947 to 1952. She also starred in six TV episodes of Beulah (1950) when it was transferred to the small screen until, due to her diagnosis of breast cancer, Ethel Waters took over the "Beulah" role and reportedly hated the job.

Is one of 14 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar; she won for Lo que el viento se llevó (1939). The others are Teresa Wright for Rosa de abolengo (1942), Celeste Holm for La luz es para todos (1947), Mercedes McCambridge for Decepción (1949), Donna Reed for De aquí a la eternidad (1953), Eva Marie Saint for Nido de ratas (1954), Rita Moreno for Amor sin barreras (1961), Meryl Streep for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Juliette Binoche for El paciente inglés (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare apasionado (1998), Jennifer Connelly for Una mente brillante (2001), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002), Lupita Nyong'o for 12 años esclavo (2013), and Jamie Lee Curtis for Todo En Todas Partes Al Mismo Tiempo (2022).

Biography in "Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties" by Axel Nissen.

She had a one-time intimate affair with actress Tallulah Bankhead, according to chronicler of the Hollywood underground Kenneth Anger.

Her father was a Civil War veteran.

Her brothers Sam McDaniel and Otis were entertainers. Sam performed with a circus band. Otis was a Denver-based magician.

Her mother Susan gave birth to thirteen children; only seven survived.

After marrying pianist Howard Hickman she formed an all-female minstrel group.

Starting in 1908 Hattie and her brothers, Sam and Otis, performed with the J.M. Johnson's Mighty Minstrels.