Life Of Oscar-Winning Actress Hattie McDaniel Recounted In American Movie Classics Original Film Hosted By Whoopi Goldberg

Jet, July 23, 2001

The legacy of pioneering actress Hattie McDaniel is recalled when American Movie Classics delves into her life in the film Beyond Tara, The Extraordinary Life Of Hattie McDaniel.

McDaniel made movie history when she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mammy the maid in Gone With The Wind in 1939. She was the first Black to ever win the prestigious honor. She later became a star of "The Beulah Show."

The one-hour special shows the struggles and triumphs of how McDaniel, in spite of racism and adversity, knocked down the doors of Hollywood and made her presence known.

Whoopi Goldberg, who 51 years later became the only other Black female to earn an Oscar, hosts the special, slated to air August 7.

McDaniel toured with some of the most prestigious minstrel and vaudeville shows in the country until the onset of the Depression. During the post-Depression era, she moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles to seek work. It wasn't long before Hollywood took notice of her talents; unfortunately, the racial climate forced McDaniel and other Blacks to take on roles that depicted Blacks in a negative light.

And while McDaniel helped to kick in doors for other Black women in Hollywood, she still faced harsh criticism at the height of her success from Blacks who viewed her work as perpetuating negative stereotypes.

The special explores how McDaniel evolved, not just as an actress, but also as a Black woman in Hollywood who embraced herself and her culture through film, radio and television.