McDaniel, Hattie
1893-1952 · Contribution: 1940
Actress & Singer
First African American to win an Academy Award, for her supporting role in 'Gone with the Wind'
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1893
- Active since
- 1940
- Category
- Arts, Music & Entertainment Tech
- Best known for
- First Black Academy Award winner"Gone with the Wind"Segregated at her own ceremony
Impact on the world
McDaniel broke Hollywood's highest barrier while enduring its segregation in the very room where she made history. Her win opened a door that took decades to widen.
An alternative history
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Sources
- Source lookupFind
Ebony (Oscars Guide)
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Related visionaries
Dandridge, Dorothy Jean
1922-1965
First African American nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for 1954's 'Carmen Jones'; Hollywood's first full-fledged Black movie star
Waters, Ethel
1896-1977
First African American to star in her own television show in 1939; first African American woman nominated for a Primetime Emmy; second African American ever nominated for an Academy Award
Goldberg, Whoopi
1955-
Second Black performer, and second Black woman, to win an Academy Award, for 'Ghost' in 1991, fifty years after Hattie McDaniel's win
Poitier, Sidney
1927-2022
First Black actor to win the Academy Award for Best Actor