Hattie McDaniel becomes first African American actress to win Oscar

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by Victoria Villanueva2 views·Updated Dec 8, 2020
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  1. we interrupt this program tonight with breaking news.
  2. Heady. McDaniel has become the first African American actress to
  3. win an Oscar.
  4. Gone With the Wind is honored with eight Oscars by
  5. the American Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts and Sciences,
  6. an epic Southern romance.
  7. The Hard Times of Civil War.
  8. The movie has swept the prestigious best picture director screenplay,
  9. our film editing actress categories.
  10. How do you?
  11. McDaniel's career has nothing, nothing, nothing at all to do
  12. with anyone else than her.
  13. She has done everything in her power to keep moving.
  14. Thio Keep pushing to succeed before we take you Live
  15. to the Oscars tonight.
  16. Let's see a little bit about how to McDaniel before
  17. fame. She is famous for her mammy portrayal.
  18. She's the youngest daughter of two formerly enslaved parents.
  19. Hattie McDaniel was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 18 93.
  20. At a very young age, she would love the performing
  21. arts. She always followed her brother around.
  22. He was a performer as well.
  23. She worked as a songwriter for her brother, Otis McDaniel.
  24. During the Great Depression.
  25. The Onley job she could find was working at a
  26. washroom at Sam's Pick Club Madrid, near Milwaukee.
  27. Right here, Despite being attendant, McDaniel bugged and bugged him
  28. toe let her get on stage.
  29. Of course, he's hesitant, but the owner eventually gave in
  30. and probably was the best thing that he ever did.
  31. She soon became a regular at the club.
  32. She eventually moved to Los Angeles to be with her
  33. siblings, but the conditions that she had trying to be
  34. an artistic career or crappy she couldn't provide for herself.
  35. So in order for her toe to get financial stability,
  36. McDaniels had to work as a cook or a maid.
  37. Finally, her brother Sam was working on a radio program
  38. at the time.
  39. He helped had to get another shot at business.
  40. High hat.
  41. Hattie was a bossy made that forgot her place.
  42. That fits Hattie.
  43. For sure.
  44. Her show became so popular.
  45. But despite all the success, Prejudice did not let her
  46. make money.
  47. And unfortunately, even though she wanted to continue with the
  48. films, she was always going to be the mate.
  49. She took it and she ran with it.
  50. She played in the Golden West in 1932 she played
  51. in I'm No Angel, starring Mae West, and, of course
  52. she had all these other appearances, but there are uncredited
  53. because no one wanted to credit someone that was African
  54. American. However, she kept pushing.
  55. She kept wanting it.
  56. Her big break came in 1934 when she joined the
  57. Screen Actors Guild, attracting ah larger credited film roles.
  58. That very year, she got John Ford's judge Priest, starring
  59. Will Rogers McDaniel.
  60. Stunning duet with Rogers demonstrated her singing talents, and her
  61. and Rogers hit it off and became friends like no
  62. other. She earned a contract with Fox Film Corporation, and
  63. she appeared in The Little Colonel with Shirley Temple, Bilbo
  64. jingles and Lionel Barrymore before she would get into the
  65. film that would just break her out of everything and
  66. give her the Oscar that she has today.
  67. She played the sassy maid in several other films in
  68. the mid to late thirties, but despite all of that,
  69. everybody else doubting her, you would think her own kind
  70. wouldn't. But the black community definitely had something to say.
  71. They didn't want her to play the maid, and her
  72. response was, I'd rather play a maid and make $700
  73. a week being made and make $7 now that right
  74. there is what you call perseverance, not letting anyone stop
  75. you. And because she did that the highlight of her
  76. film career came when she played the highly sought after
  77. Mary role and gone with the wind.
  78. Now sending you live to the Oscars, How did McDaniel