Hattie McDaniel Wins Oscar: First Black Academy Award Winner
Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress on February 29, 1940. She wasn't allowed to sit with her cast at the ceremony. The Ambassador Hotel was whites-only. David O. Selznick had to petition the Academy just to get her a table at the back of the room, against the wall. She wore gardenias and gave a two-minute speech thanking the Academy for recognizing her work. The next Black performer wouldn't win for twenty-four years. And the role she won for? A enslaved woman written by white screenwriters who softened the novel's racism. She defended taking it: "I'd rather play a maid and make $700 a week than be one for $7.
February 29, 1940
86 years ago
Key Figures & Places
African American
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Academy Awards
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Gone with the Wind (film)
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Hattie McDaniel
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Academy Award
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African American
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Film
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Gone with the Wind (film)
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Hattie McDaniel
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12th Academy Awards
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Titanic (1997 film)
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Ben-Hur (film, 1959)
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