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Actress Hattie McDaniel turned the first African American to win an Academy Award on this day in historical past, Feb. 29, 1940.
McDaniel gained the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her position as Mammy in the movie “Gone With The Wind.”
In her acceptance speech, McDaniel stated it was “one of the happiest moments of my life.”
“I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of the awards for your kindness. It has made me feel very, very humble, and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future,” she stated.
McDaniel continued, “I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry. My heart is too full to tell you just how I feel. And may I say thank you and God bless you.”
Actress Hattie Mc Daniel gained the Academy Award for Best Supporting Role by an Actress on Feb. 29, 1940, at the twelfth Academy Awards. (Getty Images)
McDaniel was additionally an expert singer-songwriter, comic, stage actress, radio performer and TV star.
While McDaniel’s Oscars win was a historic first for the Academy, she virtually didn’t get to attend the ceremony.
The 1940 Academy Awards have been held at the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.
At the time, the resort was segregated and didn’t allow Black patrons.
Producer David O. Selznick needed to request a favor from the resort in order that McDaniel might attend the occasion.
Even so, she needed to sit in the again of the room, away from her co-stars, who have been seated up entrance, based on many sources.
McDaniel gained the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1940 for her portrayal of Mammy in “Gone with the Wind.” She’s seen right here with Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. McDaniel was the first Black American to win an Academy Award. The youngest of 13 youngsters, McDaniel was born to former slaves. (Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
In addition to McDaniel’s win for Best Supporting Actress, “Gone With the Wind” additionally gained Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress, Art Direction, Color Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, and Writing – Screenplay.
After McDaniel’s dying because of breast most cancers on Oct. 26, 1952, she left her Oscar plaque to Howard University’s theater division in Washington, D.C., based on the Associated Press.
UNEARTHED SHOOTING SCRIPT FROM ‘GONE WITH THE WIND’ SHOWS SCENES DEPICTING HORRORS OF SLAVERY
(The winners for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress didn’t obtain statuettes till 1943, and as a substitute have been awarded plaques, famous the publication.)
What follows, nonetheless, is a thriller: At some level in the late Nineteen Sixties or Nineteen Seventies, her award disappeared.
The location of the authentic award stays unknown to this day.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures issued a substitute award, pictured right here, after McDaniel’s authentic went lacking someday in the Nineteen Sixties or Nineteen Seventies. (Eric Lee for The Washington Post by way of Getty Images)
On Oct. 1, 2023, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures changed the award in a ceremony known as “Hattie’s Come Home.”
“The ceremony will celebrate the life and legacy of McDaniel, her historic Academy Award win, and reunite her Academy Award with Howard University as she originally intended,” stated a press launch from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences forward of the occasion.
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The Academy Award plaque is now stored at the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University.
McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one for her contributions to radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for movement photos at 1719 Vine Street, based on the iconic location.
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In 1975, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. In 2006, she turned the first Black Oscar winner honored with a U.S. postage stamp.
McDaniel was born on June 10, 1895, in Wichita, Kansas, to former slaves. She grew up in Denver, Colorado, the youngest of 13 youngsters.
This yr’s Oscars — the 96th Academy Awards — will happen on Sunday, March 10.
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