by Sarah Todd

Created on: July 29, 2008

Almost seventy years after its release "Gone with the Wind" is still regarded as a classic film, an epic story of the American Civil War. It still regularly features as one of the top films of all time, and has sold more tickets than any other film. It also won ten Academy Awards, a record that stood for twenty years.

One of those awards made history for a very different reason. Hattie McDaniel became the first African-American performer to win an Academy Award, for her portrayal of Scarlett's feisty maid. McDaniel was the first African-American performer to ever receive a nomination, and when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she delivered a heartfelt speech, saying she felt "very, very humble; and I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything that I may be able to do in the future. 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."

Few people realised the obstacles McDaniel had faced on the road to Oscar glory. Her friend Clark Gable recommended her, but Eleanor Roosevelt had suggested her own maid, Elizabeth McDuffie, should play Mammy. McDaniel, who had spent much of her career playing comedic roles, did not believe she would win the part. She went to the audition dressed in a maid's uniform, and producer David O Selznick immediately cast her as Mammy. The film premiered in Atlanta, Georgia, and the state segregationist laws meant McDaniel could not attend, because she would not be able to sit in the theatre with her white peers. Neither could her picture be included in the souvenir programme. Two weeks later she attended the Hollywood premiere, and her picture was prominently displayed in the programme.

McDaniel also faced criticism from her own race, who condemned the roles she chose, believing they did little to elevate the status of African-American performers. At the time roles for African-American actors were very limited, and McDaniel's response showed her class and self-respect: "I'd rather play a maid and make $700 a week than be one for $7." McDaniel appeared in more than 300 films, but received screen credits for only 80 of her roles. She was a songwriter, singer and the first African-American woman to sing on American radio.

In 1949 Ethel Waters became the second African-American actress to be nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in "Pinky", marking her successful transition from

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