Happy Birthday actor Hattie McDaniel (1895–1952)

Born: June 10, 1895 in Wichita, Kansas, USA

Died: October 26, 1952 (age 57) in Woodland Hills, California, USA

Arguably the first African-American woman to sing on radio (1915, with Professor George Morrison’s Negro Orchestra, Denver, CO); first African-American to be buried in Los Angeles’ Rosedale Cemetery

The human “Mammy” character in the Tom+Jerry Cartoons was based on her. This human supporting character was best remembered for shouting “THOMAS” very loudly.

Was the first African-American to win an Academy Award. She won as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939). She became the first African-American to attend the Academy Awards as a guest, not a servant.

47 years after her death, has been memorialized by a pink-and-gray granite monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Her wish to be buried in Hollywood at her death in 1952 was denied amid the racism of the era.

Is one of 6 African-American actresses to receive the Academy Award. The others, in chronological order, are Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (1990), Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball (2001), Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (2006), Mo’Nique for Precious (2009) and Octavia Spencer for The Help (2011).

She was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard and for Motion Pictures at 1719 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

She had a one-time intimate affair with actress Tallulah Bankhead, according to chronicler of the Hollywood underground Kenneth Anger.