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Title details for Hattie McDaniel by Jill Watts - Available

Hattie McDaniel

Black Ambition, White Hollywood

by Jill Watts
Bahni Turpin
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
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From an accomplished historian comes an uncompromising look at the pervasive racism in Hollywood, as seen through the life and times of actress Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel is best known for her performance as Mammy, the sassy foil to Scarlett O'Hara in the movie classic Gone with the Wind. Her powerful performance won her an Oscar® and bolstered the hopes of black Hollywood that the entertainment industry was finally ready to write more multidimensional, fully-realized roles for blacks.
But despite this victory, and pleas by organizations such as the NAACP and SAG, roles for blacks continued to denigrate the African American experience. So Hattie McDaniel continued to play servants. "I'd rather play a maid then be a maid," Hattie McDaniel answered her critics, but her flip response belied a woman who was emotionally conflicted. Here, in an exhaustively detailed and incisive text by a talented historian, is the story of a valiant woman who defied the racism of her time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 14, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781645553854
      • File size: 406200 KB
      • Duration: 14:06:14

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      California State University professor Jill Watts's newest effort offers a highly politically and socially focused examination of actor Hattie McDaniel's life and career. McDaniel is best known for her Oscar-winning role in the iconic film GONE WITH THE WIND. Bahni Turpin's heartfelt, evocative narration is remarkable as she tries her best to provide some enthusiasm and lightness of spirit to a relatively dry historical treatise, which listeners may find too professorial. On the other hand, the audiobook enlightens listeners with respect to the prejudices that worked against Black actors in the early era of Hollywood's major studios and McDaniel's assertive efforts to help broaden the scope of potential roles for them. Despite some frustrating aspects, overall, this is an illuminating biography of a noteworthy individual. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 22, 2005
      In her imperfect yet fascinating biography, Watts (Mae West
      ) unveils the largely tragic tale of Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Academy Award. Born in 1893, the youngest daughter of freed slaves, McDaniel sang and danced to help provide for her poverty-stricken family. Her early career as a comedian and singer garnered raves. She landed in Hollywood, appearing as an extra in scores of early 1930s films. Soon speaking roles in films like Stella Dallas
      led to her Oscar-winning performance as Mammy in the 1939 epic Gone with the Wind
      . This achievement marked the pinnacle of McDaniel's career—and heralded its collapse. Despite the complexity of her portrayal, McDaniel became typecast as the affable, disgruntled or tippling domestic. Although she'd educated herself , dressed elegantly and became involved in a range of political and social issues, McDaniel was hampered by studios that presented her as an eye-rolling, dialect-speaking Jemima. Watts's strength lies in her explication of the political and social conflicts in which McDaniel was embroiled. Yet her illumination of the complex actress herself is weak; she only comes alive in the book's final chapters. Nevertheless, Watts has crafted a compelling, disturbing history of blacks in early Hollywood. Photos. Agent, Victoria Sanders
      .

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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