false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176621162m/640480.jpg 861105 2 <P>Hattie McDaniel is perhaps best known for her performance as Mammy, the sassy foil to Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, one of Hollywood's most revered -- and controversial -- films. McDaniel's Oscar win raised hopes that the entertainment industry was finally ready to create more respectful, multidimensional roles for blacks. But under the aegis of studio heads eager to please Southerners, screenwriters kept churning out roles that denigrated the African-American experience. <P>Where McDaniel's stature and popularity should have increased after Selznick's masterpiece came out, as was the case for her white counterparts, hers declined, as an increasingly politicized black audience turned against her. "I'd rather play a maid than be a maid," is how McDaniel answered her critics. Yet her flippant response belied a woman whose hardscrabble background rendered her emotionally conflicted about the roles she accepted. Here, at last, in a finely tuned biography by Jill Watts, is her story. <P>Watts, a highly praised researcher and writer, shares little-known aspects of McDaniel's life, from her dealings with Hollywood's power brokers and black political organizations to her successful civil rights battle to integrate a Los Angeles neighborhood, revealing a woman hailed by Ebony as an achiever of "more firsts in Hollywood" than any other black entertainer of her time. 846544 1 10 2005 Hattie McDaniel: Black Ambition, White Hollywood total:14|5:4|4:6|3:3|2:1|1:0| 14 55 18 5 3 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Jul 25 07:55:03 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 07:59:54 -0700 2007 Gone With the Wind I naturally wanted to read about Hattie McDaniel. Her story, as I expected, was an amazing one. I loved her because although she played subclass roles that were completely beneath her ability level, she was always the picture of grace, style and dignity. She's...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Nov 29 12:20:01 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 29 12:20:49 -0800 2007 Grace's Hattie McDaniel Book Review

Please click that my review was helpful at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb. Thanks!]]> 2 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 15 09:12:29 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 15 09:14:15 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Fri Feb 22 21:11:08 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 22 21:12:20 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu May 08 18:06:27 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 18:07:30 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Dec 04 01:34:37 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 04 01:34:37 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Nov 03 19:04:46 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 19:04:46 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Wed Aug 05 03:01:40 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 05 03:01:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 08 18:00:21 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 18:02:39 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Mar 17 09:00:37 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 09:00:37 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Feb 16 10:30:38 -0800 2009 Wed Jul 30 08:14:29 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 16 10:30:38 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun May 18 20:45:30 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 20:45:34 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed May 07 14:07:55 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 14:07:55 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Apr 27 07:57:04 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 27 07:57:11 -0700 2008 5 0 true true Sun Feb 17 12:57:53 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 12:57:53 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Tue Feb 26 08:50:22 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 18:30:48 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 18:31:15 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Wed Nov 07 17:15:01 -0800 2007 Wed Nov 07 17:15:01 -0800 2007 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 25 06:19:01 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 28 06:37:33 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=640480