Editing Hattie McDaniel (section)

===Early career===
McDaniel was a songwriter and performer. She also married her first husband, Howard Hickman. They lived for a short time at 32 Meade Street in Denver, until he died of pneumonia in 1915. She honed her songwriting skills while working with her brother Otis McDaniel's carnival company, a [[minstrel show]].<ref name="coloradovirtuallibrary"/> McDaniel and her sister Etta Goff launched the McDaniel Sisters Company, an all-female minstrel show in 1914.<ref name="coloradovirtuallibrary"/> After the death of her brother Otis in November 1916, Hattie and Etta performed to full capacity crowds as The McDaniel Sisters and Their Merry Minstrel Maids in April and May 1917.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=49}}

From 1920 to 1925, she appeared with Professor George Morrison's ''Melody Hounds'', a Black touring ensemble. In the mid-1920s, she embarked on a radio career, singing with the Melody Hounds on station [[KOA (AM)|KOA]] in [[Denver]].{{sfn|Lyman|2005|p=}}{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=57}} From 1926 to 1929, she recorded many of her songs for [[Okeh Records]]<ref>{{cite book| last= Laird| first= Ross |year= 2004| title= Discography of Okeh Records, 1918–1934| publisher= Praeger/Greenwood| pages= 392, 446 |isbn= 0-313-31142-0}}</ref> and [[Paramount Records]]<ref>{{cite book| last= Bogdanov| first= Vladimir | year= 2003| title= All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues| publisher= Backbeat Books| page= 274 |isbn= 0-87930-736-6}}</ref> in [[Chicago]]. McDaniel recorded two sides during a session with [[Tiny Parham|Hartzell "Tiny" Parham]] in the summer of 1926 for the Meritt label in Kansas City, Missouri.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=63–64}}

After the [[stock market crash of 1929|stock market crashed]] in 1929, McDaniel could only find work as a washroom attendant{{sfn|Jackson|1993|p=16}} at Sam Pick's ''Club Madrid'' near [[Milwaukee]].{{sfn|Jackson|1993|p=17}} Despite the owner's reluctance to let her perform, she was eventually allowed to take the stage and soon became a regular performer.{{sfn|Jackson|1993|p=18}}

In 1931, McDaniel moved to [[Los Angeles]], where she joined her brother Sam, and sisters Etta and Orlena.{{sfn|Jackson|1993|p=19}} When she could not get film work, she took jobs as a maid and laundress.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=36, 89}} Sam was working on a [[KNX (AM)|KNX]] radio program, ''The Optimistic Do-Nut Hour'', and was able to get his sister a spot.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=89}} She performed on radio as "Hi-Hat Hattie", a bossy maid who often "forgets her place". {{sfn|Jackson|1993|pp=20–21}} Her show became popular, but her salary was so low that she had to keep working as a maid.{{sfn|Jackson|1993|pp=20–21}} She made her first film appearance in ''The Golden West'' (1932), in which she played a house servant{{sfn|Jackson|1993|p=22}} or [[Mammy stereotype|mammy]].{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=89}} Her second appearance came in the highly successful [[Mae West]] film ''[[I'm No Angel]]'' (1933), in which she had a significant part.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=93–94}} In 1934, McDaniel joined the [[Screen Actors Guild]].{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=114}} She began to attract attention and landed larger film roles, which began to win her screen credits. [[Fox Film Corporation]] put her under contract to appear in ''[[The Little Colonel (1935 film)|The Little Colonel]]'' (1935), with [[Shirley Temple]], [[Bill "Bojangles" Robinson]], and [[Lionel Barrymore]].{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=114}}

''[[Judge Priest]]'' (1934), directed by [[John Ford]] and starring [[Will Rogers]], was the first film in which she played a major role. She had a leading part in the film and demonstrated her singing talent, including a duet with Rogers. Rogers helped guide McDaniel's performance.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=100–103}} In 1935, McDaniel had prominent roles, as a slovenly maid in ''[[Alice Adams (1935 film)|Alice Adams]]'' ([[RKO Pictures]]);{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=116}} a comic part as [[Jean Harlow]]'s maid and traveling companion in ''[[China Seas (film)|China Seas]]'' ([[MGM]]) (also starring [[Clark Gable]]);{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=116}} and as the maid Isabella in ''[[Murder by Television]]'', with [[Bela Lugosi|Béla Lugosi]].{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=184}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Dr Roger L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwZTDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |title=Supporting Actors in Motion Pictures |date=2018-01-23 |publisher=Dorrance Publishing |isbn=978-1-4809-4499-2 |page=136 |language=en}}</ref> She appeared in the 1938 film ''[[Vivacious Lady]]'', starring [[James Stewart]] and [[Ginger Rogers]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gallafent |first=Edward |url=http://archive.org/details/astairerogers0000gall |title=Astaire & Rogers |date=2002 |publisher=New York : Columbia University Press |page=236 |isbn=978-0-231-12626-7}}</ref> McDaniel had a featured role as Queenie in the 1936 film ''[[Show Boat (1936 film)|Show Boat]]'' ([[Universal Pictures]]), starring [[Allan Jones (actor)|Allan Jones]] and [[Irene Dunne]], in which she sang a verse of ''[[Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man]]'' and she and Robeson sang "I Still Suits Me".{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=120, 122, 184}} After ''Show Boat'', she had major roles in MGM's ''[[Saratoga (film)|Saratoga]]'' (1937), starring [[Jean Harlow]] and Clark Gable;{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=130}} ''[[The Shopworn Angel]]'' (1938), with [[Margaret Sullavan]];{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=130}} and ''[[The Mad Miss Manton]]'' (1938), starring [[Barbara Stanwyck]] and [[Henry Fonda]].{{sfn|Watts|2005a|p=130}} She had a minor role in ''[[Nothing Sacred (film)|Nothing Sacred]]'' (1937), in which she played the "jilted wife".{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=189, 285}}

McDaniel was a friend of many of Hollywood's most popular stars, including [[Joan Crawford]], [[Tallulah Bankhead]], [[Bette Davis]], [[Shirley Temple]], [[Henry Fonda]], [[Ronald Reagan]], [[Olivia de Havilland]], and [[Clark Gable]]. 

She starred with de Havilland and Gable in ''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' (1939).{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=162, 166, 168 }} Around this time, she was criticized by members of the Black community for the roles she accepted and for pursuing roles aggressively in the Hollywood system, instead of rocking the Hollywood boat by raising Black awareness.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=n1, 151–153, 156 }} For example, in ''The Little Colonel'' (1935), the film reflected abusive and also romanticized stereotypes of slave and slaveowners roles in the [[Old South]], something that McDaniel had to endure throughout her career.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=114–115 }} Her portrayal of Malena in RKO Pictures' ''[[Alice Adams (1935 film)|Alice Adams]]'' was unique how Malena interacted with the Adams family. McDaniel's performance was described by reviewers as hilarious and highly comedic.{{sfn|Watts|2005a|pp=116–117 }} Author Alvin Marill said of McDaniel's performance, "The highlight of the film—indeed one of the best-remembered moments in films of that era—is the dinner party, 'stolen' by Hattie McDaniel as the slatternly maid, Malena. She grumbles over the menu, battles balky dining room doors, fights a flopping maid's cap, chews gum, and shuffles her way through a series of unappetizing courses."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Marill |first=Alvin H. |url=http://archive.org/details/katharinehepburn0000mari |title=Katharine Hepburn |date=1974 |publisher=London : W. H. Allen |isbn=978-0-352-30005-8}}</ref>