Butterfly McQueen

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Butterfly McQueen (born January 7, 1911 in Tampa , Florida , † December 22, 1995 in Atlanta , Georgia ; actually Thelma McQueen ) was an American actress .

life and career

McQueen began her career as a dancer. In a Midsummer Night's Dream production she danced the Butterfly Dance and then adopted the stage name Butterfly McQueen as her own, especially since she felt an aversion to her maiden name Thelma. The African American had her first small appearance in 1939 in The Women of George Cukor . In the same year she got her first substantial role, which was about to become the most famous of her career: with her squeaky voice she embodied the tearful and unhelpful slave and future employee Prissy in Gone with the Wind . She could not see the premiere of Gone with the Wind in the cinema because the cinema was only open to white people.

In the following years, McQueen was often given secondary roles similar to that of Prissy, in which she impersonated simple-minded black servants. During the Second World War she also appeared on a radio show at Jack Benny's side as a colored housemaid. From the late 1940s she did not make any other films and only appeared occasionally on television because she felt too stereotyped: “I didn't mind playing a maid the first time, because I thought that this is how you get into the film business. But after playing the same role over and over again, I got upset. I don't mind being weird, but I didn't like being stupid ”. In 1950, she starred on the side of Hattie McDaniel , with whom she was seen in Gone With the Wind , in the television series Beulah . It wasn't until 1970 that she made another film.

At the age of 64, she received a bachelor's degree in political science . McQueen was an atheist and for decades a member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation , which she also considered in her will. Among other things, the bon mot has remained from her : “As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion.” ( Just as my ancestors are freed from slavery, I am freed from the slavery of religion ). Butterfly McQueen died of a fire accident in 1995 at the age of 84.

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Butterfly McQueen  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Butterfly McQueen, 84, “'Gone With the Wind' Actress, Dies From Burns”. Jet (Johnson Publishing Company) 89 (9): 60 Jan. 15, 1996. ISSN 0021-5996.
  2. ^ Johnson Publishing Company: Jet . Johnson Publishing Company, January 15, 1996 ( google.de [accessed May 29, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b Humanistic Press Service (hpd): Memorial Day Nov. 7, 1911 Butterfly McQueen
personal data
SURNAME McQueen, Butterfly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McQueen, Thelma
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Tampa , Florida , United States
DATE OF DEATH December 22, 1995
Place of death Atlanta , Georgia , United States