Hattie McDaniel
The first black person to win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel, had to accept her 1940 best supporting actress trophy in a segregated hotel. Gone With the Wind producer David O. Selznick had to call in a special favor to have McDaniel, who played head slave Mammy in the Civil War epic, allowed into the no-blacks Ambassador Hotel, where the 12th Academy Awards was taking place. McDaniel beat out her Gone With the Wind costar Olivia de Havilland as well as Geraldine Fitzgerald (Wuthering Heights), Edna May Oliver (Drums Along the Mohawk) and Maria Ouspenskaya (Love Affair). During her tearful speech, the daughter of two former slaves indicated she hoped her prize would have lasting significance. "I shall always hold it as a beacon for anything I may be able to do in the future. I sincerely hope I shall always be a credit to my race and to the motion picture industry," she said.