Hattie McDaniel - Legacy and Recognition

Legacy and Recognition

McDaniel has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood: one for her contributions to radio at 6933 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for motion pictures at 1719 Vine Street. In 1975, she was inducted posthumously into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

In 1994, actress and singer Karla Burns launched her one-woman show Hi-Hat-Hattie (written by Larry Parr), which examines the life of McDaniel. She went on to perform the role in several other cities through 2002 including Off-Broadway in New York and the Long Beach Playhouse Studio Theatre in California.

In 2002, the legacy of Hattie McDaniel was celebrated when American Movie Classics (AMC) portrayed her life in the film Beyond Tara, The Extraordinary Life Of Hattie McDaniel (2001), produced and directed by Madison D. Lacy, Ph.D., and hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The one-hour special showed the struggles and triumphs as McDaniel, in spite of racism and adversity. The film won the 2001–2002 Daytime Emmy Award, presented on May 17, 2002, for Outstanding Special Class Special.

McDaniel was featured as the 29th inductee on the Black Heritage Series by the United States Postal Service. The 39-cent stamp was released on January 29, 2006. This stamp features a 1941 photograph of McDaniel in the dress she wore when she accepted her Academy Award in 1940. The ceremony took place at the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where the Hattie McDaniel collection includes photographs of McDaniel and other family members, as well as scripts and other documents.

She was memorialized by American rapper Nas in a song titled "Blunt Ashes" from his eighth studio album, released December 15, 2006.

August 16, 2011, was officially declared "Hattie McDaniel Day" on the Frank Decaro Show on Sirius OUTQ 108