Butterfly McQueen
Encyclopedia
Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen (January 7, 1911 – December 22, 1995) was an American actress. Originally a dancer, the 28-year-old McQueen first appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's
maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
, then continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s .
, she had planned to become a nurse until a high school teacher suggested that she try acting. McQueen initially studied with Janet Collins and went on to dance with the Venezuela Jones Negro Youth Group. Around this time she acquired the nickname "Butterfly"—a tribute to her constantly moving hands—for her performance of the Butterfly Ballet in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
(she had always hated her birth name, and later legally changed her name to Butterfly McQueen). She performed with the dance troupe of Katherine Dunham
before making her professional debut in George Abbott
's Brown Sugar
.
, filmed after Gone with the Wind but released before it. She also played Butterfly, Rochester's niece and Mary Livingstone
's maid in the Jack Benny
radio program, for a time during World War II
. She appeared in an uncredited role in Mildred Pierce
(1945) and played a supporting role in Duel in the Sun (1946). By 1947 she had grown tired of the ethnic stereotypes she was required to play and ended her film career.
From 1950 until 1952 she played Oriole, another racially stereotyped role, on the television series Beulah. In a lighter moment, she appeared in a 1969 episode of The Dating Game
.
Offers for acting roles began to dry up around this time, and she devoted herself to other pursuits including political study; she received a Bachelor's degree in political science
from City College of New York
in 1975. In 1979 McQueen won a Daytime Emmy Award
for her performance as Aunt Thelma, a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special
episode "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody." She had one more role of substance in the 1986 film The Mosquito Coast
.
during the winter. She died on December 22, 1995 at Augusta Regional Medical Center in Augusta, from burns sustained when a kerosene heater she attempted to light malfunctioned and burst into flames. A lifelong atheist, she donated her body to medical science and remembered the Freedom From Religion Foundation
in her will.
Scarlett O'Hara
Scarlett O' Hara is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind and in the later film of the same name...
maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind (film)
Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
, then continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s .
Early life
Born Thelma McQueen in Tampa, FloridaTampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, she had planned to become a nurse until a high school teacher suggested that she try acting. McQueen initially studied with Janet Collins and went on to dance with the Venezuela Jones Negro Youth Group. Around this time she acquired the nickname "Butterfly"—a tribute to her constantly moving hands—for her performance of the Butterfly Ballet in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
(she had always hated her birth name, and later legally changed her name to Butterfly McQueen). She performed with the dance troupe of Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Mary Dunham was an American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, author, educator, and activist...
before making her professional debut in George Abbott
George Abbott
George Francis Abbott was an American theater producer and director, playwright, screenwriter, and film director and producer whose career spanned more than nine decades.-Early years:...
's Brown Sugar
Brown sugar
Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white...
.
Career
McQueen's first role would become her most identifiable —as Prissy, the young maid in Gone with the Wind, uttering the famous words: "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!" Her distinctive, high-pitched voice also took people by surprise. She also played an uncredited bit part as a sales assistant in The WomenThe Women (1939 film)
The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
, filmed after Gone with the Wind but released before it. She also played Butterfly, Rochester's niece and Mary Livingstone
Mary Livingstone
Mary Livingstone , was an American radio comedienne and the wife and radio partner of comedy great Jack Benny . Enlisted almost entirely by accident to perform on her husband's popular program, she proved a talented comedienne...
's maid in the Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
radio program, for a time during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. She appeared in an uncredited role in Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce (film)
Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American drama film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden in a film noir about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, William Faulkner, and Catherine Turney was based upon the 1941...
(1945) and played a supporting role in Duel in the Sun (1946). By 1947 she had grown tired of the ethnic stereotypes she was required to play and ended her film career.
From 1950 until 1952 she played Oriole, another racially stereotyped role, on the television series Beulah. In a lighter moment, she appeared in a 1969 episode of The Dating Game
The Dating Game
The Dating Game is an ABC television show that first aired on December 20, 1965 and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s...
.
Offers for acting roles began to dry up around this time, and she devoted herself to other pursuits including political study; she received a Bachelor's degree in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
in 1975. In 1979 McQueen won a Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
for her performance as Aunt Thelma, a fairy godmother in the ABC Afterschool Special
ABC Afterschool Special
The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were...
episode "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody." She had one more role of substance in the 1986 film The Mosquito Coast
The Mosquito Coast
The Mosquito Coast is a 1986 American film directed by Peter Weir, based on the novel by Paul Theroux. The film stars Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix. The film tells the story of a family that leaves the United States and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of...
.
Legacy and death
McQueen never married or had children. She lived in New York in the summer months, and in Augusta, GeorgiaAugusta, Georgia
Augusta is a consolidated city in the U.S. state of Georgia, located along the Savannah River. As of the 2010 census, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 195,844 not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe.Augusta is the principal city of the Augusta-Richmond County...
during the winter. She died on December 22, 1995 at Augusta Regional Medical Center in Augusta, from burns sustained when a kerosene heater she attempted to light malfunctioned and burst into flames. A lifelong atheist, she donated her body to medical science and remembered the Freedom From Religion Foundation
Freedom From Religion Foundation
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is an American freethought organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. Its purposes, as stated in its bylaws, are to promote the separation of church and state and to educate the public on matters relating to atheism, agnosticism and nontheism. The FFRF publishes...
in her will.
Quotes
- "As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion." This quote was used by the Freedom From Religion Foundation in advertisements inside MadisonMadison, WisconsinMadison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
buses in 2009, and in the Atlanta market in 2010. It is also featured on bookmarks in the FFRF shop.
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1939 | The Women The Women (1939 film) The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film... |
Lulu - Cosmetics Counter Maid | Uncredited |
| Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind (film) Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard... |
Prissy | ||
| 1941 | Affectionately Yours | Butterfly | |
| 1943 | Cabin in the Sky Cabin in the Sky Cabin in the Sky is a 1943 American musical film with music by Vernon Duke, lyrics by John La Touche, and a musical book by Lynn Root. The musical premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on October 25, 1940. It closed on March 8, 1941 after a total of 156 performances... |
Lily | |
| I Dood It I Dood It I Dood It is a 1943 MGM musical-comedy film starring Red Skelton and Eleanor Powell, and directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay is by Fred Saidy and Sig Herzig and the film features Richard Ainley, Patricia Dane, Lena Horne and Hazel Scott... |
Annette | Alternative title: By Hook or by Crook | |
| 1945 | Flame of Barbary Coast Flame of Barbary Coast Flame of Barbary Coast is a 1945 western film starring John Wayne, Ann Dvorak, Joseph Schildkraut, William Frawley, and Virginia Grey. The movie was scripted by Borden Chase and directed by Joseph Kane.-Plot:... |
Beulah, Flaxen's Maid | Alternative title: Flame of the Barbary Coast |
| Mildred Pierce Mildred Pierce (film) Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American drama film starring Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Eve Arden in a film noir about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, William Faulkner, and Catherine Turney was based upon the 1941... |
Lottie - Mildred's Maid | Uncredited | |
| 1946 | Duel in the Sun | Vashti | Alternative title: King Vidor's Duel in the Sun |
| 1948 | Killer Diller Killer Diller (1948 film) Killer Diller is a 1948 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Josh Binney and released by All American.The movie features The Clark Brothers , Nat King Cole, Moms Mabley, Dusty Fletcher, Butterfly McQueen, the Andy Kirk Orchestra and the Four Congaroos .-Plot summary:Dusty Fletcher plays a... |
Butterfly | |
| 1970 | The Phynx The Phynx The Phynx is a 1970 comedy film directed by Lee H. Katzin about a rock and roll band named The Phynx and their mission in foreign affairs. The group is sent to the country of Albania to locate hostages.-Cast:*The Phynx... Themselves... |
Herself | |
| 1974 | Amazing Grace Amazing Grace (1974 film) Amazing Grace is a 1974 light comedy featuring black comedienne Moms Mabley as a widow who tries to influence the local mayoral election in Baltimore, Maryland, after she discovers that a black candidate is being used by the incumbent mayor to further his own reelection efforts... |
Clarine | |
| 1986 | The Mosquito Coast The Mosquito Coast The Mosquito Coast is a 1986 American film directed by Peter Weir, based on the novel by Paul Theroux. The film stars Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix. The film tells the story of a family that leaves the United States and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of... |
Ma Kennywick | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1950 | Studio One | 1 episode | |
| 1950–1953 | Beulah Beulah (series) The Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran on CBS radio from 1945 to 1954, and on ABC television from 1950 to 1952. The show is notable for being the first sitcom to star an African American actress.-Radio:... |
Oriole | Unknown episodes |
| 1951 | Lux Video Theatre Lux Video Theatre Lux Video Theatre, is a weekly television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.... |
Mary | 1 episode |
| 1957 | Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011... |
1 episode | |
| 1978 | ABC Weekend Special ABC Weekend Special The ABC Weekend Special is a weekly 30-minute anthology TV series for children that aired Saturday mornings on ABC from 1977 to 1997. It featured a wide variety of stories that were both live-action and animated.... |
Aunt Thelma | 1 episode |
| 1979 | ABC Afterschool Special ABC Afterschool Special The ABC Afterschool Special is an American television anthology series that aired on ABC from 1972 to 1996, usually in the late afternoon on week days. Most of the episodes were dramatic presentations of situations, often controversial, of interest to children and teenagers. Several episodes were... |
Aunt Thelma | 1 episode |
| 1981 | The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Television movie | |
| 1985 | Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Blind Negress | Television movie |
| 1988 | The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind is a 1988 documentary outlining the successes and challenges of the casting, filming, and legacy of the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, from concept to finished product. The documentary focuses on David O. Selznick from the time of the book's publication to... |
Herself (Interview) | Television Documentary |
| 1989 | Polly | Miss Priss | Television movie |