Butterfly McQueen RememberedScarecrow Press, 2008 - 142 Butterfly McQueen will always be remembered for her first screen role--as Scarlett O'Hara's hysterical servant girl, Prissy, in Gone With the Wind (1939)--and for her most famous line in the Civil War epic: "I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies!" Though many criticized her for playing an offensive caricature of black womanhood, film scholar Donald Bogle claims her performance is "a unique combination of the comic and the pathetic." Tired of playing what she called "stupid maids," however, Butterfly turned her back on Hollywood in the 1940s and spent the next fifty years in obscurity. On several occasions she tried to revive her theatrical career, but her identification with Prissy made it difficult for her to be taken seriously by producers and casting agents. Mostly she supported herself by taking menial jobs. In the 1970s she was active in social work projects in Harlem, and was awarded a degree by the City College of New York. In 1989, as one of the last surviving members of the cast of Gone With the Wind, Butterfly happily participated in the film's 50th anniversary celebrations. At the time of the celebrations she said: "Now I am happy I did Gone With the Wind. I wasn't when I was 28, but it's part of black history. You have no idea how hard it is for black actors, but things change, things blossom in time." In Butterfly McQueen Remembered, author Stephen Bourne, who corresponded with Butterfly for many years, draws upon two decades of research to document her life and career. From her memorable role in one of Hollywood's greatest films to her last big screen appearance opposite Harrison Ford in The Mosquito Coast, the details of McQueen's life are captured in this intimate portrait. Bourne chronicles the ups and downs of this talented and generous woman's life, both in front of the camera and far from its glaring spotlight. |
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... Hollywood hasn't changed . The only movie to come out last year with a black cast was Hollywood Shuffle . " When Townsend , as Bobby Taylor ( in Hollywood Shuffle ) , sacrifices his movie career by refusing to play a pimp , his stand is ...
... Hollywood Reporter , she said : “ I have never apologized for the roles I play .... I have been told that I have kept alive the stereotype of the Negro servant in the minds of theatre - goers . I believe my critics think the public more ...
... Hollywood , with disappointments , angers , and destroyed illu- sions in between her career triumphs . You can see it in her eyes , her mouth , her walk , and her voice . In real life and in her early film melodramas , she came from ...