McQueen, Thelma (1911–1995)

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McQueen, Thelma (1911–1995)

African-American actress best known for her role as Prissy in the movie Gone With the Wind . Name variations: Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen. Born Thelma McQueen on January 8, 1911, in Tampa, Florida; died in Augusta, Georgia, on December 22, 1995, after suffering critical burns when a kerosene heater caught fire; her father was a stevedore and her mother was a domestic worker (names unknown); graduated New York City College, B.A. in Spanish, 1975; never married; no children.

Made stage debut at New York City College (1935); made Broadway debut at Biltmore Theater in New York (1937); made movie debut as Prissy in Gone With the Wind (1939); produced one-woman shows, Butterfly McQueen and Friends (1969) and Prissy in Person (1976); conferred Rosemary Award (1973); conferred Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award (1975); given Emmy Award for "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody" (1979); wrote, produced, and starred in Tribute to Mary Bethune (1978); active in the 50th anniversary celebration of the release of Gone With the Wind (1989).

Filmography:

Gone With the Wind (1939); The Women (1939); Affectionately Yours (1941); Cabin in the Sky (1943); I Dood It (1943); Since You Went Away (1944); Flame of the Barbary Coast (1945); Mildred Pierce (1945); Duel in the Sun (1946); Killer Diller (1947); The Phynx (1969); Amazing Grace (1974); The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody (1979); Mosquito Coast (1986).

Known to many only for her role as Prissy in Gone With the Wind, Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen was an accomplished dancer and stage actress as well as a screen actress. Her humorous depictions of confused, somewhat hysterical maids raised the genre to an art form. Never one to succumb to stereotyping, however, McQueen courageously refused many demeaning roles, often to the detriment of her popularity with producers and film casters.

An only child, Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen was born in Tampa, Florida, on January 8, 1911. Her father was a stevedore on the Tampa docks. Her mother, who worked as a domestic, was born in the 1880s in Augusta, Georgia, in a neighborhood described to writer Helen Smith as a place where "whites and blacks lived side by side." In 1916, McQueen's father left the family, and a court decision awarded custody of Thelma to her mother. To provide financial support, Mrs. McQueen sought work in numerous locations from Florida to New Jersey, finally settling in Harlem. In the meantime, Thelma had begun to attend school in a Tampa church, but she was soon sent to Augusta, Georgia, while her mother looked for employment elsewhere. In Augusta, McQueen lived at St. Benedict's Convent and attended school there as well. Later, she moved in with an aunt and went to school at Walker Baptist Church. Mrs. McQueen sent for her daughter after she had secured a steady job in Harlem as a cook. When Thelma McQueen arrived in New York, she was enrolled in what was then Public School Number 9 on West 83rd Street. In 1924, her restless mother decided to move again, this time to Babylon, New York, where they remained long enough for McQueen to finish high school.

After graduation, McQueen entered a nursing program at the Lincoln Training School in the Bronx, completing her instruction several years later at Georgia Medical College in Augusta. In 1946, she began taking liberal arts courses in various subjects, including political science, Spanish, drama, dance, and music. McQueen attended City College of Los Angeles, the University of California at Los Angeles, Southern Illinois University, Queens College, and New York City College. In 1975, she would earn a bachelor of arts degree with a major in Spanish from New York City College.

McQueen's introduction to the theater occurred shortly after she had finished high school, when she became a dancer in Venezuela Jones ' Negro Youth Group. Membership in a dramatic club and a Works Progress Administration (WPA) youth theater project provided McQueen with her first acting opportunities. She began to study dancing, music, and ballet with various instructors including Janet Collins, Katherine Dunham , Geoffrey Holder, Venezuela Jones, Mabel Hunt and Adelaide Hall . In 1935, McQueen made her stage debut as part of the Butterfly Ballet in Jones' adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream performed at New York City College. "Butterfly" became her stage name during this production and remained with her thereafter.

McQueen made her Broadway debut on December 2, 1937, at the Biltmore Theater in New York in the George Abbott production Brown Sugar. The play was a murder melodrama set among the blacks of Harlem and acted by an all-black cast. McQueen played the part of Lucille, the first of her many maid roles. It was a minor part—she had only one spoken line. Nonetheless, her talents did not go unnoticed. The New York Times critic John Anderson wrote of "the extraordinary artistry of a high-stepping little dusky creature with a piping voice who describes herself as Butterfly McQueen."

In "Brown Sugar" she is an over-genteel parlor maid in an apartment of iniquitous leanings. All she does is flutter at the door, announce the black thugs with a gesture of grandeur and say, "Step forward, please," as though she were joyfully admitting them through the pearly gates. But she does it like a whole encyclopedia of etiquette. Butterfly has something on the ball.

McQueen's favorable review for her role in Brown Sugar prompted Abbott to cast her in further productions, including Brother Rat and What a Life. Her role as Mary in What a Life was again a small one with only a few speaking lines. With her "piping" voice, she was credited with skillfully providing comic relief during the more solemn moments of the production. By now, she had become a regular in the informal Abbott Acting Company and part of what was critically described as an impeccable cast. When Abbott decided to take What a Life on the road, he selected McQueen to be a member of the touring company.

Lawsy, Miss Scarlett, Ah don' know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies.
—"Butterfly" McQueen as Prissy in Gone With the Wind

In the late 1930s, while still working for Abbott, McQueen auditioned for the part of Prissy in the film Gone With the Wind. At first, she was told that she was too fat, too dignified, and too old to play the part of a slave girl half her age. Later, producer David O. Selznick had other casting ideas. He preferred seasoned actors, choosing Hattie McDaniel to play Scarlett O'Hara's Mammy and McQueen, by now a veteran of Broadway, to play Prissy. McQueen succeeded in winning the one role that, according to film writer Ronald Haver, author Margaret Mitchell wished she herself could have played.

Susan Myrick , representing Mitchell on the set of Gone With the Wind and serving as technical advisor, noted in her journal her satisfaction with the choice of McQueen for the role of Prissy. Myrick's image of Prissy was that of a purveyor of subtle humor, and in her eyes, McQueen's Prissy remained loyal to the novel. She reported back to Mitchell in a letter that McQueen was "really good in the role though not so young nor pipe-stemmed-legged as I could wish." In her Macon, Georgia, newspaper column "Straight from Hollywood" Myrick wrote:

I can hardly wait for the picture to be shown so you can laugh at the scenes where Prissy does her stuff. Butterfly McQueen is a good actress. … Every time Prissy worked in ascene we had a grand time. I know you'll get laughs when you see her.

It was not until McQueen actually arrived in Hollywood that she took the time to reflect upon the role she was about to play. She had serious misgivings about the way Mitchell portrayed blacks in her novel. In particular, McQueen expressed a strong distaste for Mitchell's presentation of Prissy as inane and dull-witted. McQueen was stubbornly resistant to stereotyping, yet she played Prissy with remarkable conviction. Still, she was outspoken about certain aspects of her role: she refused to be filmed eating watermelon and spitting seeds, and she disapproved of the scene in which Scarlett slaps Prissy's face. In another scene, McQueen objected when the script called for Rhett Butler to refer to Prissy as a "simple-minded darky" when Mitchell's words were "simple-minded wench." A debate flared between Myrick and McQueen over the head attire to be worn by the female black servants; McQueen preferred colored bows while Myrick insisted on the more stereotyped "wrapped heads." With Mitchell's approval, Myrick won out in the end. Off the set, McQueen asserted her own brand of individualism as well, joining a delegation of blacks who threatened a protest if restroom segregation were not abolished. She spoke out when all the black actors in the cast were packed into one car, while the white stars were provided with several limousines.

Preparation for filming Gone With the Wind required numerous rehearsals and coaching sessions to perfect the Southern accents of the novel's characters. McDaniel and McQueen both spent hours learning Mitchell's black dialect. Years later, Myrick reminisced to reporter Ron Taylor that "the most paradoxical dialect problem was presented by Butterfly McQueen who found the Uncle Remus-style dialect required by the film all but impossible." McQueen later explained to The New York Times reporter John Wilson that she "was not allowed to speak in dialect as a child."

Filming of Gone With the Wind started in January 1939 under the direction of George Cukor. Almost immediately, Selznick's disapproval of Cukor's script interpolations became apparent—a disagreement that eventually led to Cukor's resignation. Even so, much of what Cukor filmed remained in the final version of the movie, including the famous birthing scene in which Prissy squeals, "Lawsy, Miss Scarlett, Ah don' know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies." For her terrified and ill-timed confusion, the screenplay called for Prissy to be rebuked by a slap in

the face from Scarlett. Film historian Thomas Cripps recounted an incident that occurred during the first take, when Vivien Leigh slapped too hard, causing McQueen to step out of character. The exasperated McQueen cried, "I can't do it, she's hurting me. … I'm no stunt man; I'man actress." She insisted that Leigh apologize before shooting could continue. Cukor was a stickler for detail, and wanted Prissy to scream loudly when she was reprimanded by the irate Scarlett. McQueen later recalled to Chris McCarter, "I told them, if you really slap me, I won't scream, but if you pretend to slap me, I'll make the best scream you ever heard." Cukor acquiesced and in the second shooting of the scene Leigh did not actually slap McQueen; instead, a sound man clapped his hands off the set when Leigh swung her hand toward McQueen's face.

Myrick described Cukor's relationship with McQueen during the filming of Gone With the Wind in amicable terms. In her journal, Myrick wrote that Cukor became "so tickled at her sometimes he could scarcely direct, and when Butterfly sees George is amused she breaks down and laughs." Cukor enjoyed exchanging quips with McQueen, though they were often laced with racial overtones. He borrowed lines from the novel, threatening to "sell Butterfly down the river if she didn't get the action just right," or to "use the Simon Legree whip on Prissy." In another scene, Cukor admonished, "Prissy, you better be careful how you try my patience. We had one Prissy here before you came, and I really did sell her South."

Despite the controversy and the love-hate relationship McQueen had with Gone With the Wind, she considered her part in the movie to be her best work. The role brought her instant international notoriety and financial security, albeit temporary. She later told film historian Malcolm Vance that the role of Prissy paid well: "I went through a full semester at UCLA on one day's pay."

Three weeks into production of Gone With the Wind, Cukor's resignation brought filming operations to a temporary standstill while a replacement was sought. Cukor, who immediately resurrected another dormant project, the film version of Clare Booth Luce 's play The Women, assigned McQueen the part of Lolla, a maid. Appearing in only one scene, she played opposite Joan Crawford and Virginia Grey . McQueen's recollection of working for Cukor in this project was anything but pleasant. She related to Murray Summers that Cukor's sole purpose in giving her the bit part was to vent his frustrations:

The hurt I felt in having Mr. Cukor scream at me for some mistake I made, I remember vividly and will take with me to my grave. In the employment of David Selznick, he could not have done such a thing.

After the filming of Gone With the Wind, McQueen returned to New York and to the stage. She appeared as Puck in the 1939 production Swingin' the Dream, a reinterpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream which premiered on November 29 at the Center Theater and lasted only 13 performances. McQueen was singled out by critic Brooks Atkinson for her "piping-voiced Puck whose travesty is genuinely comic, her clowning as 'ladylike,' representing her peculiar artistry in finest fettle."

During the early 1940s, McQueen appeared in several more films, though never to the acclaim associated with Gone With the Wind. In 1941, she was again a maid, this time in Affectionately Yours. Playing opposite Hattie McDaniel, she uttered the infamous line, "Who dat say who dat when you say dat." Sometime later, according to film writer Donald Bogle, she remarked, "I never thought I would have to say a line like that. I had imagined that since I am an intelligent woman, I could play any kind of role." Ironically, her performance was considered by some critics to be the best of the film. As Bosley Crowther described it: "The only glints of brightness in the film are contributed by a hair-spring brownie called Butterfly McQueen, as a maid. Her frequent dissolves into tears upon the slightest provocation are ludicrous—and strangely prophetic."

Her next movie, Cabin in the Sky, released in 1943, was a monumental showcase for black musical talent. The all-star and entirely black cast included Louis Armstrong, Ethel Waters , Oscar Polk, Duke Ellington and his orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, and Ruby Dandridge , the mother of Dorothy Dandridge . The filming of Cabin in the Sky proved troublesome for McQueen, and owing to her thin-skinned nature, she found herself frequently at odds with various personalities in the cast. In particular, she felt beset upon by a sarcastic Eddie "Rochester" Anderson; Lena Horne regarded her with contempt, and director Vincente Minnelli spoke critically of her. Writes Chris McCarter, McDaniel advised McQueen to be more tolerant and patient: "You complain too much, you'll never come back to Hollywood."

During the next few years, McQueen appeared in more minor film roles: I Dood It (1943), Mildred Pierce (1945), Flame of Barbary Coast (1945), Duel in the Sun (1947) and Killer Diller (1948). The 1950s and 1960s were lean years for her. Film producers weren't offering many non-servant roles to black actors, so she returned to the stage. In 1951, she produced her own one-woman show in Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Recital Hall). She also played the part of Queen Elizabeth Victoria in the 1956 all-black production The World's My Oyster. It was not a critical success; reviewer Arthur Gelb called the plot "dreary," the musical numbers "bumbling," adding, "even … potentially funny and charming players such as Butterfly McQueen … are victimized by their material." The critics were not much more enthusiastic about a 1957 comedy, School for Wives. Reviewer Gelb noted, "Admittedly, the idea was an intriguing one, if just for the trick of putting Butterfly McQueen in the role of the addlepated Georgette. But McQueen, for all her fluttery personal charm, heaving bosom and silver fingernails, is a fish out of water." In the 1964 production The Athenian Touch, McQueen was Ora, a maid and cook. The play was reviewed by Lewis Funke as "an exercise in tedium. … Butterfly McQueen tries hard to make merry" but was trapped by the material.

In her next few theater appearances, McQueen fared somewhat better. The character Hattie was added to the off-Broadway musical Curley McDimple—a role written expressly for McQueen. She premiered the part on May 9,1968. Her own musical revue, Butterfly McQueen and Friends, appeared off-Broadway, premiering August 4, 1969. That same year, she worked again with George Abbott, this time in Three Men on a Horse. She played the part of Dora Lee, an elevator operator, drawing favorable reviews. Clive Barnes wrote that he enjoyed "the itsy-little voice, fading over the far horizon of comprehension, that Butterfly McQueen contributed with elevation and style."

The 1970s were sparse as well, but the decade was marked by McQueen's return to film. She appeared in a cameo role in the critical flop The Phynx in 1970. In 1974, she was Clarine in Amazing Grace, which showcased the aging Jackie "Moms" Mabley . "The people around [Mabley] never came up to her instep," wrote critic Vincent Canby. "Two black performers associated with an earlier movie age—Stepin Fetchit and Butterfly McQueen—turn up in cameo roles that are unrewarding, both to us and to them."

McQueen continued to find work in musical theater as well during the 1970s. She secured a part in a pre-Broadway production of The Wiz in 1975, and in 1976 she presented another one-woman show, Prissy in Person. In 1980, McQueen was a member of the touring company of the musical Showboat. She returned to the limelight in the later 1980s as a guest of honor at celebrations commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publication of the novel Gone With the Wind and the premiere of the film. She appeared at numerous showings of the movie, signing autographs and squealing Prissy's "birthin' babies" line, much to the delight of her admirers.

In between stage and film commitments, McQueen, whose contribution to dramatic television had begun with a part in the 1957 Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "The Green Pastures," made numerous television appearances. She was a guest on several talk shows such as those hosted by Mike Wallace, Virginia Graham and Mike Douglas, and on the "Today Show." She had parts in the 1979 children's special "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody," and the 1987 drama "Our World." She also took part in radio shows produced by Dinah Shore , Jack Benny and Danny Kaye.

Even though her movie roles were temporarily lucrative, McQueen found it necessary to support herself with various odd jobs. She taught at Southern Illinois University, sold toys at Macy's, dispatched taxi cabs in the Bronx, operated a restaurant, and managed a theater group. Much of her savings from her early movie successes financed her one-woman shows and paid fees in two legal suits. In 1968, McQueen won a court decision awarding her damages for unauthorized use of her photographs for promotional purposes by Stone Mountain Park in Georgia. Twelve years later, McQueen filed a $300,000 suit against Greyhound Bus Lines and International Security of Virginia for injuries and damages sustained in a scuffle that erupted after a security guard at a Washington, D.C., bus station accused her of pickpocketing. During the altercation, McQueen had been thrown against a metal bench, injuring her ribs. A court settlement in 1984 awarded her $60,000.

Throughout McQueen's career, community service also occupied much of her time. "Community work comes first. I don't like people to call me a star. I'm not a star. I'm a community worker," she insisted to reporter Terri Smith . In her later years, she enjoyed teaching at neighborhood recreational centers, working with both the young and the elderly. A tireless supporter of animal rights, McQueen became a life member of the Anti-Vivisection Society in the 1940s. She was also active in urban cleanup and beautification projects and environmental protection.

McQueen the actress is best remembered for her high-pitched voice, ready smile, and large expressive eyes. Myrick once described her voice as "higher than soprano … about as high as the top note on Kreisler's violin." Author Bogle characterized her as a "surreal creature … with a perplexed stare… and a quivering tremor of a voice … almost otherworldly." McQueen never married, preferring the company of the residents of her Harlem neighborhood and her many cats. A selfless individual, she chose to work for racial equality rather than seek wealth or take advantage of fame. She once described her lifestyle to reporter Helen Smith as "square and straight-laced." McQueen apprised Murray Summers of her refreshingly simple philosophy: "Each of us is born perfect; we acquire habits of hate."

The many honors bestowed upon Thelma McQueen included the Rosemary Award in 1973, the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award in 1975, and an Emmy Award for "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody" in 1979. On December 22, 1995, McQueen died in Augusta, Georgia, after suffering critical burns when a kerosene heater caught fire. She was 84.

sources:

Anderson, John. Review of Brown Sugar, in New York Evening Journal. December 3, 1937.

Atkinson, Brooks. "Swinging Shakespeare's 'Dream' with Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and Maxine Sullivan," in The New York Times. November 30, 1939.

Barnes, Clive. "All-star Cast Excels in Betting Tale," in The New York Times. October 17, 1969.

Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks. Expanded ed. NY: Continuum, 1989.

Canby, Vincent. Review of Amazing Grace, in The New York Times. November 2, 1974.

Cripps, Thomas. Slow Fade to Black. NY: Oxford University Press, 1977.

Crowther, Bosley. "Offer Rejected," in The New York Times. May 24, 1941.

Funke, Lewis. Review of The Athenian Touch, in The New York Times. January 15, 1964.

Gelb, Arthur. Review of School for Wives, in The New York Times. June 20, 1975.

——. "World's My Oyster is Staged Downtown," in The New York Times. August 10, 1956.

Howard, Sidney. "GWTW": The Screenplay. Edited by Richard B. Harwell. NY: Macmillan, 1980.

McCarter, Chris. "Actress Had a Strong Love-Hate Relationship with 'Prissy' Role," in Columbus [GA] Ledger-Enquirer. November 5, 1989.

Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With the Wind. NY: Avon, 1973.

——. Letter to Susan Myrick, January 19, 1939. The Margaret Mitchell Marsh Collection, Hargrett Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Georgia Library.

Myrick, Susan. Letters to Margaret Mitchell, January 15, 1939 and February 12, 1939. The Margaret Mitchell Marsh Collection, Hargrett Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Georgia Library.

——. White Columns in Hollywood: Reports from the "Gone With the Wind" Sets. Edited by Richard Harwell. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1982.

Smith, Helen C. "Butterfly: Still Flitting at 69," in Atlanta Constitution. February 19, 1980.

Smith, Terri K. "She Sounds Like Prissy and She Looks Like Prissy, But Butterfly McQueen Isn't 'Stupid and Backward'," in Macon [GA] Telegraph and News. April 2, 1984.

Summers, Murray. "Butterfly McQueen Was One of The Women, Too," in Filmograph 3. November 4, 1973, pp. 7–8.

Taylor, Ron. "Movie Memories Not Gone with Wind," in Atlanta Journal. March 25, 1976.

Vance, Malcolm. Tara Revisited. NY: Award Books, 1976.

Wilson, John S. "Butterfly McQueen Squeaks Along," in The New York Times. July 12, 1978.

collections:

Clipping file located at Hargrett Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Georgia Library, Athens, Georgia.

Correspondence and papers of Margaret Mitchell located at The Margaret Mitchell Marsh Collection, Hargrett Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Georgia Library.

Juanita Karpf , Assistant Professor of Music and Women's Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia