Butterfly McQueen

**Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen** (January 7, 1911 – December 22, 1995) was an American actress. She was originally a dancer. McQueen first appeared on screen in 1939, as "Prissy", Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the movie _Gone with the Wind_. She continued as an actress in movies through the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s.

## Early life

Butterfly was born **Thelma McQueen** in Tampa, Florida. She was planning to become a nurse until a high-school teacher suggested that she try acting.  McQueen studied with Janet Collins and went on to dance with the Venezuela Jones Negro Youth Group.  Around this time she received the nickname "Butterfly" because of her constantly moving hands in 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. She made her professional debut in George Abbott's _Brown Sugar_.

## Career

McQueen's first on-screen credited role was "Prissy", the young maid in _Gone with the Wind_. McQueen did not enjoy playing the part and felt it was demeaning to African Americans.

She also played a small part as a sales assistant in _The Women_ (1939). 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 a small 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. She then ended her movie career.

From 1950 until 1952 she played "Oriole", another racially stereotyped role, on the television series _Beulah_. In a lighter moment, she appeared in an episode of _The Dating Game_ in 1969.

Offers for acting roles began to decline 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 movie _The Mosquito Coast_.

## Personal life

McQueen never married or had any children. She lived in New York in the summer months and in Augusta, Georgia during the winter.

In July 1983, a jury awarded McQueen US$60,000 in a judgment stemming from a lawsuit she filed against two bus-terminal security guards. McQueen sued for harassment after she claimed the security guards accused her of being a pickpocket and a vagrant while she was at a bus terminal in April 1979.

## Death

McQueen died at age 84 on December 22, 1995 at Augusta Regional Medical Center in Augusta. She died from burns she had gotten when a kerosene heater she tried 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.

## Filmography

|Year|Title|Role|class="unsortable"|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1939|_The Women_|Lulu - Cosmetics Counter Maid|Uncredited||
|1939|_Gone with the Wind_|Prissy|||
|1941|_Affectionately Yours_|Butterfly|||
|1943|_Cabin in the Sky_|Lily|||
|1943|_I Dood It_|Annette|Alternative title: _By Hook or by Crook_||
|1945|_Flame of Barbary Coast_|Beulah – Flaxen's Maid|Alternative title: _Flame of the Barbary Coast_||
|1945|_Mildred Pierce_|Lottie – Mildred's Maid|Uncredited||
|1946|_Duel in the Sun_|Vashti|Alternative title: _King Vidor's Duel in the Sun_||
|1948|_Killer Diller_|Butterfly|||
|1950|_Studio One_||Episode: "Give Us Our Dream"||
|1950 to 1953|_Beulah_|Oriole|4 episodes||
|1951|_Lux Video Theatre_|Mary|Episode: "Weather for Today"||
|1957|_Hallmark Hall of Fame_||Episode: "The Green Pastures"||
|1970|_The Phynx_|Herself|||
|1974|_Amazing Grace_|Clarine|||
|1978|_ABC Weekend Special_|Aunt Thelma|Episode: "The Seven Wishes of Joanna Peabody"||
|1979|_ABC Afterschool Special_|Aunt Thelma|Episode: "Seven Wishes of a Rich Kid"||
|1981|_The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_||Television movie||
|1985|_Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_|Blind Negress|Television movie||
|1986|_The Mosquito Coast_|Ma Kennywick|||
|1988|_The Making of a Legend: Gone With The Wind_|Herself (Interview)|Television documentary||
|1989|_Polly_|Miss Priss|Television movie||

## Other websites

- Butterfly McQueen

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Butterfly McQueen
- **image**: Butterfly McQueen in Affectionately Yours trailer.jpg
- **caption**: in _Affectionately Yours_ (1941)
- **birth name**: Thelma McQueen
- **birth place**: Tampa, Florida, U.S.
- **death place**: Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
- **death cause**: Burns sustained in a fire
- **nationality**: American
- **alma mater**: City College of New York
- **occupation**: Actress
- **years active**: 1939–1989
- **signature**: Signature of Butterfly McQueen (1980).png
- **signature size**: 185px