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.JM Appel234.  Butterfly McQueen.  St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Jan. 1 2000.

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 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

References

Other websites




 Butterfly McQueen

Category:American atheists
Category:American radio actors
Category:American stage actors
Category:American television actors
Category:Actors from Tampa, Florida
Category:1911 births
Category:1995 deaths
Category:American Emmy Award winning actors