Black women and the Oscar race

By Susan King, Los Angeles Times

Jan. 31, 2011 12 AM PT

Ethel Waters

The famed blues, jazz and gospel vocalist (1896-1977) made her movie debut in the 1929 musical “On With the Show!” She became the second African American to earn an Oscar nomination, for her supporting role in the 1949 drama “Pinky.”

Hattie McDaniel

The first African American (1895-1952) to win an Academy Award, for her supporting role as Mammy in 1939’s “Gone with the Wind.” When the NAACP complained in the 1940s about her playing servant roles, she said, “I’d rather play a maid and make $700 a week then be one for $7.”

Dorothy Dandridge

The beautiful singer and actress (1922-65) began her career as a child, performed as a singer at the Cotton Club and Apollo Theatre and was the first African American to earn an Oscar nomination for lead actress, for 1954’s “Carmen Jones.”

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Entertainment & Arts

Susan King

Susan King is a former entertainment writer at the Los Angeles Times who specialized in Classic Hollywood stories. She also wrote about independent, foreign and studio movies and occasionally TV and theater stories. Born in East Orange, N.J., she received her master’s degree in film history and criticism at USC. She worked for 10 years at the L.A. Herald Examiner and came to work at The Times in January 1990. She left in 2016.

Black women and the Oscar race

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