Butterfly McQueen Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen (January 8, 1911 – December 22, 1995) was an American actress. Originally a dancer, McQueen first appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind. She continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s. During World War II, she frequently appeared on the Armed Forces Broadcast "Jubilee," as a comedienne. Many of these broadcasts are available on the Internet Archive.
Amazing Grace, The Phynx, Killer Diller, Duel in the Sun, Flame of Barbary Coast, Cabin in the Sky, Affectionately Yours, Gone with the Wind
TV Shows
Beulah
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Quote
1
Now I am happy I did Gone with the Wind (1939). 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.
2
As my ancestors are free from slavery, I am free from the slavery of religion.
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Fact
1
At one point, lived at the Thomas W. Phillips Residence at 2215 South Harvard Boulevard in Los Angeles, which was the filming location for the house in the majority of The People Under the Stairs (1991).
2
Lines from her obituary indicate that she wished to have all of her many cats put to sleep, as she could not be sure they could be guaranteed good homes after she was gone.
3
Biography in "Actresses of a Certain Character: Forty Familiar Hollywood Faces from the Thirties to the Fifties" by Axel Nissen.
4
In 1980, she sued Greyhound Bus Lines when she was assaulted in a bus station by a guard who thought she was a pickpocket. Thrown roughly onto a bench, the 69 year-old actress had several of her ribs damaged. After several years of litigation, she was awarded $60,000.
5
Her body was donated to medical science.
6
The pressbook for the late 1960s release of Gone with the Wind (1939) listed her name as "Butterfield McQueen."
7
In the 1975 stage musical "The Wiz," Butterfly was initially cast to play the Queen of the Field Mice until her scene was cut. She ended up understudying the role of Addapearle, the Good Witch of the North.
8
Hated her real name of "Thelma" and actually had her name legalized to "Butterfly McQueen."
9
Father was a stevedore and mother was a maid.
10
A lifelong atheist, she was honored with a "Freethought Heroine" award from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in 1989. She was a life member of the organization, and left the contents of her personal bank account to the group when she died.
11
Frustrated with racial type-casting, she quit acting in films in 1947, but appeared in the TV series Beulah (1950), where she played a maid. When not appearing on Broadway, she worked as a taxi dispatcher, a real-life maid, a companion to an elderly white woman, a seamstress, and a department store salesperson.
12
Received a bachelor's degree in political science from New York City College in 1975 (she was 64).
13
At the time of her passing, she was living in a modest one-bedroom cottage just outside Augusta, GA. Her neighbors told the media that they knew her as "Thelma" McQueen because she did not want the public to know who she was. On the night of Dec. 22, 1995, a fire broke out in her cottage, and she was found lying on the sidewalk outside with second- and third-degree burns over 70 percent of her body. She told firefighters her clothes caught fire while she was trying to light one of two kerosene heaters in her cottage, which was destroyed by the fire. She was taken to Augusta Regional Medical Center, where she died at age 84.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
1989
TV Series
Miss Priss
The Mosquito Coast
1986
Ma Kennywick
American Playhouse
1986
TV Series
Blind Negress
ABC Afterschool Specials
1979
TV Series
Aunt Thelma
ABC Weekend Specials
1978
TV Series
Aunt Thelma
Amazing Grace
1974
Clarine
The Phynx
1970
Butterfly McQueen
The Green Pastures
1957
TV Movie
Lux Video Theatre
1951
TV Series
Mary
Beulah
1950-1951
TV Series
Oriole
Studio One in Hollywood
1950
TV Series
Killer Diller
1948
Butterfly
Duel in the Sun
1946
Vashti
Mildred Pierce
1945
Lottie - Mildred's Maid (uncredited)
Flame of Barbary Coast
1945
Flaxen's Maid
I Dood It
1943
Annette
Cabin in the Sky
1943
Lily
Affectionately Yours
1941
Butterfly
Gone with the Wind
1939
Prissy - House Servant
The Women
1939
Lulu - Costmetics Counter Maid (uncredited)
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gone with the Wind
1939
performer: "My Old Kentucky Home" 1853 - uncredited
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Frankenpimp's Revenge: The Romeo and Juliet Massacre
2015
special thanks filming
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The 68th Annual Academy Awards
1996
TV Special
Herself - Memorial Tribute
Wogan
1989
TV Series
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
TV Movie documentary
Herself - Actress in 'Gone with the Wind'
Our World
1987
TV Series
Herself - Interviewee
Good Morning America
1983
TV Series
Herself
Ossie and Ruby!
1981
TV Series
Herself
Emerald City
1978
TV Series
Herself
The Mike Douglas Show
1972-1973
TV Series
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On
2009
Video documentary short
Herself
Crawford at Warners
2008
Video documentary short
Lottie - Mildred's Maid
Black History: Lost Stolen, or Strayed
1968
TV Movie documentary
Herself / Maid (uncredited)
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1980
Daytime Emmy
Daytime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming
$5 Million
