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Butterfly Mcqueen




Butterfly McQueen ( January 7 , 1911December 22 , 1995 ) was an America n Film and Television Actress .

Born Thelma McQueen in Tampa, Florida , she trained as a dancer and took her stage name from the "Butterfly Dance" after performing it in a production of '' A Midsummer Night's Dream ''.

McQueen made her first film appearance playing an uncredited bit part as a sales assistant in '''' (1944), '' Mildred Pierce '' (1945) and '' Duel In The Sun '' (1946), but by 1947 had grown tired of the Ethnic Stereotype s she was required to play and ended her film career.

By 1950 she had played another racially-sterotyped role for two years on the Television Series '' Beulah '', which reunited her with her ''Gone with the Wind'' co-star Hattie McDaniel .

Her acting roles after this were very few, and she devoted herself to other pursuits including study, and received a bachelor's degree in Political Science in 1975. She had one more role of some substance in the 1986 film '' The Mosquito Coast ''.

McQueen died in Augusta, Georgia as a result of burns received when a kerosene heater she was attempting to light exploded and burst into flames. A lifelong Atheist , she donated her body to medical science and remembered the Freedom From Religion Foundation in her will.