A History Of Black Maids In Hollywood

As we mark the 12th anniversary of the release of "The Help" in 2011, we look back at the history of Black maids in Hollywood.

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As we mark the 12th anniversary of the release of "The Help" in 2011, we look back at the history of Black maids in Hollywood. The anniversary of "The Help" serves as a reminder of the industry's progress while highlighting the need for continued efforts to tell authentic and empowering stories of Black women in cinema.

Photo By Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images, DreamWorks Pictures

Gone With the Wind - This historical epic, based on Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, about the Civil War and Reconstruction from the point of view of white Southerners is as American as grits and biscuits. Despite ample criticism of it's idyllic portrayal of Southern gentility and race relations, this ten-time Oscar winning picture has earned a place in film history, ranked fourth among AFI's 100 Greatest Films of All Time.  (Photo: Silver Screen Collection)

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Hattie McDaniel: Gone With The Wind - For her famous role as the sassy, tell-it-like-tis maid Mammy in 1939’s Gone With the Wind, Hattie McDaniel made history by becoming the first Black actress to win an Oscar. To those criticizing her for constantly playing maid parts in film, she gave the famous reply: “I'd rather play a maid than be one.” Nuff said. (Photo: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

Dorothy Dandridge in The King and I - The songbird was pursued for the role of Tuptim in this 1956 classic, but turned it down on the advice of Otto Preminger, her director from Carmen Jones, who dissuaded her from accepting a supporting role. Her biopic, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, also suggests she passed because the character was a slave.(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Dorothy Dandridge: Lucky Jordan - Although Dorothy Dandridge famously refused to play a mammy as her star rose in the 1950s, she too had to play the maid in order to get paid, especially early on in her film career. On her way to becoming the first Black woman nominated for a best actress Oscar, she starred as a maid (uncredited) in the 1942 movie Lucky Jordan. (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Juanita Moore: Imitation of Life - We all know Juanita Moore as the mother of the pimp Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation classic The Mack. But this long-time actress had her breakout role in the 1959 remake of Imitation of Life. Playing the maid Annie Johnson, Moore pulled double duty: taking care of her bosses home while also reminding her own daughter—who was passing for white—that she should accept her Blackness.

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Juanita Moore: Imitation of Life - We all know Juanita Moore as the mother of the pimp Goldie in the 1973 blaxploitation classic The Mack. But this long-time actress had her breakout role in the 1959 remake of Imitation of Life. Playing the maid Annie Johnson, Moore pulled double duty: taking care of her bosses home while also reminding her own daughter—who was passing for white—that she should accept her Blackness.

Movin on Up to 40 Years of The Jeffersons - This week marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of The Jeffersons, the longest running Black sitcom in TV history. For eleven seasons, audiences laughed until they cried at the hilarious situations George and Weezy found themselves in. To celebrate the Ruby anniversary of our favorite TV neighbors on Manhattan's Upper East Side, BET.com takes a look back at its very talented cast of actors. (Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

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Marla Gibbs: The Jeffersons - Playing the Jeffersons’ unfiltered, barb-tossing housekeeper Florence Johnston was Marla Gibbs. But Florence wasn't your average maid, the actress tackled the character with wit and fire. The series aired for 11 seasons, from 1975 to 1985.

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The Color Purple (1985) - This adaptation of Alice Walker's novel by Steven Spielberg introduced two new talents to the world: Oprah Winfrey, in her acting debut, and newcomer Whoopi Goldberg. But even in the face of all that female talent, Danny Glover managed to hold his own as "Mister." At the time of the film's release, the movie was protested by the NAACP but the film is considered a classic today. (Photo: Warner Brothers/courtesy Everett Collection)

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Oprah Winfrey: The Color Purple - For her role as Sofia in the 1985 classic film The Color Purple, the former talk show queen was legally forced to be a maid for the same white woman she was jailed for insulting. While Winfrey wasn’t the film’s star, she delivered many of its most memorable lines like—say it with me: “You told Harpo to beat me…” Photo: Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection

Nell Carter

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Dorothy Dandridge: Lucky Jordan - Although Dorothy Dandridge famously refused to play a mammy as her star rose in the 1950s, she too had to play the maid in order to get paid, especially early on in her film career. On her way to becoming the first Black woman nominated for a best actress Oscar, she starred as a maid (uncredited) in the 1942 movie Lucky Jordan. (Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Whoopi Goldberg: The Long Walk Home - In the 1990 drama The Long Walk Home, Whoopi Goldberg plays the maid Odessa Cotter whose life gets caught in the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Supporting the protest, she has to walk to work, which inevitably drags her white boss-lady (Sissy Spacek) into the battle when she starts giving the housekeeper a ride.Photo: Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection

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Whoopi Goldberg: The Long Walk Home - In the 1990 drama The Long Walk Home, Whoopi Goldberg plays a maid named Odessa Cotter whose life gets caught in the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955. Supporting the protest, she has to walk to work, which inevitably drags her white boss-lady (Sissy Spacek) into the battle when she starts giving the housekeeper a ride.Photo: Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection

Sanaa Lathan: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark - On the Broadway stage, Sanaa Lathan donned a maid uniform for the stage comedy By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. For this satire about African-American identity in the movies, Lathan played Vera Stark, who goes from being the maid of a movie star to becoming a semi-film star herself.

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Sanaa Lathan: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark - On the Broadway stage, Sanaa Lathan donned a maid uniform for the stage comedy By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. For this satire about Black characters in the movies, Lathan played Vera Stark, who goes from being the maid of a movie star to becoming a semi-film star herself.

The Secret Life of Bees - Hudson’s third film appearance was in “The Secret Life of Bees.” The actress played Rosaleen, the mother figure of Lily Owens played by co-star, Dakota Fanning. The film also starred fellow Oscar nominees Queen Latifah and Sophie Okonedo, along with singer Alicia Keys.

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Jennifer Hudson: The Secret Life of Bees - In the film adaptation of the novel The Secret Life of Bees Jennifer Hudson plays maid Rosaleen Daise. As the confidant of the white family’s 14-year-old daughter (Dakota Fanning), Hudson and her buddy runaway and wind up living in a Black bee-keeper’s home. Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

Viola Davis: The Help - In this much-anticipated film adaptation of the novel The Help, Viola Davis stars as Aibileen Clark, a maid in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Where films involving Black housekeepers don’t give much light to their thoughts about the job and racism, this one looks to shatter that cinematic wall.Photo: Dreamworks Studios

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Viola Davis: The Help - In this film adaptation of the novel The Help, Viola Davis stars as Aibileen Clark, a maid in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Controversial at the time, Davis added soul and nuance to her character, earning her an Oscar nomination. Octavia Spencer also won an Oscar best supporting actress. Photo: Dreamworks Studios