Bessie Love

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6777 Hollywood Blvd. A lifelong atheist, she donated her body to medical science. She made a small comeback in the 1980s with roles in Ragtime and in Reds. McQueen died in Augusta, Georgia as a result of burns received when a kerosene heater she was attempting to light exploded and doused her in fuel. Her career came to a quick halt soon after that, however, and she moved to the United Kingdom, where she had very small roles in several films. She had one more role of some substance in the 1986 film The Mosquito Coast. She was able to successfully transition to talkies, and in 1929 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Broadway Melody. 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 performed the Charleston in the movie The King on Main Street in 1925. By 1950 she had commenced a three year stint on the television series Beulah which reunited her with her Gone With The Wind co-star Hattie McDaniel. As her roles got larger, so did her popularity. She continued to play maids and small parts in various films including Since You Went Away, (1944), Mildred Pierce, (1945) and Duel in the Sun, (1946) but by 1947 had grown tired of the ethnic stereotypes she was required to play and ended her film career. She was selected one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1922. She made her first film appearance playing an uncredited bit part as a sales assistant in The Women in 1939 and later that year filmed what would become her most identifiable role - as Prissy the maid in Gone With The Wind. Griffith, who gave her a small part in Intolerance in 1916. 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.

When the family needed money, her mother sent her to Biograph Studios, where she met D.W. Butterfly McQueen (January 7, 1911 - December 22, 1995) was an American film and television actress. Born Juanita Horton in Midland, Texas, she moved with her family to Hollywood when she was young. Bessie Love (September 10, 1898 - April 26, 1986) was an American actress.