Though you may not know her name, you know her most famous line, “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies.” A former dancer, Thelma McQueen was given the nickname, “Butterfly” because of her ever-fluttering hands and the delicacy with which she danced. She legally changed her name to “Butterfly” later in her life. Her very first film role as Prissy, Scarlett’s maid in 1939’s
Gone with the Wind, has forever placed Miss McQueen in an important niche in movie history. She appeared in many famous films over her career, including two with Joan Crawford:
The Women and
Mildred Pierce. McQueen quickly grew tired of the racially insensitive and stereotypical roles she was forced to play, and ended her film career in 1947. Later, she made many television appearances and made a brief return to film in 1986.
This framed photo still from
Gone with the Wind depicts the moment just before her most famous line. Framed and matted with a border of the incised design of the pediment and columns so associated with antebellum plantations, the still is presented above a page autographed by Miss McQueen.
The autographs of classic film stars are big business, and
Gone with the Wind Autographs are among the most sought after. Though Butterfly McQueen worked in a time when she would never be able to play the roles of substance that she could have now, she will always be remembered as a consummate professional, and a very talented performer.
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