Thelma McQueen attended public school in Augusta, Georgia and graduated
from high school in Long Island, New York. She studied dance with
Katherine Dunham,
Geoffrey Holder, and
Janet Collins. She danced with the
Venezuela Jones Negro Youth Group. The "Butterfly" stage name, which
does describe her constantly moving arms, actually derives from dancing
the "Butterfly Ballet" in a 1935 production of "A Midsummer Night's
Dream". Her stage debut was in "Brown Sugar," directed by
George Abbott for whom she did several
other stage shows. In 1939 she appeared as the shop girls' assistant
Lulu in
The Women (1939) and in her
most famous role, the irresponsible, whiny Prissy of
Gone with the Wind (1939)
("Oh, Miss Scarlett, I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' babies").
Two other notable appearances among her string of silly maid parts were
in
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
and
Mildred Pierce (1945). From
1947 to 1951, she was a regular on the radio show "Beulah" and then in
the TV version 1950-52.
In 1980, a Greyhound Bus Lines guard mistook her for a pickpocket and
handled her roughly, throwing her against a bench and cracking several
of her ribs. She sued for assault, and after several years of
litigation, she was awarded $60,000. She chose to live very frugally on
the money and retired to a small town outside Augusta, Georgia, where
she lived in anonymity in a modest one-bedroom cottage.
On the night of Dec. 22, 1995, a fire broke out in her home, and she
was found by firefighters lying on the sidewalk outside with severe
burns over 70 percent of her body. She said her clothes caught fire
while she was trying to light a kerosene heater in her cottage, which
was destroyed by the fire. She was taken to Augusta Regional Medical
Center, where she died at age 84.
The Magical World of Disney(1954)as Miss Priss
The Mosquito Coast(1986)as Ma Kennywick
American Playhouse(1980)as Blind Negress
ABC Afterschool Specials(1972)as Aunt Thelma
ABC Weekend Specials(1977)as Aunt Thelma
Frankenpimp's Revenge: The Romeo and Juliet Massacre(2020)
The Watermelon Woman(1996)
Gone with the Wind(1939)
Wogan(1982)as Self
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind(1988)as Self
Our World(1986)as Self - 'Gone With The Wind' Actress
Movie Blockbusters: The 15 Greatest Hits of All Time(1983)as Self
Trailer War(2012)
Gone with the Wind: The Legend Lives On(2009)as Self
Crawford at Warners(2008)as Lottie - Mildred's Maid
Dorothy Dandridge: An American Beauty(2003)as Self
The 68th Annual Academy Awards(1996)as Self - Memorial Tribute
