ACTRESS CLOSER TO LAST WISH.

Byline: Cynthia L. Webb Associated Press 

Nearly 50 years after actress Hattie McDaniel's death, the Oscar-winning star from ``Gone With the Wind'' will come close to getting her final wish.

In her will, McDaniel, the first black to win an Academy Award, asked to be buried at the Hollywood Memorial Park Cemetery, where Mel Blanc, Rudolph Valentino, Benjamin ``Bugsy'' Siegel and others are buried.

``I desire a white casket and a white shroud; white gardenias in my hair and in my hands, together with a white gardenia blanket and a pillow of red roses,'' McDaniel wrote. ``I also wish to be buried in the Hollywood Cemetery.''

But when she died in 1952 of breast cancer, the Los Angeles cemetery would not provide service to blacks. McDaniel was buried instead at Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery - a palm-tree lined memorial park near the now-faded neighborhood of Adams.

Now, the new owners of the Hollywood cemetery, which was renamed Hollywood Forever, are installing a memorial to recognize McDaniel. On Tuesday, the 47th anniversary of her death, they will place a gray and pink granite monument next to a lake at the cemetery in view of the landmark Hollywood sign.

``There was so much that was done wrong here,'' said Tyler Cassity, who bought the cemetery in 1998. ``It was karma where we thought clearly they made a horrible decision and it is in our power to correct it.''

The cemetery changed its policy after 1959, but only three black people are buried at the park out of 80,000 graves, Cassity said.

``Beyond righting a wrong, it's our chance to stand up and open our doors to the black community and open our doors here and say we are sorry that this was done.''

Edgar Goff, McDaniel's great nephew - one of only two surviving relatives - and his longtime partner, MaBel Collins, are helping to organize the memorial.

``It is long overdue. It's especially important that people will finally realize that Hattie McDaniel was much more than Mammy in 'Gone With the Wind,''' said Mrs. Collins, referring to the role that won McDaniel an Oscar in 1940 for best supporting actress.

Goff, 69, who recalls days of playing in his great-aunt's yard in central Los Angeles, said he gets tearful thinking about the memorial.

``She would be elated,'' Goff said. ``She was a very giving person and she would be tickled that she finally got there.''

At first, the two thought of moving McDaniel's grave site, which is marked by a simple granite slab inscribed with her name and date of death.

But they decided against it, partly because the cemetery where she resides is black-owned. Also buried there are George ``Kingfish'' Stevens of ``Amos 'n' Andy'' and Anna May Wong, a prominent actress born in Los Angeles' Chinatown.

``There may have been some hoopla after removing her (after) all these years. It would have taken away from the memorial if there was any dissension that was racial in any way,'' Mrs. Collins said.

Dr. Todd Boyd, a professor at University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television who specializes in African-American cinema, said the new memorial is probably more significant for her relatives than a symbol of cultural change.

McDaniel, who acted in more than 80 films, often portrayed maids. Boyd said these ``mammy, handkerchief head roles'' played into a negative stereotype of blacks.

``These roles were quite problematic,'' Boyd said. ``That is an important part of Hollywood and African-American history to recognize these images so that one can move beyond them, as well as recognize the racism of Hollywood.''

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Photo

Photo: HATTIE McDANIEL