Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. And the Hello and welcome to our Wednesday Bonus Comedy episode of Down These Mean Streets and the first in a special series of shows in celebration of Black History month.

Each Wednesday in February I'll play shows featuring African American performers.

Men and women who played prominent roles in old time radio comedies

at a time when opportunities in show business, to say nothing of the rest of society were severely limited for them.

And we'll kick off our series with Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African American

to win an Oscar.

She took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Mammy and

Gone With The Wind. She won that award during a ceremony where she was forced to sit at a segregated table.

And she wasn't allowed to attend the premiere of the film because it was held in a White's only theater in Atlanta.

Hattie McDaniel would encounter racism throughout her acting career,

but she persisted, appearing in over 300 films, recording several songs, and starring in her own radio series.

In 1947, McDaniel took over the role of Buella.

In the popular series focused on the titular housekeeper and

made of the Henderson family.

The character of Buella had been heard on shows since the early 1940s, including Fibre McGee and Molly, where she was the

McGee's housekeeper. But in those early appearances, Bula, an African American woman, was played by white male actor Marlon Hurt.

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