Butterfly was born Thelma McQueen in Tampa, Florida. She was planning to become a nurse until a high-school teacher suggested that she try acting. McQueen studied with Janet Collins and went on to dance with the Venezuela Jones Negro Youth Group. Around this time she received the nickname "Butterfly" because of her constantly moving hands in the Butterfly Ballet in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". She had always hated her birth name, and later legally changed her name to Butterfly McQueen. She performed with the dance troupe of Katherine Dunham. She made her professional debut in George Abbott's "Brown Sugar".