15 Black Actors and Actress Who Won Academy Awards

Here are the Black Actors and Actress Who Won Academy Awards

1. Sidney Poitier

• Award Year: 1963
• For Film: Lilies of the Field
• Role Played: Homer Smith
• The Highlights:
  • First black man to win an Oscar
  • First black man to win Best Actor
  • The youngest black man to win Best Actor (aged 37)
  • First black man to be nominated twice for Best Actor

Denzel Washington

• Award Year: 2001
• For Film: Training Day
• Role Played: Alonzo Harris
• The Highlights:
  • Second black man to win Best Actor
  • 2001 was the year of African-Americans: two Oscars were awarded to black people for the leading role; Best Actress was won by Halle Berry for the film Monster’s Ball.

Jamie Foxx

• Award Year: 2004
• For Film: Ray
• Role Played: Ray Charles
• The Highlight:
  • The first black person to receive two nominations in one year in the acting category; the other was for the film Collateral.

The Biggest Before The Oscar: The Golden Globes 2016

Forest Whitaker

• Award Year: 2006
• For Film: The Last King of Scotland
• Role Played: Idi Amin

Halle Berry

• Award Year: 2001
• For Film: Monster’s Ball
• Role Played: Leticia Musgrove
• The Highlights:
  • First black woman to win Best Actress

The Most Emotional Oscar Acceptance Ever:

Louis Gossett, Jr.

• Award Year: 1982
• For Film: An Officer and a Gentleman
• Role Played: Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley
• The Highlight:
  • First black man to win Best Supporting Actor

Denzel Washington

• Award Year: 1989
• For Film: Glory
• Role Played: Pvt. Trip
• The Highlight:
  • The first black actor to be nominated twice for Best Supporting Actor, the other film was the film Flight in 2012.

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

• Award Year: 1996
• For Film: Jerry Maguire
• Role Played: Rod Tidwell
• The Highlight:
  • The youngest black actor to win an Academy Award (aged 29)

Morgan Freeman

• Award Year: 2004
• For Film: Million Dollar Baby
• Role Played: Eddie ‘Scrap-Iron’ Dupris
• The Highlight:
  • The oldest black actor to win an Oscar (aged 67)

Hattie McDaniel

• Award Year: 1939
• For Film: Gone with the Wind
• Role Played: Mammy
• The Highlights:
  • The first black woman to win an Oscar as the Best Actress in a Supporting Role
  • The first black person, in any category, to win an Oscar
  • The first black person to be nominated for acting
  • The first black actress to win Best Supporting Actress
  • The oldest black actress to win an Oscar (aged 44)

Whoopi Goldberg

• Award Year: 1990
• For Film: Ghost
• Role Played: Oda Mae Brown
• The Highlights:
  • The first black actress to be nominated twice, the other one was for the film The Color Purple in 1985
  • The second black actress to receive Oscar for Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Hudson

• Award Year: 2006
• For Film: Dreamgirls
• Role Played: Effie White
• The Highlights:
  • The first black person to win an Oscar for a debut performance in a film
  • The youngest black actress to be nominated or win Best Supporting Actress
  • The youngest black person to win an Oscar (aged 25)
  • The first film, Dreamgirls, to feature black nominations in both Best Supporting Actor & Actress
  • The first black actress to win Oscar for a musical film

Mo’Nique

• Award Year: 2009
• For Film: Precious
• Role Played: Mary Lee Johnston
• The Highlight:
  • The second film to nominate two blacks, in the Best Actress & Best Supporting Actress.

Octavia Spencer

• Award Year: 2011
• For Film: The Help
• Role Played: Minny Jackson
• The Highlight:
  • The third film to feature black nominations for the Best Actress & the Supporting Actress

Best Movies Of 2015

Lupita Nyong’o

• Award Year: 2013
• For Film: 12 Years a Slave
• Role Played: Patsey
• The Highlights:
  • The first black African to be nominated and win an Oscar.
  • The 2nd black actor to win for their debut performance in a film.