Of the winners from the four acting categories, 5.3 percent have been Black, with only 19 out of 354 awards collected by Black actors.
The first acting Oscar to be won by a Black person went to Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind in 1939. However, the win was hardly a major victory for representation, as the actress was banned from sitting with her co-stars on the night due to segregation. McDaniel’s win would also be the last nomination of a Black actor for a decade.
Although Black actors have been more celebrated at the Academy Awards in recent years, the Oscars have still been criticized for their lack of diversity. In 2015, #OscarsSoWhite began trending on Twitter after the Academy failed to nominate a single Black actor. The 92nd Oscars (which took place in February 2020), meanwhile, was the last to award all four acting categories to white actors, with Cynthia Erivo the only Black actor nominated in any of the four categories.
The 2021 Oscar nominations, however, see Black actors better represented than in the past, with a record three Supporting Actor nominations, Best Actress nominations for Andra Day and Viola Davis and posthumous Best Actor nod for Chadwick Boseman.
Every Black actor who has won An Oscar
1939 - Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind (Best Supporting Actress)1963 - Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (Best Actor)1982 - Louis Gossett Jr. for An Officer and a Gentleman (Best Supporting Actor)1989 - Denzel Washington for Glory (Best Supporting Actor)1990 - Whoopi Goldberg for Ghost (Best Supporting Actress)1996 - Cuba Gooding Jr. for Jerry Maguire (Best Supporting Actor)2001 - Halle Berry for Monster’s Ball (Best Actress)2001 - Denzel Washington for Training Day (Best Actor)2004 - Jamie Foxx for Ray (Best Actor)2004 - Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby (Best Supporting Actor)2006 - Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls (Best Supporting Actress)2006 - Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (Best Actor)2009 - Mo’Nique for Precious (Best Supporting Actress)2011 - Octavia Spencer for The Help (Best Supporting Actress)2013 - Lupita Nyong’o for 12 Years a Slave (Best Supporting Actress)2016 - Mahershala Ali for Moonlight (Best Supporting Actor)2016 - Viola Davis for Fences (Best Supporting Actress)2018 - Mahershala Ali for Green Book (Best Supporting Actor)2018 - Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk (Best Supporting Actress)
Every Black actor nominated for an Oscar
Best Actress
1954 - Dorothy Dandridge for Carmen Jones1972 - Diana Ross for Lady Sings the Blues1972 - Cicely Tyson for Sounder1974 - Diahann Carroll for Claudine1985 - Whoopi Goldberg for The Color Purple1993 - Angela Bassett for What’s Love Got to Do with It2009 - Gabourey Sidibe for Precious2011 - Viola Davis for The Help2012 - Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild2016 - Ruth Negga for Loving2019 - Cynthia Erivo for Harriet2020 - Andra Day for The United States vs. Billie Holiday2020 - Viola Davis for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Best Actor
1958 - Sidney Poitier for The Defiant Ones1970 - James Earl Jones for The Great White Hope1972 - Paul Winfield for Sounder1986 - Dexter Gordon for Round Midnight1989 - Morgan Freeman for Driving Miss Daisy1992 - Denzel Washington for Malcolm X1993 - Laurence Fishburne for What’s Love Got to Do with It1994 - Morgan Freeman for The Shawshank Redemption1999 - Denzel Washington for The Hurricane2001 - Training Day for Alonzo Harris2001 - Will Smith for Ali2004 - Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda2005 - Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow2006 - Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness2009 - Morgan Freeman for Invictus2012 - Denzel Washington for Flight2013 - Chiwetel Ejiofor for 12 Years a Slave2016 - Denzel Washington for Fences2017 - Roman J. Israel, Esq. for Roman J. Israel2017 - Daniel Kaluuya for Get Out2020 - Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Best Supporting Actress
1949 - Ethel Waters for Pinky1959 - Juanita Moore for Imitation of Life1967 - Beah Richards for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner1983 - Alfre Woodard for Cross Creek1985 - Margaret Avery for The Color Purple1985 - Oprah Winfrey for The Color Purple1996 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Secrets & Lies2002 - Queen Latifah for Chicago2004 - Sophie Okonedo for Hotel Rwanda2007 - Ruby Dee for American Gangster2008 - Viola Davis for Doubt2008 - Taraji P. Henson for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button2016 - Naomie Harris for Moonlight2016 - Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures2017 - Octavia Spencer for The Shape of Water2017 - Mary J. Blige for Mudbound
Best Supporting Actor
1969 - Rupert Crosse for The Reivers1981 - Howard Rollins for Ragtime1984 - Adolph Caesar for A Soldier’s Story1987 - Morgan Freeman for Street Smart1987 - Denzel Washington for Cry Freedom1992 - Jaye Davidson for The Crying Game1994 - Samuel L. Jackson for Pulp Fiction1999 - Michael Clarke Duncan for The Green Mile2003 - Djimon Hounsou for In America2004 - Jamie Foxx for Collateral2006 - Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond2006 - Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls2013 - Barkhad Abdi for Captain Phillips2020 - Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah2020 - Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night in Miami2020 - Lakeith Stanfield for Judas and the Black Messiah
