From Hattie to J.Hud: Black Actors And Actresses Who Have Won Oscars

This year's Academy Awards ceremony was probably the best that I've seen in a long time. You could actually watch it from beginning to end, because it truly kept you entertained. However, as we celebrate the awards given to the great works last night, let's not forget the strides that our Black actors and actresses made to pave the way for us in one of the most competitive fields that exist.

In 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar for her role of a maid in Gone With The Wind. Although a lot of Blacks, especially the NAACP, criticized McDaniel because of the nature of her role, her contributions to the field of acting cannot be contested. In fact, she used the constraints of reality to create a new reality for Black actors and actresses.

Twenty-four years later, in 1964, Sidney Poitier became the first Black man to ever win an Oscar and the first Black man to ever earn the Best Actor in a Lead Role award for his work in Lillies of the Field.


In 1983, Louis Gossett, Jr. became the first Black man to win the best supporting actor Oscar for his part in Officer And A Gentleman.


Whoopi Goldberg earned an Oscar for best Supporting Actress in 1991 for Ghost.


Cuba Gooding, Jr. won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Jerry Maguire in 1997


In 2002, thirty-eight years after Hattie McDaniel became the first African American actress to receive an Oscar, Halle Barry became the first African American woman to accept the award for Best Actress in a Lead Role for her work in Monster's Ball.


On the same night, Denzel Washington became the second Black man to win the award for Best Actor in a Lead Role for his work in Training Day. He is also the only Black actor to hold two Oscars; he won another in 1990 for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Glory.


Jamie Foxx won Best Actor in a Leading Role in the biopic Ray in 2005


Morgan Freeman won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Million Dollar Baby in 2005


Forest Whitaker won Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Last King of Scotland in 2007


And most recently, Jennifer Hudson won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Dreamgirls in 2007


Other Honorable Mentions include Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Willie D. Burton, Russell Williams II, Prince, Herbie Hancock, Irene Cara, James Baskett, and Isaac Hayes, all of whom have won Oscars for their particular roles in movies outside of acting.

Willytee for KiDDuNot.com