List of black Academy Award winners and nominees

Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Academy Award.

This list of black Academy Award winners and nominees is current as of the 88th Academy Awards ceremony held on February 28, 2016.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Year	Name	Film	Role	Status	Milestone
1958	Sidney Poitier	The Defiant Ones	Noah Cullen	Nominated	First African-American actor to be nominated for Best Actor.
1963		Lilies of the Field	Homer Smith	Won	First black male to win an Oscar. First African-American actor to win Best Actor. First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations (Best Actor). Youngest African-American actor to win Best Actor (age 37).
1970	James Earl Jones	The Great White Hope	Jack Jefferson	Nominated
1972	Paul Winfield	Sounder	Nathan Lee Morgan	Nominated	First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.
1986	Dexter Gordon	Round Midnight	Dale Turner	Nominated	First jazz musician to be nominated for Best Actor.
1989	Morgan Freeman	Driving Miss Daisy	Hoke Colburn	Nominated
1992	Denzel Washington	Malcolm X	Malcolm X	Nominated
1993	Laurence Fishburne	What's Love Got to Do with It	Ike Turner	Nominated	Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.
1994	Morgan Freeman	The Shawshank Redemption	Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding	Nominated
1999	Denzel Washington	The Hurricane	Rubin Carter	Nominated
2001		Training Day	Alonzo Harris	Won	Second African-American actor to receive the award for Best Actor. First time two African-American performers won in leading role Oscars in the same year (Halle Berry, Monster's Ball).
	Will Smith	Ali	Muhammad Ali	Nominated	First time multiple African-American actors received Best Actor nominations.
2004	Jamie Foxx	Ray	Ray Charles	Won	First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year.
	Don Cheadle	Hotel Rwanda	Paul Rusesabagina	Nominated
2005	Terrence Howard	Hustle & Flow	DJay	Nominated
2006	Forest Whitaker	The Last King of Scotland	Idi Amin	Won
	Will Smith	The Pursuit of Happyness	Chris Gardner	Nominated
2009	Morgan Freeman	Invictus	Nelson Mandela	Nominated
2012	Denzel Washington	Flight	William "Whip" Whitaker	Nominated	Denzel Washington has the most nominations for an African-American Actor: Best Actor (4 nominations) and Best Supporting Actor (2 nominations).
2013	Chiwetel Ejiofor	12 Years a Slave	Solomon Northup	Nominated	First black British actor to be nominated for Best Actor.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Year	Name	Film	Role	Status	Milestone
1954	Dorothy Dandridge	Carmen Jones	Carmen Jones	Nominated	First African-American actress to be nominated for Best Actress.
1972	Diana Ross	Lady Sings the Blues	Billie Holiday	Nominated	First African-American actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance. First time multiple African-American actresses received Best Actress nominations.
	Cicely Tyson	Sounder	Rebecca Morgan	Nominated	First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress. First time multiple African-American actresses received Best Actress nominations.
1974	Diahann Carroll	Claudine	Claudine	Nominated
1985	Whoopi Goldberg	The Color Purple	Celie Johnson	Nominated	First time multiple African-American actresses received nominations for the same film.
1993	Angela Bassett	What's Love Got to Do with It	Tina Turner	Nominated	Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress.
2001	Halle Berry	Monster's Ball	Leticia Musgrove	Won	First African-American actress to win Best Actress. First time two African-American performers won in leading role Oscars in the same year (Denzel Washington, Training Day).
2009	Gabourey Sidibe	Precious	Claireece "Precious" Jones	Nominated	Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Second African-American actress to receive a lead Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.
2011	Viola Davis	The Help	Aibileen Clark	Nominated	Third film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories. Tied with Whoopi Goldberg as the most nominated African-American actress with 2 nominations.
2012	Quvenzhané Wallis	Beasts of the Southern Wild	Hushpuppy	Nominated	Youngest ever Best Actress nominee (aged 9). Third African-American actress to receive a lead Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Year	Name	Film	Role	Status	Milestone
1969	Rupert Crosse	The Reivers	Ned	Nominated	First African-American actor to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
1981	Howard Rollins	Ragtime	Coalhouse Walker Jr.	Nominated
1982	Louis Gossett, Jr.	An Officer and a Gentleman	Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley	Won	First African-American actor to win Best Supporting Actor.
1984	Adolph Caesar	A Soldier's Story	Sgt. Waters	Nominated
1987	Morgan Freeman	Street Smart	Fast Black	Nominated	First time multiple African-American actors received Best Supporting Actor nominations.
	Denzel Washington	Cry Freedom	Steve Biko	Nominated
1989		Glory	Pvt. Trip	Won	First African-American actor to receive two Best Supporting Actor nominations.
1992	Jaye Davidson	The Crying Game	Dil	Nominated	First black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance. Youngest black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination (age 24) First black British actor to receive an Academy Award nomination.
1994	Samuel L. Jackson	Pulp Fiction	Jules Winnfield	Nominated
1996	Cuba Gooding, Jr.	Jerry Maguire	Rod Tidwell	Won	Youngest African-American male actor to win an Academy Award (age 29).
1999	Michael Clarke Duncan	The Green Mile	John Coffey	Nominated
2003	Djimon Hounsou	In America	Mateo	Nominated	First black actor born in Africa (specifically in Benin) to receive an Academy Award nomination.
2004	Morgan Freeman	Million Dollar Baby	Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris	Won	Oldest African-American actor to win an Academy Award (age 67).
	Jamie Foxx	Collateral	Max	Nominated	First African-American actor to receive two acting nominations in the same year.
2006	Djimon Hounsou	Blood Diamond	Solomon Vandy	Nominated
	Eddie Murphy	Dreamgirls	James 'Thunder' Early	Nominated	First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
2013	Barkhad Abdi	Captain Phillips	Abduwali Muse	Nominated	Second black actor born in Africa (specifically in Somalia) to receive an Academy Award nomination. Second black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut performance.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Year	Name	Film	Role	Status	Milestone
1939	Hattie McDaniel	Gone with the Wind	Mammy	Won	First African-American to win an Academy Award. First African-American to be nominated for acting.
1949	Ethel Waters	Pinky	Mrs. Dicey Johnson (Pinky's Granny)	Nominated	Second African-American person to be nominated for an Academy Award.
1959	Juanita Moore	Imitation of Life	Annie Johnson	Nominated
1967	Beah Richards	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner	Mrs. Prentice	Nominated	First time multiple African-American actresses received Best Supporting Actress nominations; however, Carol Channing had not acknowledged her African-American background at the time of the nomination
1983	Alfre Woodard	Cross Creek	Geechee	Nominated
1985	Margaret Avery	The Color Purple	Shug Avery	Nominated	Second time multiple African-American actresses received Best Supporting Actress nominations. First time multiple African-American actresses received nominations for the same film.
	Oprah Winfrey		Sofia	Nominated
1990	Whoopi Goldberg	Ghost	Oda Mae Brown	Won	First African-American actress to receive two acting nominations overall. Second African-American actress to win Best Supporting Actress.
1996	Marianne Jean-Baptiste	Secrets & Lies	Hortense Cumberbatch	Nominated	First black British actress to receive an Academy Award nomination.
2002	Queen Latifah	Chicago	Matron Mama Morton	Nominated	First female hip hop artist to be nominated for an Academy Award.
2004	Sophie Okonedo	Hotel Rwanda	Tatiana Rusesabagina	Nominated
2006	Jennifer Hudson	Dreamgirls	Effie White	Won	Youngest African-American actor (male or female) to win an Academy Award (age 25). First film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
2007	Ruby Dee	American Gangster	Mama Lucas	Nominated	Oldest African-American actress to be nominated for an Academy Award (age 83).
2008	Viola Davis	Doubt	Mrs. Miller	Nominated	Third time two African-American actresses were nominated in the same category.
	Taraji P. Henson	The Curious Case of Benjamin Button	Queenie	Nominated
2009	Mo'Nique	Precious	Mary Lee Johnston	Won	Second film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
2011	Octavia Spencer	The Help	Minny Jackson	Won	Third film to feature African-American nominees for both Best Actress and Supporting Actress.
2013	Lupita Nyong'o	12 Years a Slave	Patsey	Won	First black African (Kenyan) actress to be nominated. First black African to win in any category.

Best Cinematography

Academy Award for Best Cinematography
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1998	Remi Adefarasin	Elizabeth	Nominated	First black person to be nominated for Best Cinematography.

Best Costume Design

Academy Award for Best Costume Design
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1992	Ruth E. Carter	Malcolm X	Nominated	First African-American to be nominated for Best Costume Design.
1997		Amistad	Nominated
2004	Sharen Davis	Ray	Nominated
2006		Dreamgirls	Nominated

Best Director

Academy Award for Best Director
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1991	John Singleton	Boyz n the Hood	Nominated	First African-American to be nominated for Best Director. Youngest person ever nominated in this category (age 24).
2009	Lee Daniels	Precious	Nominated	Second African-American to earn a Best Director nomination. First African-American director to earn a Best Picture nomination.
2013	Steve McQueen	12 Years a Slave	Nominated	First black Briton to earn a Best Director nomination. First black director to direct a Best Picture winning film. First black director to earn an Oscar for Best Picture.

Best Documentary Feature

Academy Award for Documentary Feature
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1990	Yvonne Smith (producer)	Adam Clayton Powell	Nominated	Shared with Richard Kilberg. First African-American producer to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
1997	Spike Lee (director) Samuel D. Pollard (producer)	4 Little Girls	Nominated	First African-American director to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
2004	Karolyn Ali (producer)	Tupac: Resurrection	Nominated
2012	T. J. Martin (director)	Undefeated	Won	First African-American person to win in this category. First African-American director to win in this category.

Best Documentary Short Subject

Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
2000	Leelai Demoz	On Tiptoe: Gentle Steps to Freedom	Nominated	Shared nomination with Eric Simonson. First African-American person to be nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject.
2009	Roger Ross Williams	Music by Prudence	Won	Shared nomination with Elinor Burkett. First African-American person to win Best Documentary Short Subject.

Best Film Editing

Academy Award for Film Editing
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1969	Hugh A. Robertson	Midnight Cowboy	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated for Best Editing.

Best Music, Original Score

Academy Award for Original Music Score
Year	Name	Country	Film	Status	Milestone
1961	Duke Ellington		Paris Blues	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated for Best Original Score. Nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
1967	Quincy Jones		In Cold Blood	Nominated
1971	Isaac Hayes		Shaft	Nominated	Nominated for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score.
1972	Gil Askey		Lady Sings the Blues	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated in the Scoring Original Song Score and/or Adaptation (which is different from Best Original Score category).
1978	Quincy Jones		The Wiz	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated in the Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score (which is different from Best Original Score category).
1984	Prince		Purple Rain	Won	First African-American winner of Best Original Song Score (which is different from Best Original Score category); this category was retired afterwards.
1985	Quincy Jones Andrae Crouch Caiphus Semenya		The Color Purple	Nominated	Shared nomination with 9 other composers. Caiphus Semenya becomes the first black South African to be nominated for an Academy Award.
1986	Herbie Hancock		Round Midnight	Won	First African-American winner of Best Original Score.
1987	Jonas Gwangwa		Cry Freedom	Nominated	Shared nomination with George Fenton

Best Music, Original Song

Academy Award for Best Original Song
Year	Name	Country	Film	Song	Status	Milestone
1967	Quincy Jones Bob Russell		Banning	"The Eyes of Love"	Nominated	First African-American people to be nominated for Best Original Song.
1968			For Love of Ivy	"For Love of Ivy"	Nominated	First African-American people to be nominated twice for Best Original Song.
1971	Isaac Hayes		Shaft	"Theme from Shaft"	Won	First African-American winner for Best Original Song. First African-American winner for any award other than in the acting categories.
1981	Lionel Richie		Endless Love	"Endless Love"	Nominated
1983	Irene Cara		Flashdance	"Flashdance... What a Feeling"	Won	First African-American woman to win a non-acting Academy Award. Shared nomination and win with Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey.
1984	Stevie Wonder		The Woman in Red	"I Just Called to Say I Love You"	Won
1984	Ray Parker, Jr.		Ghostbusters	"Ghostbusters"	Nominated
1985	Lionel Richie		White Nights	"Say You, Say Me"	Won
	Quincy Jones Lionel Richie		The Color Purple	"Miss Celie's Blues"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Rod Temperton
1987	Jonas Gwangwa		Cry Freedom	"Cry Freedom"	Nominated	First black South African to be nominated in this category. Shared nomination with George Fenton.
1988	Lamont Dozier		Buster	"Two Hearts"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Phil Collins.
1993	Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis Janet Jackson		Poetic Justice	"Again"	Nominated
1994	James Ingram		Beethoven's 2nd	"The Day I Fall In Love"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Carole Bayer Sager and Cliff Magness.
1995			Junior	"Look What Love Has Done"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Carole Bayer Sager, James Newton Howard and Patty Smyth.
2005	Juicy J Frayser Boy DJ Paul		Hustle & Flow	"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp"	Won	First African-American rappers to win an Academy Award.
2006	Siedah Garrett		Dreamgirls	"Love You I Do"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Henry Krieger.
2007	Jamal Joseph Charles Mack Tevin Thomas		August Rush	"Raise It Up"	Nominated
2011	Siedah Garrett Carlinhos Brown		Rio	"Real in Rio"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Sergio Mendes. Garrett is the most nominated African-American female songwriter (2 nominations). Brown is the first black Latin American nominated for Best Original Song.
2013	Pharrell Williams		Despicable Me 2	"Happy"	Nominated
2014	Common John Legend		Selma	"Glory"	Won
2015	The Weeknd Jason "Daheala" Quenneville		Fifty Shades of Grey	"Earned It"	Nominated	Shared nomination with Belly and Stephan Moccio. The Weeknd and Quenneville are the first black Canadians nominated for Best Original Song.

Best Picture

Academy Award for Best Picture
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1985	Quincy Jones	The Color Purple	Nominated	First African-American producer whose film was nominated for Best Picture.
2009	Lee Daniels	Precious	Nominated	First African-American director whose film was nominated for Best Picture. First time two films with African-American producers were nominated for Best Picture.
	Broderick Johnson	The Blind Side	Nominated	First time two films with African-American producers were nominated for Best Picture.
2012	Reginald Hudlin	Django Unchained	Nominated
2013	Steve McQueen	12 Years a Slave	Won	First black producer to win Best Picture.
2014	Oprah Winfrey	Selma	Nominated	First black female producer nominated for Best Picture.

Best Short Film (Live Action)

Academy Award for Live Action Short Film
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1991	David Massey	Last Breeze of Summer	Nominated	First African-American person (male or female) to be nominated for Short Film (Live Action).
1995	Dianne Houston	Tuesday Morning Ride	Nominated	First African-American female to be nominated for Short Film (Live Action).

Best Sound Mixing

Academy Award for Sound
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1978	Willie D. Burton	The Buddy Holly Story	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated for Best Sound.
1980		Altered States	Nominated	First African-American person to be nominated multiple times for Best Sound.
1983		WarGames	Nominated
1988		Bird	Won	First African-American person to win Best Sound.
1989	Russell Williams	Glory	Won	Second African-American person to win Best Sound.
1990		Dances with Wolves	Won	First African-American person to win multiple Academy Awards in any category. First and only African-American to win consecutive awards in any category.
1994	Willie D. Burton	The Shawshank Redemption	Nominated
1999		The Green Mile	Nominated
2006		Dreamgirls	Won	First African-American person to be nominated, and to win, after category was renamed "Sound Mixing".

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
Year	Name	Film	Adapted From	Status	Milestone
1972	Lonne Elder	Sounder	Sounder by William H. Armstrong	Nominated	First African-American nominee for Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay).
1984	Charles Fuller	A Soldier's Story	A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller	Nominated
2009	Geoffrey Fletcher	Precious	Push by Sapphire	Won	First African-American to win a screenplay Academy Award (Adapted Screenplay).
2013	John Ridley	12 Years a Slave	Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup	Won	Second African-American to win a screenplay Academy Award (Adapted Screenplay). First African-American writer to have written a film that won Best Picture.

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay
Year	Name	Film	Status	Milestone
1972	Suzanne de Passe	Lady Sings the Blues	Nominated	Shared nomination with co-writers Chris Clark and Terence McCloy. First African-American nominee for Best Writing (Original Screenplay). First African-American female nominated for screen-writing.
1989	Spike Lee	Do the Right Thing	Nominated	First African-American male to be nominated for Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
1991	John Singleton	Boyz n the Hood	Nominated

Special Awards

Special Awards
Year	Name	Award
1948	James Baskett	Academy Special Award, for his characterization of Uncle Remus in Song of the South.
1995	Quincy Jones	Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
2001	Sidney Poitier	Academy Honorary Award, "for his extraordinary performances and unique presence on the screen and for representing the industry with dignity, style and intelligence".
2011	James Earl Jones	Academy Honorary Award, "for his legacy of consistent excellence and uncommon versatility"
	Oprah Winfrey	Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
2014	Harry Belafonte	Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
2015	Spike Lee	Academy Honorary Award, "a champion of independent film and an inspiration to young filmmakers"

See also

• Cheryl Boone Isaacs, first African-American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (but not herself an Oscar winner or nominee)
• List of African Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of African-American Tony nominees and winners
• List of Asian Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of black Golden Globe Award winners and nominees
• List of black Primetime Emmy Award winners and nominees
• List of Hispanic-American (U.S.) Academy Award winners and nominees

References

General

Specific