Best Supporting Actress Winners/Nominees Who are WOC
It's the sequel to my post about WOC Best Actress winners/nominees! This time, we're looking at Best Supporting Actress nominees for the Academy Awards. It is marginally less bleak toward the end, but is still real rough.
Note: There was discussion in the comments about who should/should not be included in my last post. Race is complex, especially in the Americas! Women in green italics are those whose inclusion may be up for debate. (For example, white Latinas.)
1936 - First Year Best Supporting Actress is a Category at Academy Awards
1939 - Hattie McDaniel WINS for Gone with the Wind
McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Academy Award. She faced significant racial discrimination throughout her career. She was unable to attend the Atlanta, Georgia premier of Gone with the Wind because it was held in a whites-only theater. During the Oscars, she was forced to sit at a segregated table at the back of the theater. Interestingly, her Oscar has gone missing. She bequeathed it to Howard University, but it was sold to settle her estate. The Oscar eventually made its way to Howard, but it disappeared at some point in the 1960s or 70s. It's whereabouts have been investigated, but it was never found.
1949 - Ethel Waters nominated for Pinky
Waters was a singer and actress. She was not only the second African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award, but also the first African-American to star in her own TV show and the first to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1933, she was the highest-paid performer on Broadway, following her featured role in As Thousands Cheer.
1954 - Katy Jurado nominated for Broken Lance
Jurado, born in Mexico, was the first Latin American actress nominated for an Oscar, and the first to win a Golden Globe for her performance in High Noon. She began as an actress in Mexico, and won an Ariel Award in 1953. Her first English-language film was Bullfighter and the Lady, and she learned her lines phonetically for the role. She learned English for her second English-language film, High Noon, which she won a Golden Globe for in 1952.
1957 - Miyoshi Umeki WINS for Sayonara
Umeki was born in Japan in 1929. After WWII, she became a nightclub singer in Japan. She would eventually immigrate to the United States and became the first East Asian-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was also a Golden Globe and Tony nominated actress. She was well-known for her role as Mei Lei in the Broadway musical and film Flower Drum Song.
1959 - Juanita Moore nominated for Imitation of Life
Moore was the fifth African-American nominated in any category for an Academy Award. She frequently had roles in TV shows all the way through 2001, when she appeared on an episode of Judging Amy.
1961 - Rita Moreno wins for West Side Story
Moreno is Puerto Rican and is an EGOT.
1966 - Jocelyne LaGarde nominated for Hawaii
LaGarde was a Native Tahitian. Her role in Hawaii made her the first Polynesian and first indigenous person nominated for an Academy Award. She is also the only actor to ever be nominated for her only film appearance. Hawaii was her first and only role.
1967 - Beah Richards nominated for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner
Richards, an African-American, portrayed Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess Who's Coming for Dinner. She was also nominated for a Tony Award for her role in The Amen Corner.
1967 - Carol Channing nominated for Thoroughly Modern Millie
Did you know that Channing was multiracial? Her father was half African-American and half white. Her mother was white. She claimed to be proud of her heritage, but did not reveal it until 2002. She was certainly considered white at the time of her nomination.
1983 - Alfre Woodard nominated for Cross Creek
When Woodard was nominated, 16 years had passed since the previous Black Supporting Actress nominee. Since her nomination, she has gone on to win 4 Emmys, a Golden Globe, and 3 SAGs.
1985 - Margaret Avery nominated for The Color Purple; Meg Tilly nominated for Agnes of God, Oprah Winfrey nominated for The Color Purple
Wow, more than one non-white nominee [Anjelica Huston won]! Avery and Winfrey are African-American, Tilly is Chinese and white. Of the three, Avery is the least well known. She struggled to find roles after her nomination, saying, "The fact that I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple is not unique. It not only happens to White actors sometimes, but with Black actors, too; but more so for women of color. At the time, most women of color who were in the business were limited to Black film; whereas my counterpart like Danny Glover, went on to Lethal Weapon One, Two, and Three. He didn’t have to be limited to a Black film; he didn’t have to be married to a family, or related to somebody, like we women have to."
1987 - Norma Aleandro nominated for Gaby: A True Story
Aleandro is a white Argentinian.
1990 - Whoopi Goldberg WINS for Ghost
Goldberg was the second Black woman to win an Academy Award for acting, which came nearly 50 years after McDaniel's historic win.
1993 - Rosie Perez nominated for Fearless
Perez is Puerto Rican and identifies as Afro-Latino.
1994 - Jennifer Tilly nominated for Bullets Over Broadway
Born Jennifer Ellen Chan, Tilly's father was Chinese-American.
1996 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste nominated for Secrets & Lies
Jean-Baptiste was born in England to a mother from Antigua and father from Saint Lucia. She was the first Black British actress to be nominated.
Pictured: 2007 nominee Ruby Dee. Dee was a civil rights activist and gave the eulogy at Malcom X's funeral.
Has the Academy done better in the 21st century? Eh. A bit.
2002- Queen Latifah nominated for Chicago
2003 - Shohreh Aghdashloo nominated for House of Sand and Fog. (Whether or not Iranian women are "white" is certainly up for debate, but this was definitely a win for representation.)
2004- Sophie Okonedo nominated for Hotel Rwanda
2006 - Jennifer Hudson WINS for Dreamgirls; Adriana Barraza nominated for Babel (she is Mexican); Rinko Kikuchi nominated for Babel
2007- Ruby Dee nominated for American Gangster
2008 - Viola Davis nominated for Doubt; Taraji P. Henson nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2009 - Mo-Nique WINS for Precious
The 2010s give us several notable wins for Black women.
2011- Octavia Spencer WINS for The Help
2013 - Lupita Nyong'o WINS for Twelve Years a Slave
2016- Viola Davis WINS for Fences; Naomie Harris nominated for Moonlight; Octavia Spencer nominated for Hidden Figures
2017 - Mary J. Blige nominated for Mudbound; Octavia Spencer nominated for The Shape of Water
2018- Regina King WINS for If Beale Street Could Talk; Marina de Tavira (a white Mexican) nominated for Roma
Are the 2020s doing the thing? Time will tell.
2020 - Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung WINS for Minari
2021 - Ariana DeBose WINS for West Side Story; Aunjanue Ellis nominated for King Richard
2022 - Angela Bassett nominated for Black Panther; Hong Chau nominated for The Whale; Stephanie Hsu nominated for Everything Everywhere All At Once
Winner of my heart Stephanie Hsu
Sources 1 2 3
Note: There was discussion in the comments about who should/should not be included in my last post. Race is complex, especially in the Americas! Women in green italics are those whose inclusion may be up for debate. (For example, white Latinas.)
1936 - First Year Best Supporting Actress is a Category at Academy Awards
1939 - Hattie McDaniel WINS for Gone with the Wind
McDaniel was the first African-American to win an Academy Award. She faced significant racial discrimination throughout her career. She was unable to attend the Atlanta, Georgia premier of Gone with the Wind because it was held in a whites-only theater. During the Oscars, she was forced to sit at a segregated table at the back of the theater. Interestingly, her Oscar has gone missing. She bequeathed it to Howard University, but it was sold to settle her estate. The Oscar eventually made its way to Howard, but it disappeared at some point in the 1960s or 70s. It's whereabouts have been investigated, but it was never found.
1949 - Ethel Waters nominated for Pinky
Waters was a singer and actress. She was not only the second African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award, but also the first African-American to star in her own TV show and the first to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1933, she was the highest-paid performer on Broadway, following her featured role in As Thousands Cheer.
1954 - Katy Jurado nominated for Broken Lance
Jurado, born in Mexico, was the first Latin American actress nominated for an Oscar, and the first to win a Golden Globe for her performance in High Noon. She began as an actress in Mexico, and won an Ariel Award in 1953. Her first English-language film was Bullfighter and the Lady, and she learned her lines phonetically for the role. She learned English for her second English-language film, High Noon, which she won a Golden Globe for in 1952.
1957 - Miyoshi Umeki WINS for Sayonara
Umeki was born in Japan in 1929. After WWII, she became a nightclub singer in Japan. She would eventually immigrate to the United States and became the first East Asian-American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was also a Golden Globe and Tony nominated actress. She was well-known for her role as Mei Lei in the Broadway musical and film Flower Drum Song.
1959 - Juanita Moore nominated for Imitation of Life
Moore was the fifth African-American nominated in any category for an Academy Award. She frequently had roles in TV shows all the way through 2001, when she appeared on an episode of Judging Amy.
1961 - Rita Moreno wins for West Side Story
Moreno is Puerto Rican and is an EGOT.
1966 - Jocelyne LaGarde nominated for Hawaii
LaGarde was a Native Tahitian. Her role in Hawaii made her the first Polynesian and first indigenous person nominated for an Academy Award. She is also the only actor to ever be nominated for her only film appearance. Hawaii was her first and only role.
1967 - Beah Richards nominated for Guess Who's Coming for Dinner
Richards, an African-American, portrayed Sidney Poitier's mother in Guess Who's Coming for Dinner. She was also nominated for a Tony Award for her role in The Amen Corner.
1967 - Carol Channing nominated for Thoroughly Modern Millie
Did you know that Channing was multiracial? Her father was half African-American and half white. Her mother was white. She claimed to be proud of her heritage, but did not reveal it until 2002. She was certainly considered white at the time of her nomination.
1983 - Alfre Woodard nominated for Cross Creek
When Woodard was nominated, 16 years had passed since the previous Black Supporting Actress nominee. Since her nomination, she has gone on to win 4 Emmys, a Golden Globe, and 3 SAGs.
1985 - Margaret Avery nominated for The Color Purple; Meg Tilly nominated for Agnes of God, Oprah Winfrey nominated for The Color Purple
Wow, more than one non-white nominee [Anjelica Huston won]! Avery and Winfrey are African-American, Tilly is Chinese and white. Of the three, Avery is the least well known. She struggled to find roles after her nomination, saying, "The fact that I didn’t work for a couple years after The Color Purple is not unique. It not only happens to White actors sometimes, but with Black actors, too; but more so for women of color. At the time, most women of color who were in the business were limited to Black film; whereas my counterpart like Danny Glover, went on to Lethal Weapon One, Two, and Three. He didn’t have to be limited to a Black film; he didn’t have to be married to a family, or related to somebody, like we women have to."
1987 - Norma Aleandro nominated for Gaby: A True Story
Aleandro is a white Argentinian.
1990 - Whoopi Goldberg WINS for Ghost
Goldberg was the second Black woman to win an Academy Award for acting, which came nearly 50 years after McDaniel's historic win.
1993 - Rosie Perez nominated for Fearless
Perez is Puerto Rican and identifies as Afro-Latino.
1994 - Jennifer Tilly nominated for Bullets Over Broadway
Born Jennifer Ellen Chan, Tilly's father was Chinese-American.
1996 - Marianne Jean-Baptiste nominated for Secrets & Lies
Jean-Baptiste was born in England to a mother from Antigua and father from Saint Lucia. She was the first Black British actress to be nominated.
Pictured: 2007 nominee Ruby Dee. Dee was a civil rights activist and gave the eulogy at Malcom X's funeral.
Has the Academy done better in the 21st century? Eh. A bit.
2002- Queen Latifah nominated for Chicago
2003 - Shohreh Aghdashloo nominated for House of Sand and Fog. (Whether or not Iranian women are "white" is certainly up for debate, but this was definitely a win for representation.)
2004- Sophie Okonedo nominated for Hotel Rwanda
2006 - Jennifer Hudson WINS for Dreamgirls; Adriana Barraza nominated for Babel (she is Mexican); Rinko Kikuchi nominated for Babel
2007- Ruby Dee nominated for American Gangster
2008 - Viola Davis nominated for Doubt; Taraji P. Henson nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2009 - Mo-Nique WINS for Precious
The 2010s give us several notable wins for Black women.
2011- Octavia Spencer WINS for The Help
2013 - Lupita Nyong'o WINS for Twelve Years a Slave
2016- Viola Davis WINS for Fences; Naomie Harris nominated for Moonlight; Octavia Spencer nominated for Hidden Figures
2017 - Mary J. Blige nominated for Mudbound; Octavia Spencer nominated for The Shape of Water
2018- Regina King WINS for If Beale Street Could Talk; Marina de Tavira (a white Mexican) nominated for Roma
Are the 2020s doing the thing? Time will tell.
2020 - Korean actress Youn Yuh-jung WINS for Minari
2021 - Ariana DeBose WINS for West Side Story; Aunjanue Ellis nominated for King Richard
2022 - Angela Bassett nominated for Black Panther; Hong Chau nominated for The Whale; Stephanie Hsu nominated for Everything Everywhere All At Once
Winner of my heart Stephanie Hsu
Sources 1 2 3