| Best Actress in a Leading Role | |||||
| Year | Name | Film | Role | Status | Milestone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Dorothy Dandridge | Carmen Jones | Carmen Jones | Nominated | First black actress to be nominated for Best Actress. |
| 1972 | Diana Ross | Lady Sings the Blues | Billie Holiday | Nominated | First black actress to receive an Academy Award nomination for a debut film performance; First time that multiple black actresses received Best Actress nominations. |
| Cicely Tyson | Sounder | Rebecca Morgan | Nominated | First film to feature black nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress; First time that multiple black actresses received Best Actress nominations. |
|
| 1974 | Diahann Carroll | Claudine | Claudine | Nominated | |
| 1985 | Whoopi Goldberg | The Color Purple | Celie Johnson | Nominated | First time that multiple black 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 black nominees for both Best Actor and Best Actress. |
| 2001 | Halle Berry | Monster's Ball | Leticia Musgrove | Won | First black actress to win Best Actress. |
| 2009 | Gabourey Sidibe | Precious | Claireece "Precious" Jones | Nominated | Youngest black actress to be nominated in this category; Second film to feature black nominees for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress; Second black 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 black nominees for both Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories; Tied with Whoopi Goldberg as the most nominated Black actress with 2 nominations. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Black Academy Award Winners And Nominees
Famous quotes containing the words actress, leading and/or role:
“An actress is not a machine, but they treat you like a machine. A money machine.”
—Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)
“We have got to stop the nervous Nellies and the Toms from going to the Man’s place. I don’t believe in killing, but a good whipping behind the bushes wouldn’t hurt them.... These bourgeoisie Negroes aren’t helping. It’s the ghetto Negroes who are leading the way.”
—Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977)
“But however the forms of family life have changed and the number expanded, the role of the family has remained constant and it continues to be the major institution through which children pass en route to adulthood.”
—Bernice Weissbourd (20th century)