Black First black filmmaker to win Best Picture Steve McQueen won for producing 12 Years a Slave (2013) First black filmmaker to be nominated for Best Director John Singleton for Boyz n the Hood (1991) First black actress to win for acting Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for Gone with the Wind (1939) First […]

Actors: Foreign Languages First actress nominated for performing in a language other than English Melina Mercouri was nominated for Best Actress for Never on Sunday (1960), performing in Greek First actor nominated for performing in a language other than English Marcello Mastroianni was nominated for Best Actor for Divorce, Italian Style (1962), performing in Italian […]

Posthumous First posthumous nomination for acting Jeanne Eagels, nominated for Best Actress for The Letter (1929) First posthumous nomination for a male actor James Dean, nominated for Best Actor for East of Eden (1955) First posthumous win for acting Peter Finch won Best Actor for Network (1976)   Share this:

Best Picture (Firsts) First foreign-language film to be nominated for Best Picture La Grand Illusion (1937), in French First science fiction film to be nominated for Best Picture A Clockwork Orange (1971) First horror film to be nominated for Best Picture The Exorcist (1973) First animation to be nominated for Best Picture Beauty and the […]

Awards for Debut in Acting, Directing, Other Achievements  Individuals who won Academy Awards for their film debut acting performances: Best Actor None Best Actress Shirley Booth (Come Back, Little Sheba, 1952) Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins, 1964) Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl, 1968) Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God, 1986) Best Supporting Actor Harold Russell (The […]