Oscar Records: Players Winning the Award for Feature Debut
My Oscar Book:
By Year (Chronological Order)
Gale Sondergaard, 1936
Katina Paxinou
Harold Russell
Mercedes McCambridge
Shirley Booth
Eva Marie Saint
Jo Van Fleet
Julie Andrews
Barbra Streisand
Tatum O’Neal
Timothy Hutton
Ngor Haing
Marlee Matlin
Anna Paquin
Jennifer Hudson
Lupita N’Yango
Trends:
Gender: More women than men have won the award for their very first screen performance. Of the 16 winners, only 3 have been male; the rest female.
Age:
Three of the winners have been among the youngest to have won the Oscar: Tatum O’Neal in 1973, Anna Paquin in 1992, and Timothy Hutton, 20, in 1980.
Race:
Only 2 of the 16 winners have been actors of color: Jennifer Hudson and Lupita N’Yango
Category:
It’s more probable to win the Oscar for a debut role in the supporting rather than lead ones.
Of the 16 winners, only 4 have been in the Best Actress category: Shirley Booth, Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, and Marlee Matlin.
My Oscar Book:
