Oscar: Black Actors–One Step Forward, Three Backward

OscarsSoWhite: Series of articles about Black Actors at the Oscar

This year, like last one, there was not a single black actor (or performer of color) among the 20 nominees in the four acting categories.

In the annals of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the year of 2008 is the exception. Of the 20 performers nominated for an acting achievement in the four category, two (10 percent) are black, both in the Supporting Actress league: Viola Davis in “Doubt” and Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

It’s probably a coincidence that both women play mothers of troubled kids: Davis to a young, sensitive altar boy, who may or may not have been molested by his priest (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), and Henson to white young-old man, played by Brad Pitt (you have to see the film to understand this qualifier).

Several years back, there were also two black actors, both in the lead (Best Actor) category: Will Smith for “The Pursuit of Happyness,” and Forest Whitaker, who won, for “Last King of Scotland.”

Black Actors at the Oscars

In the Academy’s 87year-history, only 12 black performers (and 13 performances by black actors) have won the Oscar, five in the lead and seven in the supporting category.