- Halle Berry remains the only Black woman to win an Oscar for best actress.
- Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win best director in 2010.
- Women won historic awards in costume design and production design for "Black Panther."
In 1962, Rita Moreno became the first Latina woman to win an Oscar.
Rita Moreno won an Oscar in 1962 for her performance as Anita in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical "West Side Story."
However, after winning her Oscar, she said she still faced discrimination in Hollywood, telling the Miami Herald in 2008, "Before 'West Side Story,' I was always offered the stereotypical Latina roles. The Conchitas and Lolitas in westerns. I was always barefoot. It was humiliating, embarrassing stuff. But I did it because there was nothing else. After 'West Side Story,' it was pretty much the same thing. A lot of gang stories."
Moreno is also one of the few (and only Latina) EGOT holders, as she has an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony.
Julia Phillips was the first female producer to win an Oscar for best picture. She won for "The Sting" in 1973.
Phillips co-produced the film with her husband, Michael, and Tony Bill.
"You can imagine what a trip this is for a Jewish girl from Great Neck," Phillips said in her acceptance speech. "Tonight I get to win an Academy Award and meet Elizabeth Taylor all in the same moment. Thank you so much."
In 1983, Buffy Sainte-Marie became the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar.
Sainte-Marie shared the award with Will Jennings and her husband, Jack Nitzsche, for the song "Up Where We Belong" from "An Officer and a Gentleman."
In 1985, Kay Rose won an Oscar for best sound editing — the first woman to do so.
Rose worked as supervising sound editor on the 1984 film "The River," which was also nominated in the categories of best actress, best cinematography, and best original score.
In her acceptance speech, Rose said her win was "the fulfillment of a longtime dream that goes back to that first movie I ever saw."
Jodie Foster was the first openly LGBTQ woman to win an Oscar for best actress.
An openly bisexual woman, Jodie Foster became the first LGBTQ woman to win an Academy Award for best actress and the first LGBTQ woman to win two. Foster won her first Oscar in 1989 for "The Accused" and her second in 1992 for "Silence of the Lambs."
Halle Berry remains the only Black woman to win an Academy Award for best actress.
In 2001, Halle Berry became the first African American to win an Academy Award for best actress for "Monster's Ball."
In her acceptance speech, Berry said, "It's for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it's for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. Thank you. I'm so honored."
In the wake of the #OscarsSoWhite movement in 2017, Berry told Teen Vogue's Elaine Welteroth that her win was meaningless to her as Hollywood had yet to give women of color the accolades and opportunities they deserve.
"That moment really meant nothing," Berry said. "It meant nothing. I thought it meant something, but I think it meant nothing."
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman ever to win best director. She won in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker."
Bigelow dedicated the award to "the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world."
Brenda Chapman was the first woman to win an Oscar for best animated feature.
Chapman shared the award for "Brave" with Mark Andrews.
"I'd like to give a shout-out to my wonderful, strong, beautiful daughter Emma, who inspired 'Brave' into being," Chapman said in her acceptance speech. "So thank you to her and my husband, and our incredible cast and crew."
Ruth E. Carter was the first Black woman to win an Oscar for best costume design. She won for her work on "Black Panther" in 2019.
"Marvel may have created the first black superhero, but through costume design, we turned him into an African king," Carter said in her acceptance speech. "It's been my life's honor to create costumes. Thank you to the Academy, and thank you for honoring African royalty and the empowered way women can look and lead onscreen."
Carter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021 — she's only the second costume designer to have one.
That same year, Hannah Beachler became the first Black person to win an Oscar for production design.
Beachler shared the award with Jay Hart. They won for their work on "Black Panther."
"I give this strength to all of those who come next," Beachler said in her acceptance speech. "To keep going, to never give up, and when you think it's impossible, just remember to say this piece of advice I got from a very wise woman: 'I did my best, and my best is good enough.'"
In 2021, Jamika Wilson and Mia Neal became the first Black women to win the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling for their work on "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
Wilson and Neal won the Oscar along with Sergio Lopez-Rivera.
"I stand here as Jamika and I break this glass ceiling with so much excitement for the future," Neal said in her acceptance speech. "Because I can picture Black trans women standing up here, our Asian sisters, our Latina sisters, and Indigenous women. And I know one day it won't be unusual or groundbreaking — it will just be normal."
In 2021, Chloé Zhao became only the second woman ever and the first woman of color to win best director.
In her acceptance speech, Zhao spoke about growing up in China and memorizing Chinese poems with her father.
"There's one that I remember so dearly, it's called the Three Character Classics," she said. "The first phrase goes ... 'People at birth are inherently good.' Those six letters had such a great impact on me when I was a kid, and I still truly believe them today.
"Even though sometimes it might seem like the opposite is true, I have always found goodness in the people I met, everywhere I went in the world.
"So this is for anyone who had the faith, and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that."
Jane Campion's second Oscar nomination for best director in 2022 made her the first woman to receive multiple Oscar nods for directing. She went on to win the award.
Campion's first nomination was in 1994 for "The Piano," although she did not win that year.
Her second nomination came in 2022 for "The Power of the Dog" and marked the first time a woman had received multiple nominations in the category. She won the award, which meant it was also the first time two female directors won the award back-to-back — Chloe Zhao won for "Nomadland" in 2021.
Ariana DeBose made history in 2022 as the first openly queer actor of color and the first Afro-Latina actress to win an Oscar.
DeBose won the Academy Award for best supporting actress for her role as Anita in "West Side Story."
"Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus. When you look into her eyes you see an openly queer woman of color, an Afro Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that's what I believe we're here to celebrate," DeBose said in her acceptance speech. "So to anybody who's ever questioned your identity ever, ever, ever, or you find yourself living in the grey spaces, I promise you this: There is indeed a place for us."
Billie Eilish won an Oscar for best original song in 2022, making her the first Academy Award winner born in the 21st century.
Eilish, who was born in December 2001, and her brother and collaborator, Finneas O'Connell, took home the award for best original song for their James Bond theme "No Time to Die."
After accepting the award, a shocked Eilish said, "Whoa. Oh my God. You guys! This is so unbelievable, I could scream!"
Although just 20 years old, Eilish is not the youngest ever recipient of the award — Markéta Irglová won best original song for "Falling Slowly" from "Once" in 2008, when she was 19.
When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonywv8Kaqaxllp6%2FtMDSZq6opZWjeq6tw55koaGjqbyzxQ%3D%3D