History of Latino Academy Award Nominees & Winners

Alfonso Cuaron went down in history as the first Mexican and Latino to win an Oscar for Best Director in 2014. The first-ever Oscar winning Latino actor was Oscar nominee George Clooney's uncle, and the first Latina ever nominated for Best Actress didn't occur until 1998. At the 86th Academy Awards, Alfonso Cuaron wasn't the only one representing Mexicans. His Gravity director of photographer Emmanuel Lubeski finally took home the golden statue for his work. He was previously nominated five times before this year. Another big winner at the 86th Academy Awards was 12 Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o who was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents.

CineMovie breaks down a list of past Latino nominees and winners over the history of the Oscar Awards.

Best Actor

George Clooney's uncle José Ferrer (married to Clooney's aunt Rosemary) took home the first Oscar statue for a Latino actor for Cyarano de Bergerac. However, he wasn't the first Latino with an Oscar (See Best Direction category). Anthony Quinn was nominated twice in 1957 and 1964 in this category but never won as Best Actor.  The Mexican-born Quinn was the last actor to be nominated in that category until 25 years later when Edward James Olmos was up for the award in 1989.  It's taken another twenty-three years for another Hispanic to join the ranks with Demian Bichir's nomination.    

1950     José Ferrer                                  Cyrano de Bergerac                                             Won
1957     Anthony Quinn                             Wild Is the Wind                                                 Nominated     
1964     Anthony Quinn                             Zorba the Greek (Alexis Zorbas)                          Nominated
1989     Edward James Olmos                    Stand and Deliver                                              Nominated                                                          

2011     Demian Bichir                              A Better Life                                                       Nominated

 

Best Supporting Actor


Anthony Quinn had better luck in this category when he was the first Mexican actor to took home two golden statue for Viva Zapata! in 1952 and Lust for Life in 1956. Before winning his first Oscar, Jose Ferrer was nominated two years earlier for his role in Joan of Arc. It wasn't until 2000 when a Latino won the prize. Benicio del Toro became the first Latino actor to win the Supporting Actor category for a Spanish-speaking role.

1948     José Ferrer                                      Joan of Arc                                                         Nominated     
1952     Anthony Quinn                                 Viva Zapata!                                                      Won     
1956     Anthony Quinn                                 Lust for Life                                                       Won     
1990     Andy GarcÌa                                     The Godfather: Part III                                      Nominated     
2000     Benicio del Toro                                Traffic                                                              Won     
2003     Benicio del Toro                               21 Grams                                                          Nominated

 

Best Actress

It wasn't until 1998 that a Latina was nominated in this category. Brazilian-born Fernanda Montenegro was nominated for Central Station and the first ever for a Portuguese-speaking role.  Salma Hayek claimed a spot in Oscar history as the first Mexican actress to secure a nomination from the Academy for Frida. Her close friend Penelope Cruz followed with her first-ever nomination for Pedro Almodovar's Volver. Colombia's Catalina Sandino Moreno became the first actress from her country to earn a spot in Hollywood history as well. However, a Latina actress has yet to take home an Oscar.


1998     Fernanda Montenegro                       Central Station                                                Nominated     
2002     Salma Hayek                                   Frida                                                               Nominated     
2004     Catalina Sandino Moreno                  Maria Full of Grace                                            Nominated     
2007     Penelope Cruz                                  Volver                                                             Nominated

Best Supporting Actress

Latinas had better luck in this next category. Two actresses of Hispanic descent won an Academy Award. In 1961, Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno won for her role in the musical West Side Story. Before Moreno, Katy Jurado was the first Mexican actress in 1954 to be nominated for her supporting role in Broken Lance. It wasn't until Penelope Cruz's win for a Woody Allen movie that another Hispanic woman won the award. The Spanish beauty was nominated the following year as well.

This year, the Argentine-born Bérénice Bejo of The Artist becomes the second actress from Argentina to win a coveted spot on the honorary award list.

1954     Katy Jurado                                             Broken Lance                                        Nominated     
1961     Rita Moreno                                            West Side Story                                     Won     
1987     Norma Aleandro                                      Gaby: A True Story                                Nominated
1993    Rosie Perez                                              Fearless                                                Nominated    
2006     Adriana Barraza                                      Babel                                                    Nominated
2009    Penelope Cruz                                          Vicky Cristina Barcelona                         Won
2010    Penelope Cruz                                          Nine                                                     Nominated
2011     Berenice Bejo                                          The Artist                                              Nominated

Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu is breaking records for his back-to-back win.

1985     Héctor Babenco                                  Kiss of the Spider Woman                       Nominated     
2003     Fernando Meirelles                              City of God (Cidade de Deus)                  Nominated     
2006     Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu                 Babel                                                    Nominated

2015     Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu                 Birdman                                                Won

2016     Alejandro Gonzalez-Inarritu                 The Revenant                                        Won

 

Best Cinematography

Mexican nationals seem to dominate in this field. Gabriel Figueroa was the first to be nominated in this category in 1964 for John Huston's The Night of the Iguana.  It wasn't until decades later that Mexican-born Emmanuel Lubezki was nominated for his first film in colloboration with two-time Oscar nominee Alfonso Cuaron (see below) in A Little Princess. He has gone on to be nominated 4 more times including this year for Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life. Mexican cinematographer Guillermo Navarro won in 2006 for his work on Pan's Labyrinth.

1964     Gabriel Figueroa                               The Night of the Iguana                            Nominated     

1995     Emmanuel Lubezki                           A Little Princess                                        Nominated     
1999     Emmanuel Lubezki                           Sleepy Hollow                                          Nominated     
2003     Cesar Charlone                                City of God                                              Nominated     
2005     Emmanuel Lubezki                           The New World                                        Nominated     
2006     Rodrigo Prieto                                   Brokeback Mountain                               Nominated     
2006     Emmanuel Lubezki                           Children of Men                                       Nominated     
2006     Guillermo Navarro                             Pan's Labyrinth                                      Won     
2008     Claudio Miranda                               The Curious Case/Benjamin Button           Nominated     
2011     Emmanuel Lubezki                           The Tree of Life                                       Nominated

2014     Emmanuel Lubezki                           Gravity                                                   Won

2015     Emmanuel Lubezki                           Birdman                                                 Won

2016    Emmanuel Lubezki                           The Revenant                                          Won

 

 

 

Best Art Direction

The first Latino to be nominated in the history of the Academy Awards was an Art Director. The Mexican-born Emile Kuri holds the record for most Oscar nomination as a 7 times nominee and 2 wins. He was nominated twice in the same year for two different films.  

1942     Emile Kuri*                                           Silver Queen                                          Nominated *    
1949     Emile Kuri*                                            The Heiress                                           Won *    
1952     Emile Kuri                                             Carrie                                                    Nominated *
1954     Emile Kuri                                             20,000 Leagues Under the Sea                Won*    
                                                                               Executive Suite                               Nominated*
1961     Emile Kuri                                              The Absent-Minded Professor                 Nominated *    
1964     Emile Kuri                                              Mary Poppins                                        Nominated*
1971     Emile Kuri                                              Bedknobs and Broomsticks                    Nominated
1995     Eugenio Zanetti                                      Restoration                                           Won     
1996     Brigitte Broch                                         Romeo + Juliet                                     Nominated     
1998     Eugenio Zanetti                                     What Dreams May Come                        Nominated     
2001     Brigitte Broch                                        Moulin Rouge!                                      Won     
2002     Felipe Fernandez del Paso & Hania Robledo  Frida                                                  Nominated     
2006     Eugenio Caballero & & Pilar Revuelta         Pan's Labyrinth                                     Won     

Latinos have also made strides in other categories including the best known directors out of Mexico like Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron.  Check out who else has been nominated below.

Best Music - original Song

2000     Jorge Calandrelli                                     Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon             Nominated     
2004     Jorge Drexler                                          The Motorcycle Diaries                          Won     
2011     Sergio Mendes & Carlinhos Brown             RIO                                                     Nominated

Adapted Screenplay


2003     Br·ulio Mantovani                                       City of God (Cidade de Deus)              Nominated     
2006     Alfonso CuarÛn                                         Children of Men                                  Nominated

Original Screenplay


1985     AÌda Bortnik & Luis Puenzo                       La historia oficial                               Nominated     
2002     Alfonso Cuaron & Carlos Cuaron            Y tu mama también                               Nominated     
2006     Guillermo Arriaga                                        Babel                                            Nominated     
2006    Guillermo del Toro                                        Pan's Labyrinth                              Nominated

Original Score


1966     Luis Bacalov                                               The Gospel According to St. Matthew    Nominated     
1985     Jorge Calandrelli                                         The Color Purple                                 Nominated with 11 others
1995     Luis Bacalov                                                The Postman                                     Won     
2005     Gustavo Santaolalla                                     Brokeback Mountain                           Won     
2006     Gustavo Santaolalla                                     Babel                                                Won



Best Editing

2003     Daniel Rezende                                           City of God (Cidade de Deus)             Nominated     
2007     Alfonso Cuaron & Alex Rodriguez                  Children of Men                                Nominated

Best Sound or Mixing

2006     Fernando C·mara                                            Apocalypto                                      Nominated

Best Visual Effects

2002     Pablo Helman                                                  Saving Private Ryan                          Nominated     
2005     Pablo Helman                                                  War of the Worlds                             Nominated

Best Make-up

2002     Beatrice De Alba                                               Frida                                               Won     
2006     Mike Elizalde                                                    Hellboy II: The Golden Army             Nominated
.    

*Nominated with others

source: Wikipedia, IMDB

 

 

 

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