Who was the first female Hispanic actor to win an Oscar?
History is always ready to be made, and in the movie business, there are few more prominent ways to set a new standard than securing a groundbreaking Oscar.
The recent social media campaigns decrying the Academy Awards for a continued and ongoing lack of diversity in the field of nominees is one that’s gained increasing traction in the modern era, but it’s hardly a new problem that’s sprung up out of nowhere, as unfortunate as it is to say.
Take the number of Hispanic winners in the major categories, for instance. José Ferrer made history when he became the first Latin American performer to secure an acting nomination in 1948. He made the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ shortlist, and two years later, he went one better when he became the first to be nominated for—and win—’Best Actor’.
However, since then, Anthony Quinn and Demián Bichir are the only others to be nominated. No Hispanic star has ever been named ‘Best Actress’, with Central Station‘s Fernanda Montenegro the first in 1998 and Blonde‘s Ana de Armas the most recent 24 years later.
Hispanic filmmakers or producers have won a combined total of seven Oscars in the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ categories, but there’s something of a catch. All seven have been awarded to Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro G Iñárritu, or Guillermo del Toro, which is at least fitting when the long-time close friends refer to themselves as the ‘Three Amigos’.
Quinn did win two ‘Best Supporting Actor’ prizes in 1952 and 1956, but he was the only one to hold that distinction for over 40 years until Benicio del Toro became the third—and last, thus far—Latin American actor to win the prize. In total, there have been seven Hispanic ‘Best Supporting Actress’ nominees but only two winners, with 53 years separating the first and second, the latter of which was given to 12 Years a Slave breakout Lupita Nyong’o.
Did Rita Moreno win an Oscar?
Yes, she did, becoming the first female Hispanic actor to win one in the process when her performance as Anita in Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ classic musical West Side Story was awarded ‘Best Supporting Actress’.
Moreno’s breakout role joined an even more exclusive club almost 60 years later when Ariana DeBose took home the exact same prize for playing the role in Steven Spielberg’s remake, which saw Anita join Vito Corleone and the Joker as the only characters to have been the subject of two Oscar-winning performances from different actors.
Of course, Moreno didn’t stop there, becoming the third person to secure EGOT status after burnishing her collection with a Grammy in 1973, a Tony in 1975, and an Emmy in 1977. At the time she was both the youngest winner of the four-trophy haul at 45 years old and the fastest to complete the clean sweep after doing it in just 15 years.
Those were records she held onto for decades until she was eclipsed in one fell swoop by 39-year-old songwriter Robert Lopez in 2014, who took just ten years to hoover up an EGOT.
