Making a List of Oscar Nominees of Color Isn't as Easy As You'd Think.

 

I was thinking about Stacia’s post on the “Black Audit” of the Oscars. I’ve tried to make a list to count how nominations for Oscar went to African-Americans (I keep losing count at around forty).

Dave Chapelle once joked that incontrovertible proof of the entertainment industry’s back-asswardness on race could be found in the inability to find one Indian actor to play Gandhi in the 1982 film — in a country of a billion people. We love Chapelle, but his observation was a little off: Sir Ben Kingsley, who won an Oscar for Best Actor in 1982, was born Krishna Bhanji, the son of an Indian Gujarati Muslim doctor (himself born in Kenya) and a Eastern European model. He’s as Indian as Obama is black, so he counts as a person of color right? (I’m looking at this through a decidedly American prism of racial identity, so forgive me for the obvious oversimplification).

What do we make of Meg and Jennifer Tilly (Meg was nominated for an Oscar, Jennifer won)? They were born Meg and Jennifer Chan to a Chinese-American father and a white mother in Los Angeles. Do they self-identify as Asian-American?

Speaking of self-identification, two-time Oscar winner Peter Ustinov, who wasn’t identifiably a person of color, was from a bunch of different backgrounds, but he denied his Ethiopian ancestry. His Swiss great-grandfather married the daughter of EmperorTewodros II, making Ustinov a member of the Ethiopian Royal Family and, as the old folks say, an octoroon. Does he count? What about Yul Brynner? His father was 1/16th Mongolian. Does he count? Anthony Quinn, a Xicano with indigenous ancestry? He was Latin and Native, as are many Mexicans, but often played whites and Italian-Americans.

You see where I’m going with this. I’m gonna try and compile a list for non-black persons of color who were nominated for Oscars. I beg you for your help. Who am I missing?

Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders:
Miyoshi Umeki (Best Supporting Actress, Sayonara, Miyoshi Umeki, 1957) – Won.
Sessue Hayakawa (Best Supporting Actor, Bridge on the River Kwai, 1957)
Mako (Best Supporting Actress, The Sand Pebbles, 1966)
Jocelyn LaGarde, (Best Supporting Actress, Hawai’i, 1984)
Haing S. Ngor, (Best Supporting Actor, The Killing Fields, 1984) – Won.
Pat Morita (Best Supporting Actor, The Karate Kid, 1984)
Meg Tilly (Best Supporting Actor, Agnes of God, 1985)
Jennifer Tilly (Best Supporting Actress, Bullets Over Broadway, 1994) –Won.
Ken Watanabe (Best Supporting Actor, The Last Samurai, 2003)
Rinko Kickuchi (Best Supporting Actress, Babel, 2006)

Arabic Ancestry :
Omar Sharif (Best Supporting Actor, Lawrence of Arabia, 1962) –Won.
Shohreh Ahgadashloo (Best Supporting Actress, House of Sand and Fog, 2003)

 

Latina/os:
Jose Ferrer (Best Actor, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1950) – Won.
Anthony Quinn (Best Supporting Actor, Viva Zapata!, 1952) & (Best Supporting Actor, Lust for Life, 1956 – Won.)
Rita Moreno (Best Supporting Actress, West Side Story, 1961) – Won.
Edward James Olmos (Best Actor, Stand and Deliver, 1988)
Norma Aleandro (Best Supporting Actress, Gaby: A True Story, 1988)
Andy Garcia (Best Supporting Actor, The Godfather Part III, 1991)
Mercedes Ruehl (Best Supporting Actress, The Fisher King, 1991) – Won.
Rosie Perez (Best Supporting Actress, Fearless, 1993)
Fernanda Montenegro (Best Actress, Central Station, 1998)
Benicio Del Toro (Best Supporting Actor, Traffic, 2000) — Won. (Also, Best Supporting Actor, 21 Grams, 2003)
Salma Hayek (Best Actress, Frida, 2002)
Catalina Sandino Moreno (Best Actress, Maria Full of Grace, 2004)
Penelope Cruz (Best Actress, Volver, 2006)
Adrianna Barraza (Best Supporting Actress, Babel, 2006)
Javier Bardem (Best Supporting Actor, No Country for Old Men, 2008)

Indigenous/Native Americans:
Anthony Quinn (see above)
Chief Dan George (Best Supporting Actor, Little Big Man, 1970)
Graham Greene, (Best Supporting Actor, Dances With Wolves, 1991)

South Asians:
Ben Kingsley (Best Actor, Gandhi, 1982) – Won. (Also, Best Suppporting Actor, Bugsy 1991; Best Supporting Actor, Sexy Beast, 2001; and Best Supporting Actor, House of Sand and Fog, 2003).

G.D.

G.D.

Gene "G.D." Demby is the founder and editor of PostBourgie. In his day job, he blogs and reports on race and ethnicity for NPR's Code Switch team.
G.D.

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  • tasha

    Jose Ferrer won best actor not supporting.

    i’m noticing two things: the older dates mainly list people not self or publicly identifiably ethnic

    these are for supporting roles

    how would this list change is only lead roles are listed?

  • tasha:

    Fixed for ferrer.

    Why do you suggest the list only contain lead roles?

  • tasha

    oh and

    Ken Watanabe (Best Supporting Actor, The Last Samurai, 2003)

  • Added that, too. Thanks.

  • tasha

    i think it would shorten and highlight the original issue
    of the dearth of oscar’s for ethnicities

    at this point a ‘flavorful’ sidekick is beloved by all

  • I’d consult one of the Ego Trip books to see if you’re missing any of the hose half-ethnic people who might have been nominated or won.

  • Tony

    Omar Sharif did not win for his role in Lawrence of Arabia. That year Ed Begley Jr. won for Sweet Bird of Youth.

    Shohreh Ahgadashloo is of Persian descent, not Arabic.

    Why are Spaniards in the Latino category as most Spaniards consider themselves white Europeans?

  • lastmohican

    Ben Kingsley once mentioned how Krishna had to become Kingsley before he could get the chance to play Gandhi in the movie. Look around because there are other actors who changed their names to something Anglo-Saxon in order to break through.