Celebrating the Oscars...

I will be celebrating Oscar nominees and winners of color over the weekend with videos and photos from Oscar nights and other rare and/or interesting media featuring the stars.

Hattie McDaniel with her Oscar (Essence)

This will be taking place ONLY on the Facebook page (tab up top), my Twitter--I'm not telling if you don't already know :)--and on the Tumblr. However, I will have all videos, photos, and links from the weekend included in a mass post on Monday. Posting will "officially" begin tonight.

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Also, I am still working on that St. Louis Blues review (which will also include a reflection). 

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Have a great weekend, everyone! East Coasters and Mid-Westerners, be careful in this new gust of hell sent cold.

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Already Shared Posts

(For some reason I was thinking yesterday was Friday and had begun sharing posts. My brain was probably doing all kinds of cartwheels because Scandal was returning, but anywho...)

When Merle Oberon was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in Dark Waters (1935), she became the first Asian nominated for an Academy Award. This nomination also made her the first--and to this day, only--Asian woman nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Above is an episode of What's My Line? from October 17, 1954. Ms. Oberon is the mystery guest and her segment begins at 18:09.

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James "Jimmy" Stewart presents the Academy Awards for 'Best Cinematography'

At the 36th Academy Awards ceremony (held in 1964), James Wong Howe won his second Oscar for Best Cinematography (in Black and White) for Hud (1963). Mr. Howe became the first Asian nominated for Best Cinematography when he was nominated for his work in Algiers (1938). He won a total of two Oscars (the other for the 1955 film, The Rose Tattoo) and was nominated for a whopping ten throughout his career--making him (still) the most nominated person of Asian descent in Oscar history.

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Actresses Hattie Noel and Hattie McDaniel auditioned for the roles of 'Mammy' in Gone With the Wind (1939). Of course, Hattie McDaniel would win the role and go on to become the first black actor to win an Academy Award.

Above are the auditions and screen tests for GWTW. McDaniel's and Noel's tests (with a few Scarlett O'Hara contenders) begin at 5:23.

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José Ferrer was the first Latin(o/a) to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting when he was nominated for his role in Joan of Arc (1948). His lead role in Cyrano de Bergerac got him a second Oscar-nomination and his first and only win. 

Cyrano de Bergerac (1950) is now in the public domain and you can watch the full movie above.

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Legendary singer/actress Ethel Waters was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as "Pinky's Granny" in Pinky (1949). Pinky is currently available for viewing on Youtube (video above). I've also scheduled the movie for viewing and reviewing this summer.

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Joe Franklin Interviews Sessue Hayakawa 1957

Actor and filmmaker Sessue Hayakawa became the first Asian nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1957 film, The Bridge Over River Kwai. Above is the link to a short clip of Mr. Hayakawa being interviewed on The Joe Franklin Show.

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Here is the first part of a 1999 interview with the late, great Oscar-nominated actress, Juanita Moore. Ms. Moore was nominated for her defining role as "Annie Johnson" in Imitation of Life (1959). 

Did anyone notice that the first three black women nominated for Best Supporting Actress were all nominated exactly ten years apart?

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Dorothy Dandridge's Oscar-nomination for her work in Carmen Jones (1954) made her the first black performer (male or female) to be nominated for Leading Role. Above is a clip of Ms. Dandridge presenting the award for Best Film Editing at the 27th Academy Awards ceremony (held in 1955). 

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James Baskett receives his Honorary Oscar statuette (A Certain Cinema)

James Baskett was awarded with an Honorary Academy Award in 1948 for his characterization of "Uncle Remus" in the controversial Disney film, Song of the South (1946). He accepts his Oscar from Ingrid Bergman in the photo above. Beside them stands that Academy president, Jean Hersholt. 

[Part II]