Black American Actresses
Over the years we have had amazing women step up the game and set records in the movie industry. Some have even gone ahead to win Emmy Awards and Oscars. In recognition of these string pace setters, here is a list of ten black American actresses who are successful In their field. In no particular order first up we have:
Halle Berry
Halle Berry’s performance in “Monster’s Ball” in 2002 made Berry the first Black actress to win an Oscar for Best Actress. She is still the only Black woman to win this prize. Berry became known for her versatility when she started her career in the early 1990s.She became well-known quickly and has appeared in more than 45 movies.
Viola Davis
American actress and producer Viola Davis is the first African-American to achieve the “Triple Crown of Acting,” having won an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. She has received the most Oscar nominations for an African American actress due to her role in the well-known television series How To Get Away With Murder. 2008’s Doubt earned her her first Oscar nomination. However, she won her first
Oscar in 2017 for her performance as Denzel Washington in the film Fences, for which she also won a Golden Globe. The first African American to achieve “The Triple Crown of Acting” was Viola Davis. A unique achievement for black American actresses.
Angela Bassett
Angela Evelyn Bassett is an activist and actress from the United States. She is best known for her roles in biographical films, particularly for her performance as Tina Turner
in the biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award.
Gabrielle Union
American actress Gabrielle Monique Union Wade is her real name. She started her profession in 1990s, showing up on TV sitcoms, prior to landing supporting jobs in adolescent parody films She’s All That and 10 Things I Can’t stand About You. Among her most successful films are “Isis in Bring it On,” “Think Like A Man,” “Bad Boys II,” and “Top Five. “She works for charity on a national and local level and is an advocate for
assault survivors.
Kerry Washington
is an African-American actress, television show producer, and film director best known for her roles in Scandal, Ray, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Confirmation, Django Unchained, Little Fires Everywhere, Cars 3, and The Last King of Scotland. She also appeared in the Tim Story Fantastic Four film series. She is a proud mother of 2.
Taraji Henson
American singer and actress Taraji Penda Henson went to Howard University to study acting, and she started her career in Hollywood by appearing in guest roles on a number of
television shows before making her acting debut in the 2001 film Baby Boy. She received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for her performance as a prostitute in Hustle & Flow (2005);and as
a single mother of a child with disabilities in David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a SAG Award, and a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress. She co-starred in the remake of The Karate Kid and the action comedy Date Night in 2010.
Queen Latifah
in Arabic, her name means “delicate and sensitive,” but she has frequently been anything but in her rhymes and the messages they convey. Queen Latifah, along with her business
partner Shakim Compere, has been one of the most well-known female hip-hop artists for more than a decade. Through her management company, Flavor Unit, she has also made significant progress in the fields of film, television, and artist management. Latifah is a role model who takes responsibility seriously and has carefully built a successful career that is always growing.
Whoopi Goldberg
was a successful actress before she became a well-known host on The View. Due to her appearance and skin colour, many people doubted her acting abilities prior to her fame. However, she didn’t let that stop her from becoming one of the few actresses to ever win an Oscar, Grammy, Tony, or Emmy. In 1985, Goldberg won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her performance in The Colour Purple, and in 1990, she won the
Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost.
Ethel Waters
After beginning her career in the 1920s, Ethel Waters became the first Black woman to perform on Broadway. She was also the first Black actress to appear in her own television show, “The Ethel Waters Show,” which aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in 1939.In 1962, she became the first person to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy because of her appearance on the drama series “Route 66.”She is in the Grammy Hall of Fame for three of the songs she recorded during her singing career.
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey has made a name for herself in the acting industry despite the fact that she is widely regarded as one of the greatest journalists of all time. She was not only the first Black woman to own a production company, but she was also nominated for an Oscar for her debut film, The Color Purple. She also portrayed Gloria Gaines in The Butler, Annie Lee Cooper in Selma, and Eudora, Princess Tiana’s mother, in The Princess and the Frog. African American women have worked hard to break down barriers in the entertainment industry, whether it’s in a Hollywood movie, on Broadway, or on primetime television. Even though they were subjected to discrimination and segregation, these significant junctures provided opportunities for numerous Black actresses in the modern era.
