On the road to the Oscars | Eight women who made history

On this International Women’s Day, and two days before the big night of cinema, let’s celebrate eight women who have left their mark on the history of the Oscars.

Halle Berry

“I open the door to all women of color, nameless and faceless,” declares the first Afro-descendant to win the Oscar for best actress for Monster’s Ball (Marc Forster) in 2002. In 2023, Michelle Yeoh becomes the first Asian to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). Nominated in the category of best actress for Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese), will Lily Gladstone be the first Indigenous person to make Oscar history?

Kathryn Bigelow

In 2010, the director of Blue Steel And Point Break makes history by becoming the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker, winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture. And this, in the face of Avatar, from her ex-husband James Cameron. In 2021, Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao became the first Asian and first woman of color to accomplish this feat with Nomadlandwhich earned France McDormand a third acting prize at the Oscars.

Geneviève Bujold

In 1969, the adopted Californian achieved international fame by playing Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII, alongside Richard Burton in Anne of the Thousand Days (Charles Jarrott). The following year, she became the first Quebec actress, and the only one to date, nominated for an Oscar. Thanks to this role as a queen with a fatal destiny, she is also the only Quebecer to have won the Golden Globe for best actress in a dramatic film.

Celine Dion

Did you know that Charlemagne’s diva held the record number of Oscar appearances? From 1992 to 2011, the singer performed seven times on six occasions. His last performance dates back to the 2011 ceremony; she interpreted smile, by Charlie Chaplin, during the tribute segment to the fallen. His most memorable performance, however, remains my heart Will Go Ontheme song from Titanicby James Cameron, which won an Oscar for James Horner and Will Jennings in 1998.

Whoopi Goldberg

Hosting the Academy Awards in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002, the winner of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost (Jerry Zucker) in 1990 became the first Afro-descendant to take on this challenge, then the woman who has repeated it most often. In 1940, in the midst of segregation, Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to win the Oscar for best supporting actress for Gone With The Wind (Victor Fleming), had to attend the ceremony in the back of the room.

Edith Head

Long before inspiring the character of Edna Mode in The Incredibles (Brad Bird, 2004), this costume designer, who died in 1981 at the age of 83, made history by becoming the woman with the most Oscars with eight Oscars. The woman who invented glamor in Hollywood notably created Audrey Hepburn’s elegant outfits in Roman Holiday (William Wyller, 1953) and Tippi Hedren in The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963), and dressed Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973).

Katherine Hepburn

Between 1934 and 1982, the actress who was often seen alongside Cary Grant, Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart became the most Oscar-winning actress with four statuettes, all genres combined. Who will beat this record, Meryl Streep, Frances McDormand or Daniel Day-Lewis? Surprisingly, the actress, who died in 2003 at the age of 96, only went to the Oscars once to present an award. “Prices are nothing,” she said, “my price is my work. »

Meryl Streep

Since 1979, the woman many consider to be the best actress of her generation has won three Oscars: best supporting actress for Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton); as well as best actress for Sophie’s Choice (Alan J. Pakula) and for The Iron Lady (Phyllida Lloyd). She is the most frequently nominated actress, 21 times, easily surpassing actor Jack Nicholson, nominated 12 times. Of all the nominees, it is the composer John Williams who breaks all records with 54 citations.