Black History Month: The Most Influential Black Actresses Of All Time

Best remembered for her role as "Mammy" in 1940's classic, Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel would make history with the performance, becoming the first African American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

Whoopi Goldberg is another black actress that has left her mark on Hollywood. Following her breakthrough role in The Color Purple (1985), Whoopi has seen success with films like Ghost (1990) and Sister Act (1992). Whoopi is also one of only 16 stars to have won a Tony, Oscar, Grammy, and Emmy Award! Talk about impressive!

It's hard to believe this next beauty is already in her 60s! Over her career, Angela Bassett has taken on a number of biographical roles including playing the part of Tina Turner in the 1993 biopic, What's Love Got to Do with It. Other great Angela Bassett films include Boyz n the Hood (1991), The Score (2001), and The Rosa Parks Story (2002). 

This next actress has an impressive resume! With more than 20 hit films, including The Nutty Professor (1996), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), and Angel Has Fallen (2019), Jada Pinkett Smith has accomplished quite a bit in just three decades. 

Another actress with an impressive list of awards is A Time to Kill's Octavia Spencer. Her biggest role to date was in 2011's The Help for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. 

American actress Regina King also holds a number of awards including four Primetime Emmy Awards which marks the most for an African-American performer! King's resume includes films like If Beale Street Could Talk (2018) as well as TV series like American Crime and Watchmen.

The gorgeous and talented actress, Dorothy Dandridge, was another influential figure in black Hollywood. After starring in 1954's Carmen Jones, Dandridge would become the first black actress nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which she would then top by becoming the first black woman to appear on the cover of Life magazine!

This next actress needs no introduction and is both the queen of music and film. The recipient of a Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe, and two NAACP Image Awards, Queen Latifah has most definitely left her mark on Hollywood with films like Taxi (2004), Beauty Shop (2005), and Bessie (2015). She most recently portrayed another acting legend, Hattie McDaniel, in the 2020 miniseries Hollywood. 

English actress Thandie Newton is another influential figure in black Hollywood. She has starred in a number of important films such as Beloved (1998), The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), and W. (2008) and is well known for her services to both film and charity. 

Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong'o may be a relative newcomer to Hollywood but that hasn't stopped her from making a giant splash! Talented, gorgeous, and intelligent, after graduating with a master's degree from Yale, Nyong'o would star in what has now become her most talked-about film, 12 Years a Slave (2013). Lupita Nyong'o would make history becoming the first Kenyan and Mexican actress to win an Academy Award.