Ruth Carter becomes first Black woman to win two Oscars
What's the story
From actor Michelle Yeoh—who became the first Asian woman to win the Best Actress Award, to Ruth E Carter—who made history by becoming the first Black woman to win two Oscars, the 95th Academy Awards ceremony will go down in history as the one where many records were broken! Carter took home the Oscar award for Best Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Oscar win
Earlier, Carter won the Best Costume Design award in 2019
Earlier, the American costume designer, who has over 40 films to her credit, had won an Oscar in 2019 for her incredible work on Marvel's Black Panther. At that time, she became the first Black woman to win an Oscar in the Best Costume Design category. Her second Oscar win at the 95th Academy Awards has just added another feather to her success story.
Winning speech
Carter mentioned late actor Chadwick Boseman in her speech
"Nice to see you again," stated Carter as she took the ceremony's center stage. In her speech, she thanked director Ryan Coogler and remembered the late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman and said, "Chadwick, please take care of Mom." Notably, Carter's mother recently passed away at the age of 101. She also thanked Academy for "recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman."
Competition
Carter outpaced 'Elvis' costume designer, multiple-award winner Catherine Martin
The films and designers in contention for this year's Best Costume Design category were Babylon (Mary Zophres), Elvis (Catherine Martin), Everything Everywhere All at Once (Shirley Kurata), and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Jenny Beaven). Carter beat out Martin—who was favored to win the prize—due to her previous wins at the BAFTA and Costume Designers Guild awards for her work on Baz Luhrmann's Elvis.
Career
A quick look at Carter's career graph
Carter, who is regarded as a master in acing the looks of multiple period-genre movies, is also Spike Lee's go-to costume designer. To date, Carter has been nominated a total of four times at the Oscars, including for 1992's Malcolm X and 1997's Amistad. In her vast repertoire, other movies include Selma and the Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do with It.
Achievers
Black actors and creative persons who won Academy Awards
With her big win at the 95th Academy Awards, Carter has joined a small league of Black artists who have nabbed Oscar awards over the years for their distinguished work. This list includes Denzel Washington, who made history by becoming the first Black actor to win two Oscars in 2002, as well as Mahershala Ali, who has won twice for Moonlight and Green Book.