Oscars 2017 - First-Time Winners
by Kirk-Picard | created - 27 Feb 2017 | updated - 27 Feb 2017 | PublicWhich first-time winner at the 2017 Oscars most deserved to win?
Discuss First-time Oscar winners Here
1. Mahershala Ali
Actor | Leave the World Behind
Mahershala Ali is fast becoming one of the freshest and most in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill set and wide-ranging background in film, television, and theater.
He can be seen in the independent feature film, Moonlight, as well as reprising his role in The Hunger ...
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role as Juan in Moonlight (2016)
2. Alessandro Bertolazzi
Make_up_department | Suicide Squad
Alessandro Bertolazzi is known for Suicide Squad (2016), Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019) and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023). He is married to Giovanna.
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for Suicide Squad (2016)
3. Giorgio Gregorini
Make_up_department | Suicide Squad
Giorgio Gregorini is known for Suicide Squad (2016), Moulin Rouge! (2001) and Apocalypto (2006). He has been married to Antonella Boetani since February 13, 1993. They have three children.
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for Suicide Squad (2016)
4. Christopher Allen Nelson
Make_up_department | Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Academy Award winner and 2 time Emmy winner Christopher Allen Nelson moved to Los Angeles at the age of 15. He has established himself as one of the top Special FX Make-up Artists and designers in the industry, after having worked for Rick Baker, Steve Johnson, KNB, Stan Winston, and many more over...
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling for Suicide Squad (2016)
5. Ezra Edelman
Producer | O.J.: Made in America
Ezra Edelman is known for O.J.: Made in America (2016), Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals (2010) and 30 for 30 (2009).
Best Documentary Feature for O.J.: Made in America (2016)
6. Caroline Waterlow
Producer | O.J.: Made in America
Caroline Waterlow is known for O.J.: Made in America (2016), Makers: Women Who Make America (2013) and Brooklyn Dodgers: The Ghosts of Flatbush (2007).
Best Documentary Feature for O.J.: Made in America (2016)
7. Sylvain Bellemare
Sound_department | Arrival
Sylvain Bellemare was born on February 20, 1968 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Arrival (2016), Dream Scenario (2023) and Viking (2022).
Best Achievement in Sound Editing for Arrival (2016)
8. Kevin O'Connell
Sound_department | Oppenheimer
Kevin O'Connell is an Academy Award winning Post Production sound mixer who has worked in the film industry for more than 30 years contributing to over 270 feature films. His 21 Academy Award nominations include Hacksaw Ridge, Transformers, Spider-Man, Spider-man 2, Apocalypto , Memoirs of a Geisha...
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
9. Andy Wright
Sound_department | Hacksaw Ridge
Andy Wright is known for Hacksaw Ridge (2016), The Stranger (2022) and The Portable Door (2023).
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
10. Robert Mackenzie
Sound_department | Hacksaw Ridge
Robert Mackenzie is known for Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Mortal Kombat (2021) and The Grandmaster (2013).
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
11. Peter Grace
Sound_department | Hacksaw Ridge
Peter Grace is known for Hacksaw Ridge (2016), Gods of Egypt (2016) and The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017).
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing for Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
12. Viola Davis
Actress | Fences
Viola Davis is a critically revered actress of film, television, and theater and has won rave reviews for her multitude of substantial and intriguingly diverse roles. Audiences across the United States and internationally have admired her for her work- including her celebrated, Oscar-nominated ...
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role as Rose Maxson in Fences (2016)
13. Alan Barillaro
Director | Piper
Alan Barillaro is known for Piper (2016), Lightyear (2022) and WALL·E (2008).
Best Animated Short Film for Piper (2016)
14. Marc Sondheimer
Marc Sondheimer is known for John Carter (2012), WALL·E (2008) and The Incredibles (2004).
Best Animated Short Film for Piper (2016)
15. Byron Howard
Director | Zootopia
Byron Howard was born on December 26, 1968 in Misawa, Japan. He is a director and producer, known for Zootopia (2016), Encanto (2021) and Tangled (2010).
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for Zootopia (2016)
16. Rich Moore
Director | Wreck-It Ralph
Rich Moore was born on May 10, 1963 in Oxnard, California, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Zootopia (2016) and Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018).
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for Zootopia (2016)
17. Clark Spencer
Producer | Zootopia
Clark Spencer was born and raised in Seattle Washington, before he moved to Massachusetts to study at Harvard University. After graduating from Harvard in 1985 with a degree in history, he worked with Bankers Trust Company on Wall Street. He graduated from Harvard Business School in 1990. He then ...
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for Zootopia (2016)
18. David Wasco
Production_designer | La La Land
David Wasco is known for La La Land (2016), Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). He is married to Sandy Reynolds-Wasco.
Best Achievement in Production Design for La La Land (2016)
19. Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Set_decorator | La La Land
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco is known for La La Land (2016), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Inglourious Basterds (2009). She is married to David Wasco.
Best Achievement in Production Design for La La Land (2016)
20. Adam Valdez
Visual_effects | The Jungle Book
Adam Valdez is known for The Jungle Book (2016), Prehistoric Planet (2022) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
Best Achievement in Visual Effects for The Jungle Book (2016)
21. Dan Lemmon
Visual_effects | Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Dan Lemmon is known for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017).
Best Achievement in Visual Effects for The Jungle Book (2016)
22. John Gilbert
Editor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Film editor John Gilbert won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Film Editing for his work on Mel Gibson's 2016 war drama Hacksaw Ridge. A native of New Zealand, Gilbert has edited 23 feature films including Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which garnered him the...
Best Achievement in Film Editing for Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
23. Orlando von Einsiedel
Director | Virunga
Orlando von Einsiedel is the Oscar-winning director of short documentary, The White Helmets. His first feature documentary, the Bafta and Academy-Award nominated documentary, Virunga won over 50 international film awards including an Emmy, a Peabody, a Grierson and a duPont-Columbia Award for ...
Best Documentary Short Subject for The White Helmets (2016)
24. Joanna Natasegara
Producer | The Edge of Democracy
Joanna Natasegara is known for The Edge of Democracy (2019), Virunga (2014) and The Nightcrawlers (2019).
Best Documentary Short Subject for The White Helmets (2016)
25. Kristóf Deák
Director | Mindenki
Kristóf Deák was born on June 7, 1982 in Budapest, Hungary. He is a director and editor, known for Sing (2016), The Grandson (2021) and Best Game Ever (2018).
Best Live Action Short Film for Mindenki (2016)
26. Anna Udvardy
Producer | Mindenki
Anna Udvardy was born in 1949 in Budapest, Hungary. She was a production manager and producer, known for Sing (2016), Best Game Ever (2018) and Epilogue (2010). She died on May 23, 2019 in Hungary.
Best Live Action Short Film for Mindenki (2016)
27. Linus Sandgren
Cinematographer | Babylon
Linus Sandgren is an Academy Award winning Swedish cinematographer. He is best known for his work with Damien Chazelle on La La Land (2016) and his collaboration with David O Russell on the films American Hustle (2013) and Joy (2015).
He also worked with Gus Van Sant on Promised Land where he shot ...
Best Achievement in Cinematography for La La Land (2016)
28. Justin Hurwitz
Soundtrack | La La Land
Justin Hurwitz was born on January 22, 1985 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for La La Land (2016), First Man (2018) and Whiplash (2014).
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score) for La La Land (2016)
And
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) for "City of Stars" in La La Land (2016)
29. Kenneth Lonergan
Writer | Manchester by the Sea
Kenneth Lonergan is a playwright, screenwriter and director. His film, You Can Count on Me (2000), which he wrote and directed, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay, won the Sundance 2000 Grand Jury Prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, the NY Film Critics Circle, LA Film ...
Best Original Screenplay for Manchester by the Sea (2016)
30. Barry Jenkins
Producer | If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins was born on November 19, 1979 in Miami, Florida, USA. He is a producer and director, known for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), Moonlight (2016) and Aftersun (2022).
Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight (2016)
31. Tarell Alvin McCraney
Writer | Moonlight
Tarell Alvin McCraney was born on October 17, 1980 in Liberty City, Miami, Florida, USA. He is a writer and producer, known for Moonlight (2016), David Makes Man (2019) and High Flying Bird (2019).
Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight (2016)
32. Damien Chazelle
Writer | La La Land
Damien Sayre Chazelle is an American director and screenwriter. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. His mother, Celia Sayre (Martin) Chazelle, is an American-Canadian writer and professor of history at The College of New Jersey. His father, Bernard Chazelle, is a French-American Eugene Higgins...
Best Achievement in Directing for La La Land (2016)
33. Casey Affleck
Actor | Manchester by the Sea
An accomplished and striking performer, Academy Award® winner Casey Affleck has established himself as a powerful leading man with performances in multiple projects.
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts. His mother, Chris Anne (née Boldt), is a school teacher, and ...
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role as Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea (2016)
34. Emma Stone
Actress | La La Land
Emily Jean "Emma" Stone was born on November 6, 1988 in Scottsdale, Arizona to Krista Jean Stone (née Yeager), a homemaker & Jeffrey Charles "Jeff" Stone, a contracting company founder and CEO. She is of Swedish, German & British Isles descent. Stone began acting as a child as a member of the ...
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role as Mia in La La Land (2016)
35. Adele Romanski
Producer | Aftersun
Adele Romanski was born on November 10, 1982 in Sarasota, Florida, USA. She is a producer and editor, known for Aftersun (2022), Moonlight (2016) and If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).
Best Motion Picture of the Year for Moonlight (2016)
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