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Jet, March 4, 1996

Black moviegoers were shocked when they learned that no Blacks received Oscar nominations this year when, in fact, there were numerous Black actors who should have been nominated for the 1995 Oscars.

The lack of Black actors in the nominations this year, to many, reflects the status of Blacks in Hollywood. The selections are a painful reminder of a past Hollywood when Blacks were virtually excluded from major films.

"It shows that diversity is still a long way from reality in Hollywood," Sandra Evers-Manley, president of the Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center, told JET. "We do have talent worthy of nomination.'

To date there have been only five actors who actually have won an Oscar. Hattie McDaniel in 1939 was the first for her role as the maid in Gone With The Wind, paving the way for others. Sidney Poitier won in 1963 and has been the only Black to win in the Best Actor category. Louis Gossett Jr. won in 1982, Denzel Washington in 1989 and Whoopi Goldberg in 1990 for Best Supporting Actor roles.

Last year there were only two Oscar nominations for Black actors. Morgan Freeman was nominated for Best Actor in Shawshank Redemption and Samuel L. Jackson received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Pulp Fiction.

Some observers of the 1995 Oscar nominations said that they expected actors like Denzel Washington, who starred as private detective Easy" Rollins in the movie based on Walter Mosley's best-selling novel Devil In A Blue Dress, to be among the nominees. The most sought after Black actor in Hollywood also could have been nominated for his role in the military drama Crimson Tide. In the movie, Washington played the tough, no-nonsense Lt. Commander Ron Hunter.

Nomination observers added that also missing from the list was Morgan Freeman in Seven. He starred as homicide detective William Somerset who helps his partner solve a series of murders based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The film itself received one nomination.

There were some very diverse and compelling roles played by Black actors in 1995 films, many of which received rave reviews, all of which were overlooked in this years Oscar nominations.

Evers-Manley said some of the outstanding performances she witnessed in 1995 films included Laurence Fishburne in Othello, the actors in Waiting to Exhale and Freeman in Seven.

Critics called Fishburne's portrayal of the Moor in Othello "commanding." He was the first Black to portray the Shakespearean character in film. Fishburne, as Othello, marries Desdemona, but is tricked into believing his White wife is cheating on him, so he murders her and eventually kills himself.

Waiting to Exhale, a film about four friends who confided and leaned on each other in their pursuit of decent men, which is based on the best-selling book by Terry McMillan, was number one at the box office the weekend it was released. Angela Bassett, who gave a riveting performance as the jilted wife, Bernadine, could have received an Oscar nod.

Whitney Houston portrayed a very convincing lead character as Savannah. The award-winning songstress also missed getting an Oscar nomination for her single on the soundtrack of the movie. Exhale (Shoop Shoop), which was produced by Babyface.

Halle Berry could have receive a nomination for her starring role in Losing Isaiah, as a crack-addicted mother who abandons her son, but later, after kicking her drug habit, fights to get him back from a White family that has adopted him.

Alfre Woodard did not appear in the nominations for her supporting role in How To Make A American Quilt. She played Marianna, a member of the Grasse Quilting Bee and daughter of Maya Angelou's character.

James Earl Jones delivered a memorable performance in Cry, The Beloved Count , which was based on the novel by Alan Paton and the first movie to originate from the new, democratic South Africa, but was also missing from the nomination list.

Samuel L. Jackson, co-starring as Zeus Carver, was electrifying in Die Hard With a Vengeance, helping save New York from a terrorizing madman. But, he too was overlooked.

There were many other Black artists who could have been included in the lineup for Oscar recognition.

In addition to Devil in a Blue Dress and Waiting to Exhale, Oscar nods could have come for other actors who appeared in Black films such as Omar Epps, who starred in John Singleton's Higher Learning, and newcomer Mekhi Phifer in Spike Lee's Clockers.

Epps in Higher Learning played Malik Willams, a freshman at Columbus University who encounters racism at the all-white school.

In Clockers, which was called "one of the year's most powerful films," Phifer starred as Strike Dunham, a young drug dealer whose world spins out of control after a competitor is murdered.

The people who decide who win be nominated for the Oscars and who wins are members the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. To choose nominees, Academy members vote in their perspective categories and all members vote in the Best Picture category. A committee decides nominations for the foreign film and documentary categories. All Academy members vote in all categories to determine the final winners.