Answer:
The first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel. She won the 1939 Best Supporting Actress award for her performance as Mammy in "Gone With the Wind." The first African-American male to be nominated for an Oscar was Sidney Poitier, who received a 1958 Best Actor nod for his performance as prison escapee Noah Cullen in "The Defiant Ones." Poitier didn't win that year, but he won the 1963 Best Actor Oscar for "Lilies of the Field."