Who was the first person to win an Oscar posthumously?

Sidney Howard was the first person to win an Oscar posthumously.

Howard won the 1939 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Gone with the Wind at the 12th Academy Awards, held on February 29, 1940. He had died in August 1939 in a tractor accident on his Massachusetts farm, months before the ceremony. His award recognized his screenplay adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s novel.

The wording matters because Howard was the first posthumous winner in any competitive Oscar category. Later examples are often more familiar: Peter Finch won Best Actor after his death for Network, while Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor after his death for The Dark Knight. Those actors were the first posthumous winners in their respective acting categories, not overall.

Gone with the Wind won eight competitive Oscars from thirteen nominations at that ceremony. Its other historic victories included Best Picture for producer David O. Selznick and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, the first Black performer to win an Academy Award. Howard’s screenplay Oscar established a precedent the Academy has recognized many times since.