Who was the first winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar?

Gale Sondergaard was the first winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She won at the 9th Academy Awards for her performance as Faith in Anthony Adverse, honoring films released in 1936.

The supporting-actor categories were introduced at that ceremony. Sondergaard therefore shares a piece of Oscar history with Walter Brennan, who won the first Best Supporting Actor award for Come and Get It. The Academy initially used the broader category names “Actress in a Supporting Role” and “Actor in a Supporting Role.”

Sondergaard’s victory came early in a distinguished career. She was known for elegant, often dramatic performances, and her win made her the first actress recognized in a category that gave substantial screen performers a place alongside leading stars. Hattie McDaniel, Fay Bainter, and Alice Brady were later winners, but none preceded Sondergaard in the category’s inaugural year.

A common mix-up is confusing the first supporting-actress winner with the first woman to win any acting Oscar. That earlier milestone belongs to Janet Gaynor, who won Best Actress at the first Academy Awards in 1929.