Celebrating Women's History Month - Oscar Firsts | Part I

Hollywood's biggest night is right around the corner! Next week, Jimmy Kimmel will host the 95th annual Academy Awards. In the first 94 years of Oscar, certain categories have remained especially elusive for women. Only three female cinematographers have earned a nomination, with the first coming just five years ago (Rachel Morrison for "Mudbound"); none have won – though Mandy Walker has a chance to change that this year with her nomination for "Elvis."

Hosting opportunities have also been few and far between for women. It wasn't until the 20th ceremony held in 1948 that a woman – actress Agnes Moorehead – co-hosted the ceremony, alongside actor Dick Powell. It would take another 46 years until a woman would host the event solo – Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg in 1994.

In honor of Women's History Month, let's take a look at some of the other pioneers who blazed a trail for female filmmakers and entertainers. In part I, we will highlight women who made history in the first 50 Oscar ceremonies (1929-1978).

Frances Marion is not just the first female screenwriter to win two Oscars. She is the first screenwriter of any gender to win two, which she accomplished at the third and fifth ceremonies in 1930 and 1932. The writing categories have evolved over the last century, and in 1930 there was just one category, Best Writing, which Marion won for the prison drama "The Big House." Two years later, the category was split into Best Adaptation and Best Original Story, and Marion won the latter for the boxing film "The Champ."

At the seventh annual Oscars held in 1935, the academy added an award for Best Original Song. Two years later, Dorothy Fields became the first female songwriter to win for penning the lyrics to "The Way You Look Tonight" from the 1936 film "Swing Time" starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. She shared the award with composer Jerome Kern. The category Best Original Score was also introduced that year, but it would take much longer for a woman to win in that category. (Learn about her in part II, coming on Wednedsay, March 15).

Best Film Editing was also first awarded in 1935, and six years later at the 13th annual ceremony, Anne Bauchens became the first woman to win in that category, for editing the 1940 western "North West Mounted Police," starring Gary Cooper.

At the 21st ceremony held in 1949, a category that would prove fruitful for women for decades was first introduced – Best Costume Design. At that ceremony, there were actually two awards presented, one for color films and one for black-and-white. Dorothy Jeakins and Barbara Karinska won the inaugural award for Best Costume Design (Color) for their work on "Joan of Arc," starring Ingrid Bergman. The next year, the legendary Edith Head won her first Oscar for Best Costume Design (Black-and-White) for "The Heiress." Head would go on to win seven more times, and her eight statuettes are the most won by any woman in Oscars history.

The 21st ceremony marked another first for women behind the scenes. Production designer Carmen Dillon won an Oscar for Best Art Direction – Set Decoration (Black-and-White), a category that has since folded into Best Production Design. She won this award for her work on 1948's Best Picture winner "Hamlet" starring Laurence Olivier.

More than five decades before a woman would first win Best Director, Nancy Hamilton directed and produced "Helen Keller in Her Story," a documentary film that would win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 28th ceremony held in 1956.

Nearly two decades later at the 46th ceremony held in 1974, Julia Phillips became the first female producer to win an Oscar for Best Picture. She co-produced "The Sting" with her husband Michael Phillips and co-producer Tony Bill. To date, no female has produced a Best Picture winner solo, but several have won as part of a team. Dede Gardner is the only female producer with two Best Picture Oscars (for 2013's "12 Years a Slave" and 2016's "Moonlight"), and she has a chance to win one more this year for "Women Talking," co-produced with Frances McDormand and Jeremy Kleiner.

We hope you enjoyed learning about these early film pioneers in part I of this series. Come back on Wednesday, March 15 for part II, in which we will highlight more groundbreaking women in the film industry.