Top 16 Most Beautiful Black Actresses in Hollywood of All Time
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The world is becoming more open and there is no longer any discrimination based on skin color. Black people in America are leaving their mark in every industry in every field of career, including the Hollywood film industry. Black women have become an indispensable part of Hollywood blockbusters.
In this article, we will discuss and vote for the most famous, successful and beautiful black actresses in Hollywood.
Success and fame are often easy to rank because of the quite clear criteria. However, ranking the beauty and charm of women in general and black actresses in Hollywood in particular is only relative. Beauty depends on each person's perspective. Therefore, you may not agree with some positions in our ranking.
Learn more: Top 15 Most Beautiful Actresses in African Film Industry
Top 16 Most Beautiful Black Actresses in Hollywood of All Time
1. Diahann Carroll
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| Diahann Carroll |
She is an actress, singer, and activist, among other things. He was born in New York, USA, on July 17, 1935. At age 18, she got her start in show business with a DuMont Television Network show.
In her first movie in Hollywood, Carmen Jones, she played a supporting role. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for a romantic comedy-drama. Carroll broke a record when she became the first black actress to play a non-stereotypical role on the American TV show Julia.
She is also the first black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her part in No Strings. Her death in 2019 was caused by breast cancer.
2. Halle Berry
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| Halle Berry |
Halle Berry is not only a Hollywood legend among Black actresses, but she's also incredibly kind and welcoming. Located in Ohio, USA, Halle Berry came into this world on August 14, 1966. She started out competing in beauty pageants and modeling. Her 1992 film debut was in the comedy Boomerang.
Halle is unique among black actresses in that she has won an Oscar for Best Actress. In 2000, she was also among Hollywood's highest-paid actresses.
She took home the infamous Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance in the critically panned 2004 film Catwoman. Despite this, she graciously chose to show up and collect her "award" in person, saying, "I hope never to see any of you again!" during her acceptance speech. Perfect Stranger (2007), Gothica (2003), X-Men (2000), Swordfish (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), and Gothica were some of her more acclaimed roles.
Being in her 50s has only added to her endearing personality.
3. Angela Bassett
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| Angela Bassett |
Angela Bassett, who is 66 years old, exudes elegance and regal beauty. On August 16, 1958, she was born in New York, USA. In 1980, she earned her degrees in African American studies and arts from Yale University. Her spouse encouraged her to pursue acting. He had graduated from Yale's Drama School.
In 1984, she made brief guest appearances in television series such as The Cosby Show and Spenser:(For Hire). Her breakthrough performances in television shows came later in 1990. When Bassett played Tina Turner on the television program What's Love Got To Do With It in 1993, she delivered an incredible performance. She received a BAFTA nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress because of this character.
After a series of small TV roles, she hit the big screen playing Tina Turner in What’s Love Got to Do With It? (1993). This role got her an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Some of her other roles were in Waiting to Exhale (1995), Supernova (2000), The Score (2001), and 9-1-1 (2018).
4. Taraji P. Henson
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| Taraji P. Henson |
American actress and singer Traji was born on September 11, 1970. The appearances she has made as a guest on television shows have brought her fame. Her 2001 film debut, Bbay Boy, was her breakout role.
Hustle and Flow, in which Taraji played a prostitute, earned her the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress in 2005. For her supporting role in 2008's The Curious Case, she received her first British Academy Film Award.
She was also in a 2010 action comedy. The Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures features her incredible work.
Taraji P. Henson has had an extensive career in television and film. Some of her notable roles were in Hustle & Flow (2005), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), I Can Do Bad All By Myself (2009), Hidden Figures (2016), Acrimony (2018), and the 2023 remake of The Color Purple.
5. Alfre Woodard
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| Alfre Woodard |
As an actress, she has done a lot of great work. Woodard was born in Tulsa, USA, on November 8, 1952. She first worked as an actress in the theater. Some of the movies she was in that really made me feel something were Grand Canyon, Brooklyn, 12 Years a Slave, Junaita, and many more. She had good roles and won a lot of awards. She won four Emmys, one Golden Globe, and three Star Guild Awards. In The New York Times, Woodard was also named one of the best actors of the 21st century.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has her on its board. A number of Emmys have been given to her for her work in NBS dramas. It's not just that she's an actor; she's also a social activist, and she runs a number of non-profits that help people with AIDS and the pandemic.
6. Octavia Spencer
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| Octavia Spencer |
It is safe to say that Octavia Spencer is one of the most well-known and multifaceted celebrities of the last twenty years.
Born in Montgomery, United States of America, on May 25th, 1970, an American actress was born. A Time to Kill was Spencer's first drama to be released. Then, she appeared in a few films in supporting roles. She became known as an actress in 2011 for her performance in the drama The Help, in which she played the role of a maid. During the course of the drama, Spencer was awarded the Academy Award for best supporting actress. This event marked a significant turning point in her career, as she went on to star in a number of films that earned her a number of other accolades.
Due to her performance in a Netflix miniseries, she was recently considered for a nomination for the Prime Time Emmy Award in the category of Best Actress.
| Among her film credits are Spider-Man (2002), The Help (2011), Hidden Figures (2016), The Shack (2017), The Shape of Water (2017), and Green Book (2018). She made forays into horror with Ma (2019) and comedy in Thunder Force (2021). |
7. Viola Davis
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| Viola Davis |
She is the only Black actress to have ever won all three awards in the acting world. Viola was born in South Carolina, United States of America, on August 11, 1965.
At the beginning of her career, she appeared in a few small roles in films and television shows. As a result of her outstanding performance in the drama series ABC, she was awarded her first Prime Time Emmy Award in the category of best actress. A number of major blockbuster films, including The Woman King, Suicide Squad, and DC Extended Universe, are on Viola's list of things she wants to see in her lifetime.
Along with her husband, she is the proprietor of the production company known as JuVee Productions. In addition, she is an activist for human rights and works toward the improvement of the black community of the United States. On two separate occasions, Davis was ranked among the top 100 most influential people in the world.
| She has played powerful roles in celebrated recent movies, including Antwone Fisher (2002), Disturbia (2007), The Help (2011), Fences (2016), Widows (2018), and The Woman King (2022). |
8. Mary J. Blige
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| Mary J. Blige |
Mary Jane Blige is a multi-talented American artist who was born on January 11, 1971. She is a singer, songwriter, rapper, and actress.
A number of people have referred to Mary J. Blige as the "Queen of Hip-Hop Soul." She is the only artist to have won Grammy awards in the R&B, hip-hop, pop, and gospel categories, which distinguishes her from the other numerous awards and distinctions she has received.
She is equally gifted as a television and film star with numerous credits to her name. Some of her recent film roles were Mudbound (2017), Body Cam (2020), The Violent Heart (2020), Respect (2021), and Rob Peace (2024).
Learn more: Top 15 Most Beautiful Black Female Celebrities Under 40
9. Lisa Bonet
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| Lisa Michelle Bonet |
Lilakoi Moon (born Lisa Michelle Bonet; November 16, 1967), known professionally as Lisa Bonet is an American actress.
Famous for her television role as Denise Huxtable in The Cosby Show (1984-91), Lisa Bonet built an award-winning film career with roles in films such as Angel Heart (1987). Enemy of the State (1998), High Fidelity (2000), Biker Boyz (2003), and Road to Paloma (2013). Bonet has also made the news with previous high-profile marriages to marriages to rock star Lenny Kravitz and actor Jason Momoa.
10. Tyra Banks
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| Tyra Banks |
A supermodel and actress from the United States, Tyra Banks was born on December 4, 1973 in the city of Inglewood, state of California. America's Next Top Model and The Tyra Banks Show are two of the television programs that she hosts.
The 51-year-old actress and model Tyra Banks also had roles in Coyote Ugly (2000), Tropic Thunder (2008), and Halloween: Resurrection (2002). From 2005-2011, she hosted a celebrity talk show, The Tyra Banks Show.
11. Ciara
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| Ciara |
Ciara Princess Wilson (born October 25, 1985) is an American singer and songwriter.
As an actress, Ciara was nominated for a SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for The Color Purple (2023). She has also starred in That’s My Boy (2012), Mama I Want to Sing! (2012), and All You’ve Got (2006).
Ciara has received multiple accolades, including a Grammy Award, two BET Awards, the Woman of the Year award from Billboard Women in Music, two MTV Video Music Awards, eight Soul Train Awards, and fifteen Ascap Music Awards. As of 2019, Ciara's worldwide sales total over 45 million.
Learn more: Top 15 Most Beautiful Black Female Celebrities Over 40
12. Lashana Lynch
London was the location of the birth of a British actress on November 27th, 1987. In London, she received her training at the Arts School of Drama. In 2012, she made her debut in the film Fast Girls. In addition to Silent Witness and Death in Paradise, she appeared in a number of other BBC television films.
Still Star Crossed, an American period drama series, offered Lynch her first role later in the year 2016, and she accepted it. In the year 2019, she was cast in the film Captain Marvel, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Her performances in films and dramas have earned her a number of accolades and awards.
13. Keke Palmer
A gifted American actress with additional talents as a singer and host. On August 26, 1993, Palmer was born in Illinois, USA. She painted as a young girl. In 2004, she made her film debut in Barber Shop 2: Back in Business.
Palmer went on to appear in TV series. In 2006, she was recognized for her performance in the drama film Akeelah and The Bee. She later acted in several films, including Jump In! and The Longshots, among many others. In the past few years, Palmer has starred in a number of blockbuster films.
She won a Prime Time Emmy Award for one of her Turnt Up series roles. Her name was added to the list of the world's most influential people by Times magazine.
| Actress, singer, podcaster, and television host Keke Palmer debuted in film in Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), but critics say her real breakthrough was in 2006 in Akeelah and the Bee. Some of her adult roles were in Scream (2019), Animal (2014), Pimp (2018), Hustlers (2019) and Nope (2022). |
14. Vanessa Williams
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| Vanessa Williams |
Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, model, producer, and dancer. She became known as the first Black woman to win the Miss America title when she was crowned in 1984. She would later resign her position due to a media backlash over nude photos published in Penthouse magazine. During the Miss America 2016 pageant, Williams was given a public apology for the events that occurred 32 years ago.
She has become an accomplished actress with films including Candyman (1992), The Courage to Love (2000), Tyler Perry’s Temptation (2013), The Trip to Bountiful (2014), Miss Virginia (2019), Bad Hair (2020), and Mid-Century (2022).
15. Letitia Wright
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| Letitia Wright |
She was born on October 31, 1993, in Guyanese, and is an actress. As a young actress, she had small parts on TV shows like Top Boy, Coming Up, Chasing Shadows, Humans, Doctor Who, and Black Mirror. For the second one, she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Then, Wright's big break came when she played a lead role in the 2015 movie Urban Hymn[1]. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) named Wright one of the Britons of the Year for 2015.
She became famous all over the world in 2018 for her role as Shuri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Black Panther. For that role, she won both an NAACP Image Award and a SAG Award. Not only did she play the part again in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but also in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The BAFTA Rising Star Award was given to her in 2019. She was also nominated for a Satellite Award for her role in Steve McQueen's 2020 anthology series Small Axe.
16. Zendaya
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| Zendaya |
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman is an American singer and actress who was born September 1, 1996.Two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award are among her honors. Time named her one of the 100 most important people in the world in 2022.
One of a new generation of successful African-American actresses in Hollywood, Zendaya has appeared in some of the most popular films of the past decade, including Dune (2021), Dune: Part Two (2024), Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), The Greatest Showman (2017), and Lemonade (2016).
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