How many Puerto Ricans have won an Oscar and who has won the most?

Puerto Rico has been producing its own films for over a century and while it has a relatively small population (just over 3.2 million, ranked at 136 in the world list of countries and dependencies), it has featured a number of times at the Academy Awards over the years.

Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico is recognized as a US territory and  since 1985, has submitted a total of 12 films for the Best Foreign Language Film category. Only one of them ended up being being nominated - Jacobo Morales’ 1989 comedy Lo que le Pasó a Santiago (What happened to Santiago) which lost out to Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso at the 62nd edition of the Oscars.

AMPAS changes the rules

However, the rules concerning foreign language films that are produced outside the United States with a predominantly non-English dialogue track recently changed. In 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) revised its rules and eligibility, making films from US territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands ineligible for the Foreign Language Film award.

That effectively meant that the 2010 movie América, a tour de force shot in Puerto Rico and New York by Mexican director Sonia Fritz was disqualified from the 83rd ceremony. Fritz, a highly-acclaimed director, has been based in Puerto Rico for over three decades, producing countless documentaries focusing on the social and cultural themes of the island.

José Ferrer makes history

A number of Puerto Rican artists have been nominated for an Oscar and a few of them even went home with one. Born in San Juan in 1912, José Ferrer was the first Puerto Rican-born, first Latino and Hispanic person to be nominated for and win an Oscar. He was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor for his performance as The Dauphin, Charles VII in Victor Fleming’s 1948 epic Joan of Arc. In March 1951, he picked up the Best Actor award at the 23rd Academy Awards gala for his lead role in Cyrano de Bergerac (1950).

Rita Moreno was the first Puerto Rican actress to be nominated for and win an Oscar, winning Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Jerome Robbins’ film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical West Side Story (1961). The movie was nominated for 11 awards and collected 10. The multi-talented Moreno meanwhile, is one of a select group of 24 artists who have won the Triple Crown: Oscar, Emmy and Tony awards.

Another versatile artist who hails from the island is Benicio del Toro, who has been nominated twice and won once. He picked up the Best Supporting Actor award for Traffic (2000), in the process becoming the first actor to win an Oscar for a Spanish-speaking role. Four years later, he was nominated again for his performance as Jack Jordan in the psychological drama 21 Grams but on that occasion the statuette went to Tim Robbins.

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Joaquin Phoenix is the actor to have received the most nominations. The first, Best Supporting Actor, was for his portrayal of Commodus in Gladiator (2000). He went on to have three nominations for the Best Actor award - in 2005 for Walk the Line, in 2012 for The Master and picked up his first and only Oscar in 2019 for his captivating performance in the dark, psychological drama, Joker.

Other Puerto Ricans who work behind the scenes have also figured among the nominees. Screenwriter José Rivera was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay award for writing the script for The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta). Rivera was up against tough competition and the award ended up going to Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for Sideways.