62-Year-Old Ruth. E. Carter Writes History At The 2023 Oscars
Black women are indeed writing history, and we love to see it! Costume designer Ruth E. Carter makes a record as the first black woman with two Oscar awards after she received an award for the second time at the Oscars in 2023.
Her first win was in 2019 when she received an award for Best Costume Design in the popular Marvel's 'Black Panther.' Her recent win at this year's Oscars event for the sequel "Black Panther; Wakanda Forever" is a significant win for every black woman as she emerged winner amidst nominations of other prominent designers like Shirley Kurata (“Everything Everywhere All at Once"), Mary Zophres (“Babylon"), Jenny Beaven( “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”) and Catherine Martin(" Elvis").
When called onstage to receive the award and give her speech, she expressed her gratitude to the Oscars, the movie crew, everyone who contributed to the success of her design, and most especially, her late mother and legendary actor Chadwick Boseman.
“Nice to see you again, Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman. She endures, she loves, and she overcomes, she is every woman in this film. She is my mother. This past week, Mable Carter became an ancestor. This film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of Mom. Ryan Coogler, and Nate Moore, thank you both for your vision. Together, we are reshaping how culture is represented. The Marvel family, Kevin Feige, Victoria Alonso, Louis D’Esposito, and their arsenal of genius thank you. I share this with many dedicated artists whose hands and hearts helped manifest the costumes of Wakanda and Talokan. This is for my mother. She was 101".
Things You Probably Didn't Know About Ruth E. Carter
The famous costume designer Ruth E. Carter graduated from Hampton University, formerly known as Hampton Institute, in 1982 with a Bachelor's Degree in Arts. The 62-year-old grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was raised alongside her 7 siblings by their single mum.
Her passion for costume designing began as a kid, and she had even interned at the Santa Fe Opera in her hometown. She landed her first job in the mid-80s when the popular American filmmaker Spike Lee asked her to design his movie. Ever since then, she has over 40 films to her credit and has worked with legendary filmmakers and directors like John Singleton and Steven Spielberg.
She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and her breakthrough was with Marvel's blockbuster movie Black Panther which she won two awards and emerged as the first black woman in history to achieve the feat.
In a 2020 interview with PEOPLE magazine, she shared some of her memorable work moments with the late Chadwick Boseman, who died at 43 on August 8th, 2020. Recall that the iconic actor had battled with colon cancer until his final moments, and everyone who watched the first Black Panther agreed that the sequel was indeed a movie that immortalized the amazing actor in history forever.
Ruth seemed to have shared such a deep bond with the late Boseman just by working with him, and that must have inspired the outstanding costume outfits she designed for ‘Wakanda Forever’.
"There was so much trust because we'd worked on Marshall together. There was so much trust when we started Black Panther, It was an incredible experience because he didn't doubt anything. He always greeted me with a smile, a hug, and cooperation," she recounted while sharing her memories of the late actor.
It's no surprise that Ruth asked Bosemam to watch over her late mom during her speech on Sunday. The two must have been good work buddies who managed to make an impact during their time together.