Yahoo News Fences' Viola Davis FINALLY wins an Oscar
The third time's a charm for Viola Davis at the Academy Awards.
Viola won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the annual gala on Sunday (February 26) for her incredible portrayal of Rose Maxson in the August Wilson adaptation Fences.
The acclaimed stage and screen actress brought the star-studded room to tears with impassioned speech about the humanity and compassion that fuelled her performance.
"There's one place where all the people with the greatest potential are gathered. One place and that's the graveyard," she began. "People ask me all the time, what kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say, exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories.
"The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition. People who fell in love and lost. I became an artist and, thank god I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life.
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"So, here's to August Wilson, who exhumed and exalted the ordinary people."
As tears rolled down her cheeks, Viola dedicated her award to her mum and dad: "My parents – I'm so thankful that God chose you to bring me into this world, to my sisters, my sister Dolores, we were rich white women in the tea party games.
"Thank you for the imagination and to my husband and my daughter. My heart, you and genesis. You teach me every day how to live, how to love. I'm so glad that you are the foundation of my life."
The win made history as Viola is now the first black actress to win an Oscar, a Primetime Emmy and a Tony Award for acting.
Even Jimmy Kimmel was blown away by Viola's emotional speech, joking moments later: "I don't know if anyone's going to be able to give a speech after that. Viola Davis, she got nominated for an Emmy for that Oscar speech."
This was the third nomination for Viola, who was previously up for Best Supporting Actress for Doubt and Best Actress for The Help in years past.
Related: Oscars 2017... live! All the news, winners and updates from the 89th Academy Awards
Viola also won the Tony Award for essentially the same role in the stage version of Fences back in 2010.
The 2017 Best Supporting Actress category was one of the more hotly-contested races of this awards season, with Viola up alongside Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion), Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) and Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea).
Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 89th Academy Awards from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday. For a full list of the night's winners, click here.
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