Sometimes it takes ages for an actor to finally get their due -- they spend years grinding until they're considered to have waited long enough to earn themselves an Oscar (often for a bewilderingly subpar film that's far from their best work). But every once in a while, they end up knocking it out of the park and bowling over the Academy so thoroughly that they win an Oscar for their first feature film. 

You see it more often with women, for whom writing -- until relatively recently -- tended to be stronger in younger roles and in supporting performances, but these first-time Oscars crop up for all different types of characters. And unfortunately, winning an Oscar for your first movie can be as much of a curse as it is a blessing -- after all, how can you possibly top that? Here are each and every actor who earned...