Sophia Loren won the Oscar for the 1960 film Two Women (La Ciociara), and her performance was in Italian.

Why this is the answer

  • The film is commonly cited as the first non-English-language performance to win an acting Oscar.
  • Loren won Best Actress for that role.

Quick scoop

The actress was Sophia Loren.

TL;DR: Sophia Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Two Women in 1962, for a performance spoken in Italian.