| JAMESDEAN | Rebel Without A Cause actor who became the first to receive a posthumous nomination for an Oscar (5, |
| STREEP | Meryl ___ (b 1949), US actor with a record 21 nominations for an Academy Award (6) |
| DEAN | Actor known for his work in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), and the first to receive a posthumous Best Actor Oscar nomination (last name only) (4) |
| RAMIMALEK | Actor who became the first one of Egyptian heritage to win an Oscar for Best Actor in 2019: 2 wds. |
| LOUISWASHKANSKY | Patient who was the world's first to receive a heart transplant in 1967 (5,10) |
| POITIER | Sidney, late actor who became the first black Best Actor Oscar winner (7) |
| NADIA | ___ Comaneci, a Romanian gymnast became the first to score a perfect 10 in the 1976 games. She then went on to score a 10 six more times. |
| JAMES | _Dean, Rebel without a Cause actor (5) |
| OPENER | The first to receive a delivery (6) |
| COMANECI | Nadia, the Romanian gymnast who, at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics, became the first to score a perfect 10 (8) |
| STLEO | Fifth-century pope, the first to receive the title "the Great" |
| SHATNER | William, ex-Star Trek actor who became the oldest person to go into space in 2021 (7) |
| RONALDREAGAN | Former actor who became the 40th president of the United States in 1981 (6,6) |
| DITYATIN | Who, in the 1980 Moscow Games, became the first to win eight medals, the most in a single edition, which has since been equalled twice by Michael Phelps? (8) |
| SAL | Rebel without a cause actor, ... Mineo (3) |
| MINEO | "Rebel Without a Cause" actor Sal |
| SALMINEO | "Rebel Without A Cause" actor |
| POPOV | Oleg ___, Russian clown who in 1955 became the first to tour outside his home country (5) |
| VINCECARTER | Atlanta Hawks forward who recently became the first to play in the NBA in four different decades: 2 wds. |
| DAVIDKOSSOFF | British actor who became an anti-drug campaigner after the death of his son Paul, guitarist in the band Free |
