diff --git a/RELEASE.rst b/RELEASE.rst
index c93c6c9fa357f..32c3844810eb8 100644
--- a/RELEASE.rst
+++ b/RELEASE.rst
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ pandas 0.8.0
     sense indexing/selection functionality
   - Series/DataFrame.update methods, in-place variant of combine_first (#961)
   - Add ``match`` function to API (#502)
+  - Add Cython-optimized first, last, min, max, prod functions to GroupBy (#994,
+    #1043)
 
 **Improvements to existing features**
 
diff --git a/pandas/core/groupby.py b/pandas/core/groupby.py
index 0c1e580c5bbc4..58c75479e2004 100644
--- a/pandas/core/groupby.py
+++ b/pandas/core/groupby.py
@@ -30,6 +30,20 @@ def f(self):
 
     return f
 
+def _first_compat(x, axis=0):
+    x = np.asarray(x)
+    x = x[com.notnull(x)]
+    if len(x) == 0:
+        return np.nan
+    return x[0]
+
+def _last_compat(x, axis=0):
+    x = np.asarray(x)
+    x = x[com.notnull(x)]
+    if len(x) == 0:
+        return np.nan
+    return x[-1]
+
 
 class GroupBy(object):
     """
@@ -314,6 +328,8 @@ def size(self):
     prod = _groupby_function('prod', 'prod', np.prod)
     min = _groupby_function('min', 'min', np.min)
     max = _groupby_function('max', 'max', np.max)
+    first = _groupby_function('first', 'first', _first_compat)
+    last = _groupby_function('last', 'last', _last_compat)
 
     def ohlc(self):
         """
@@ -323,11 +339,11 @@ def ohlc(self):
         """
         return self._cython_agg_general('ohlc')
 
-    def last(self):
-        return self.nth(-1)
+    # def last(self):
+    #     return self.nth(-1)
 
-    def first(self):
-        return self.nth(0)
+    # def first(self):
+    #     return self.nth(0)
 
     def nth(self, n):
         def picker(arr):
@@ -621,7 +637,9 @@ def get_group_levels(self):
         'max' : lib.group_max,
         'mean' : lib.group_mean,
         'var' : lib.group_var,
-        'std' : lib.group_var
+        'std' : lib.group_var,
+        'first': lambda a, b, c, d: lib.group_nth(a, b, c, d, 1),
+        'last': lib.group_last
     }
 
     _cython_transforms = {
@@ -858,7 +876,9 @@ def names(self):
         'max' : lib.group_max_bin,
         'var' : lib.group_var_bin,
         'std' : lib.group_var_bin,
-        'ohlc' : lib.group_ohlc
+        'ohlc' : lib.group_ohlc,
+        'first': lambda a, b, c, d: lib.group_nth_bin(a, b, c, d, 1),
+        'last': lib.group_last_bin
     }
 
     _name_functions = {
diff --git a/pandas/src/groupby.pyx b/pandas/src/groupby.pyx
index 049f70b5f8237..48a71f4d1d51f 100644
--- a/pandas/src/groupby.pyx
+++ b/pandas/src/groupby.pyx
@@ -330,6 +330,188 @@ def group_prod(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
             else:
                 out[i, j] = prodx[i, j]
 
+#----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# first, nth, last
+
+@cython.boundscheck(False)
+@cython.wraparound(False)
+def group_nth(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
+              ndarray[int64_t] counts,
+              ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] values,
+              ndarray[int64_t] labels, int64_t rank):
+    '''
+    Only aggregates on axis=0
+    '''
+    cdef:
+        Py_ssize_t i, j, N, K, lab
+        float64_t val, count
+        ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] resx
+        ndarray[int64_t, ndim=2] nobs
+
+    nobs = np.zeros((<object> out).shape, dtype=np.int64)
+    resx = np.empty_like(out)
+
+    N, K = (<object> values).shape
+
+    for i in range(N):
+        lab = labels[i]
+        if lab < 0:
+            continue
+
+        counts[lab] += 1
+        for j in range(K):
+            val = values[i, j]
+
+            # not nan
+            if val == val:
+                nobs[lab, j] += 1
+                if nobs[lab, j] == rank:
+                    resx[lab, j] = val
+
+    for i in range(len(counts)):
+        for j in range(K):
+            if nobs[i, j] == 0:
+                out[i, j] = nan
+            else:
+                out[i, j] = resx[i, j]
+
+
+@cython.boundscheck(False)
+@cython.wraparound(False)
+def group_nth_bin(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
+                  ndarray[int64_t] counts,
+                  ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] values,
+                  ndarray[int64_t] bins, int64_t rank):
+    '''
+    Only aggregates on axis=0
+    '''
+    cdef:
+        Py_ssize_t i, j, N, K, ngroups, b
+        float64_t val, count
+        ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] resx, nobs
+
+    nobs = np.zeros_like(out)
+    resx = np.empty_like(out)
+
+    if bins[len(bins) - 1] == len(values):
+        ngroups = len(bins)
+    else:
+        ngroups = len(bins) + 1
+
+    N, K = (<object> values).shape
+
+    b = 0
+    for i in range(N):
+        while b < ngroups - 1 and i >= bins[b]:
+            b += 1
+
+        counts[b] += 1
+        for j in range(K):
+            val = values[i, j]
+
+            # not nan
+            if val == val:
+                nobs[b, j] += 1
+                if nobs[b, j] == rank:
+                    resx[b, j] = val
+
+    for i in range(ngroups):
+        for j in range(K):
+            if nobs[i, j] == 0:
+                out[i, j] = nan
+            else:
+                out[i, j] = resx[i, j]
+
+@cython.boundscheck(False)
+@cython.wraparound(False)
+def group_last(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
+               ndarray[int64_t] counts,
+               ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] values,
+               ndarray[int64_t] labels):
+    '''
+    Only aggregates on axis=0
+    '''
+    cdef:
+        Py_ssize_t i, j, N, K, lab
+        float64_t val, count
+        ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] resx
+        ndarray[int64_t, ndim=2] nobs
+
+    nobs = np.zeros((<object> out).shape, dtype=np.int64)
+    resx = np.empty_like(out)
+
+    N, K = (<object> values).shape
+
+    for i in range(N):
+        lab = labels[i]
+        if lab < 0:
+            continue
+
+        counts[lab] += 1
+        for j in range(K):
+            val = values[i, j]
+
+            # not nan
+            if val == val:
+                nobs[lab, j] += 1
+                resx[lab, j] = val
+
+    for i in range(len(counts)):
+        for j in range(K):
+            if nobs[i, j] == 0:
+                out[i, j] = nan
+            else:
+                out[i, j] = resx[i, j]
+
+
+@cython.boundscheck(False)
+@cython.wraparound(False)
+def group_last_bin(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
+                   ndarray[int64_t] counts,
+                   ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] values,
+                   ndarray[int64_t] bins):
+    '''
+    Only aggregates on axis=0
+    '''
+    cdef:
+        Py_ssize_t i, j, N, K, ngroups, b
+        float64_t val, count
+        ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] resx, nobs
+
+    nobs = np.zeros_like(out)
+    resx = np.empty_like(out)
+
+    if bins[len(bins) - 1] == len(values):
+        ngroups = len(bins)
+    else:
+        ngroups = len(bins) + 1
+
+    N, K = (<object> values).shape
+
+    b = 0
+    for i in range(N):
+        while b < ngroups - 1 and i >= bins[b]:
+            b += 1
+
+        counts[b] += 1
+        for j in range(K):
+            val = values[i, j]
+
+            # not nan
+            if val == val:
+                nobs[b, j] += 1
+                resx[b, j] = val
+
+    for i in range(ngroups):
+        for j in range(K):
+            if nobs[i, j] == 0:
+                out[i, j] = nan
+            else:
+                out[i, j] = resx[i, j]
+
+#----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# group_min, group_max
+
 
 @cython.boundscheck(False)
 @cython.wraparound(False)
@@ -787,6 +969,7 @@ def group_min_bin(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
             else:
                 out[i, j] = minx[i, j]
 
+
 @cython.boundscheck(False)
 @cython.wraparound(False)
 def group_max_bin(ndarray[float64_t, ndim=2] out,
diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_groupby.py b/pandas/tests/test_groupby.py
index ebdd38d0937e3..240c86bf9df4a 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_groupby.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_groupby.py
@@ -121,25 +121,23 @@ def test_basic(self):
         # corner cases
         self.assertRaises(Exception, grouped.aggregate, lambda x: x * 2)
 
+    def test_first_last_nth(self):
         # tests for first / last / nth
         grouped = self.df.groupby('A')
         first = grouped.first()
-        expected = grouped.get_group('bar')
-        expected = expected.xs(expected.index[0])[1:]
-        expected.name ='bar'
-        assert_series_equal(first.xs('bar'), expected)
+        expected = self.df.ix[[1, 0], ['C', 'D']]
+        expected.index = ['bar', 'foo']
+        assert_frame_equal(first, expected)
 
         last = grouped.last()
-        expected = grouped.get_group('bar')
-        expected = expected.xs(expected.index[-1])[1:]
-        expected.name ='bar'
-        assert_series_equal(last.xs('bar'), expected)
+        expected = self.df.ix[[5, 7], ['C', 'D']]
+        expected.index = ['bar', 'foo']
+        assert_frame_equal(last, expected)
 
         nth = grouped.nth(1)
-        expected = grouped.get_group('foo')
-        expected = expected.xs(expected.index[1])[1:]
-        expected.name ='foo'
-        assert_series_equal(nth.xs('foo'), expected)
+        expected = self.df.ix[[3, 2], ['B', 'C', 'D']]
+        expected.index = ['bar', 'foo']
+        assert_frame_equal(nth, expected)
 
     def test_empty_groups(self):
         # GH # 1048
diff --git a/vb_suite/groupby.py b/vb_suite/groupby.py
index f5d8ababfc17f..dfffdf61d3df7 100644
--- a/vb_suite/groupby.py
+++ b/vb_suite/groupby.py
@@ -155,3 +155,20 @@ def f():
 
 groupby_apply_dict_return = Benchmark('data.groupby(labels).apply(f)',
                                       setup, start_date=datetime(2011, 12, 15))
+
+#----------------------------------------------------------------------
+# First / last functions
+
+setup = common_setup + """
+labels = np.arange(10000).repeat(10)
+data = Series(randn(len(labels)))
+data[::3] = np.nan
+data[1::3] = np.nan
+labels = labels.take(np.random.permutation(len(labels)))
+"""
+
+groupby_first = Benchmark('data.groupby(labels).first()', setup,
+                          start_date=datetime(2012, 5, 1))
+
+groupby_last = Benchmark('data.groupby(labels).last()', setup,
+                          start_date=datetime(2012, 5, 1))