Denzel Washington

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer and director. In a career spanning over four decades, Washington has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and two Silver Bears. In 2016, he received the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2020, ''The New York Times'' named him the greatest actor of the 21st century. In 2022, Washington received the Presidential Medal of Freedom bestowed upon him by President Joe Biden.

Washington started his acting career in theatre, acting in performances off-Broadway, including William Shakespeare's ''Coriolanus'' in 1979. He first came to prominence in the medical drama ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988). Washington's early film roles included Norman Jewison's ''A Soldier's Story'' (1984) and Richard Attenborough's ''Cry Freedom'' (1987). For his role as Private Silas Trip in the Civil War drama ''Glory'' (1989), he won his first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Throughout the 1990s, he established himself as a leading man in such varied films as Spike Lee's biographical film epic ''Malcolm X'' (1992), Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare adaptation ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993), Alan J. Pakula's legal thriller ''The Pelican Brief'' (1993), Jonathan Demme's drama ''Philadelphia'' (1993), and Norman Jewison's legal drama ''The Hurricane'' (1999). Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as corrupt detective Alonzo Harris in the crime thriller ''Training Day'' (2001). Washington has continued acting in diverse roles, such as football coach Herman Boone in ''Remember the Titans'' (2000), poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in ''The Great Debaters'' (2007), drug kingpin Frank Lucas in ''American Gangster'' (2007) and an airline pilot with an addiction in ''Flight'' (2012).

He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role in the Broadway revival of the August Wilson play ''Fences'' in 2010. Washington later directed, produced, and starred in the film adaptation in 2016, which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Washington. He also produced the film adaptation of Wilson's ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' (2020). His stage credits include appearances in Broadway revivals of Lorraine Hansberry's ''A Raisin in the Sun'' in 2014, and Eugene O'Neill's ''The Iceman Cometh'' in 2018. Provided by Wikipedia