Denzel Washington

Last updated

Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival 02 (cropped).jpg
Washington in 2024
Born
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.

(1954-12-28) December 28, 1954 (age 70)
Mount Vernon, New York, U.S.
Education Fordham University (BA)
American Conservatory Theater
Occupations
  • Actor
  • director
  • producer
Years active1975–present
Works Full list
Spouse
Pauletta Pearson
​
(m. 1983)​
Children4, including John David, Malcolm and Olivia
Awards Full list
Honors Presidential Medal of Freedom (2025)

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) [1] is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, The New York Times named him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. [2] [3] He has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. [a] [5] [6]

Contents

After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theater, acting in performances off-Broadway. He first came to prominence in the NBC medical drama series St. Elsewhere (1982–1988), and in the war film A Soldier's Story (1984). He won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). [7] He was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Cry Freedom (1987), Malcolm X (1992), The Hurricane (1999), Flight (2012), Fences (2016), Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017), and The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021).

As a leading man, Washington has starred in the commercially successful films The Pelican Brief , Philadelphia (both 1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Remember the Titans (2000), Man of Fire (2004), Déjà Vu , Inside Man (both 2006), American Gangster (2007), Unstoppable , The Book of Eli (both 2010), Safe House (2012), 2 Guns (2013), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023), among others. He has occasionally appeared in supporting roles, most notably in Gladiator II (2024). Washington made his directorial film debut with Antwone Fisher (2002) followed by The Great Debaters (2007), Fences (2016), and A Journal for Jordan (2021).

On stage, he has acted in productions of both Coriolanus (1979), and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990) at The Public Theater. He made his Broadway debut in the Ron Milner play Checkmates (1988). He won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a disillusioned working class father in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's play Fences (2010). He has also acted in the Broadway revivals of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (2005), Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).

Early life and education

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was born in Mount Vernon, New York, on December 28, 1954. His mother, Lennis "Lynne" (Lowe), was a beauty parlor owner and operator born in Georgia and partly raised in Harlem, New York. [8] [9] [10] [11] His father, Denzel Hayes Washington Sr., a native of Buckingham County, Virginia, was an ordained Pentecostal minister who was also an employee of the New York City Water Department, and worked at a local S. Klein department store.

Washington attended Pennington-Grimes Elementary School in Mount Vernon until 1968. When he was 14, his parents divorced and his mother sent him to the private preparatory school Oakland Military Academy in New Windsor, New York. Washington later said, "That decision changed my life, because I wouldn't have survived in the direction I was going. The guys I was hanging out with at the time, my running buddies, have now done maybe 40 years combined in the penitentiary. They were nice guys, but the streets got them." [12] After Oakland, he attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1970 to 1971. [8]

He was interested in attending Texas Tech University: "I grew up in the Boys Club in Mount Vernon, and we were the Red Raiders. So when I was in high school, I wanted to go to Texas Tech in Lubbock just because they were called the Red Raiders and their uniforms looked like ours." [13] Instead, he earned a BA in Drama and Journalism from Fordham University in 1977. [14] At Fordham, he played collegiate basketball as a guard [15] under coach P. J. Carlesimo. [16] After a period of indecision on which major to study and taking a semester off, Washington worked as creative arts director of the overnight summer camp at Camp Sloane YMCA in Lakeville, Connecticut. He participated in a staff talent show for the campers and a colleague suggested he try acting. [17]

Returning to Fordham that fall with a renewed purpose, Washington enrolled at the Lincoln Center campus to study acting, where he was cast in the title roles in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones and Shakespeare's Othello . He then attended graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California, where he stayed for one year before returning to New York to begin a professional acting career. [18]

Career

1976–1989: Early roles and rise to prominence

Washington spent the summer of 1976 in St. Mary's City, Maryland, in summer stock theater performing Wings of the Morning, [19] [20] the Maryland State play, which was written for him by incorporating an African-American character/narrator based loosely on the historical figure from early colonial Maryland, Mathias de Sousa. [19]

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his screen acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television film Wilma which was a docudrama about sprinter Wilma Rudolph, and made his first Hollywood appearance in the 1981 film Carbon Copy . He shared a 1982 Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for playing Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the Off-Broadway Negro Ensemble Company production A Soldier's Play which premiered November 20, 1981. [21]

Washington at the 62nd Academy Awards (1990), at which he won Best Supporting Actor for the film Glory Denzel Washington.jpg
Washington at the 62nd Academy Awards (1990), at which he won Best Supporting Actor for the film Glory

A major career break came when he starred as Dr. Phillip Chandler in NBC's television hospital drama St. Elsewhere , which ran from 1982 to 1988. He was one of only a few African-American actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run. He also appeared in several television, motion picture and stage roles, such as the films A Soldier's Story (1984), Hard Lessons (1986) and Power (1986). In 1987, he starred as South African anti-apartheid political activist Stephen Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom , for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

In 1989, Washington won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of a defiant, self-possessed ex-slave soldier in the film Glory . That same year, he appeared in the film The Mighty Quinn ; and in For Queen and Country , where he played the conflicted and disillusioned Reuben James, a British soldier who, despite a distinguished military career, returns to a civilian life where racism and inner-city life lead to vigilantism and violence.

1990–1999: Hollywood stardom and acclaim

In the summer of 1990, Washington had appeared in the title role of the Public Theater's production of William Shakespeare's Richard III . Mel Gussow of The New York Times praised Washington as "an actor of range and intensity, is expert at projecting a feeling of controlled rage". [22] Also that year Washington starred as Bleek Gilliam in the Spike Lee film Mo' Better Blues . Charles Murray of Empire praised Washington's performance as a "taut portrayal of the driven musician" and "like all Lee’s film, Mo’ Better Blues is a real ensemble piece, and the standard of the performances is uniformly excellent: but Washington [and] Lee deserve extra plaudits." [23] In 1991, he starred as Demetrius Williams in the Mira Nair directed romantic drama Mississippi Masala opposite Sarita Choudhury. Set primarily in rural Mississippi, the film explores interracial romance between African Americans and Indian Americans. Critic Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times praised the chemistry of the two leads writing, "Washington is an actor of immense and natural charm, and he makes a good match with Sarita Choudhury". [24]

Washington was reunited with Lee to play one of his most critically acclaimed roles, the title character of the historical epic Malcolm X (1992). The New York Times gave the film it's Critic's Pick with Vincent Canby declaring, "In Denzel Washington it also has a fine actor who does for "Malcolm X" what Ben Kingsley did for "Gandhi". Mr. Washington not only looks the part, but he also has the psychological heft, the intelligence and the reserve to give the film the dramatic excitement". [25] His performance as the Black nationalist leader earned him another nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Also that year, he established the production company Mundy Lane Entertainment. [26] The next year, he played the lawyer defending a gay man with AIDS played by Tom Hanks in the Jonathan Demme film Philadelphia (1993). Sight & Sound wrote, "Casting Washington in the lead guaranteed the film the black audience that otherwise might not have had much interest in the problems of a rich white homosexual with Aids. But Aids is rampant in inner cities, where it attacks not just gay men, but IV drug users and women." [27]

During the early and mid-1990s, Washington starred in several successful thrillers, including The Pelican Brief with Julia Roberts in 1993, and Crimson Tide with Gene Hackman in 1995, as well as the Shakespearean comedy Much Ado About Nothing directed by Kenneth Branagh. In 1996, he played a U.S. Army officer who investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor in Courage Under Fire , opposite Meg Ryan. Variety wrote, "All of [the] predicaments are palpably and convincingly registered through Washington’s probing, reserved and sensitively drawn performance in a role that, in another era, might have been played by the likes of a Montgomery Clift or William Holden." [28]

In 1996, he starred alongside Whitney Houston, and Courtney B. Vance in the romantic comedy The Preacher's Wife directed by Penny Marshall. The film is a remake of the 1947 film The Bishop's Wife starring Cary Grant, Loretta Young, and David Niven. [29] In 1998, Washington starred in Spike Lee's film He Got Game . Washington played a father serving a six-year prison term when the prison warden offers him a temporary parole to convince his top-ranked high-school basketball player son (Ray Allen) to sign with the governor's alma mater, Big State. The film was Washington's third collaboration with Lee. [30] The same year he starred in Gregory Hoblit's supernatural horror film Fallen (1998) with John Goodman, James Gandolfini, and Donald Sutherland. [31]

In 1999, Washington acted alongside Angelina Jolie in the crime thriller The Bone Collector . That same year, Washington starred in The Hurricane , a film about boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, whose conviction for triple murder was overturned after he spent almost 20 years in prison. Although less successful at the box office than The Bone Collector, Hurricane had a better reception from critics. [32] He received a Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for his role as Carter. Roger Ebert, film critic for The Chicago Sun-Times , wrote of Washington's performance, "This is one of Denzel Washington's great performances, on a par with his work in Malcolm X." [33]

2000–2009: Established actor and action roles

Washington in 2000 Denzel Washington cropped 02.jpg
Washington in 2000

At the 57th Golden Globe Awards in 2000, Washington won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his work in The Hurricane . He was the first black actor to win the award since Sidney Poitier in 1963. [34] [35] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle declared, "Washington gives a penetrating portrait of life at its most extreme. He takes the viewer into the mind of a man experiencing confinement and physical deprivation. More profoundly, he shows what it's like to deal every day with the torments of wild rage and impotence, despair and hope." [36] In 2000, he portrayed Herman Boone, the high school football coach in the Disney sports drama film Remember the Titans which grossed over US$100 million in the U.S. [37] Andrew O'Hehir of Salon wrote, "Washington is of course the linchpin of Remember the Titans; he's a commanding actor in a commanding role, and as memorable as he was in The Hurricane. [38]

Washington starred in the Antoine Fuqua directed crime thriller Training Day (2001) acting opposite Ethan Hawke. He portrayed Detective Alonzo Harris, a corrupt Los Angeles cop. Roger Ebert wrote of his performance, "For Denzel Washington, [it is] a rare villainous role; he doesn't look, sound or move like his usual likable characters...he's like a monster from a horror film, unkillable and implacable." [39] Washington won an Academy Award for Best Actor becoming the second African-American actor to win the category after Poitier, who was presented with an Honorary Academy Award the same night. [40] He also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.

In 2002, he starred in the Nick Cassavettes directed healthcare-themed drama John Q. (2002) portraying John Quincy Archibald. Washington acted opposite James Woods, Robert Duvall, and Ray Liotta. The film was a financial success but received mixed reviews with critics praising Washington's performances. BBC film critic Neil Smith wrote, "What credibility there is comes from Washington's intense, humane performance and the supporting players' sterling attempts to rise above the stereotypical roles with which they have been saddled." [41] That same year Washington directed his first film, a well-reviewed drama called Antwone Fisher (2002), in which he also co-starred as a Navy psychiatrist. Stephen Holden of The New York Times praised his direction writing, "Mr. Washington shows a confident grasp of cinematic narrative in a hearty meat-and-potatoes style. But the most remarkable aspect of his behind-the-camera debut is his brilliantly surefooted handling of actors." He also praised his acting adding, "[He] is so sensitively reactive that his performance seems more lived than acted". [42]

Washington after a performance of Julius Caesar in May 2005 DenzelWashingtonMay05.jpg
Washington after a performance of Julius Caesar in May 2005

Between 2003 and 2006, Washington appeared in a series of thrillers that performed generally well at the box office, including Carl Franklin's Out of Time opposite Eva Mendez and Tony Scott's Man on Fire alongside Dakota Fanning. In 2004 he acted opposite Meryl Streep in the remake of the 1962 film of the same name, The Manchurian Candidate . [43] In 2006, he starred in Inside Man , a Spike Lee-directed bank heist thriller co-starring Jodie Foster and Clive Owen. Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, it's "flashy cast, clever script and vibrant showcasing of New York City are strong plusses for Spike Lee's most mainstream studio venture". [44] Later that year he starred in the time travel movie Déjà Vu released in November.

In 2005, he was back onstage playing Brutus in the Broadway revival of Julius Caesar . Theatre critic Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "Washington does not embarrass himself, as leading citizens of Hollywood have been known to do on Broadway. But even brilliantined in the glow of his inescapable fame, he can't help getting lost amid the wandering, mismatched crowd and the heavy topical artillery that have been assembled here." [45] Despite mixed reviews, the production's limited run was a consistent sell-out. [46] In 2007, he co-starred with Russell Crowe for the second time (the first was 1995's Virtuosity ) in Ridley Scott's crime drama American Gangster for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama nomination. He also directed and starred in the drama The Great Debaters with Forest Whitaker. He next appeared in Tony Scott's 2009 film The Taking of Pelham 123 (a remake of the 1974 thriller of the same name), where he played New York City subway security chief Walter Garber opposite John Travolta's villain. [47]

2010–2019: Return to theater and The Equalizer trilogy

Washington with Anne Hathaway at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2010 Denzel Washington og Anne Hathaway IMG 6550b.jpg
Washington with Anne Hathaway at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2010

Washington returned to Broadway playing Troy Maxson, opposite Viola Davis, in the revival of August Wilson's Fences (2010). Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Washington has the fluid naturalness we associate with good screen actors... face and stance alone provide fascinating (and damning) glimpses into Troy’s attitudes toward his son from an earlier relationships". [48] Washington won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play on June 13, 2010. [49] That same year, Washington starred in The Book of Eli (2010), a post-apocalyptic action-drama set in the near future. Also in 2010, he starred as a veteran railroad engineer in the action film Unstoppable , about an unmanned, half-mile-long runaway freight train carrying dangerous cargo. The film was his fifth and final collaboration with director Tony Scott, following Crimson Tide (1995), Man on Fire (2004), Déjà Vu (2006) and The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009).

In 2012, Washington starred in Flight , for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as an alcoholic airline pilot facing investigation for his part in a plane crash. He co-starred with Ryan Reynolds in Safe House , where he prepared for his role by subjecting himself to a torture session that included waterboarding. [50] In 2013, Washington starred in 2 Guns , alongside Mark Wahlberg. From April to June 2014, Washington played the leading role in the Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry's classic drama A Raisin in the Sun , directed by Kenny Leon. [51] The show received positive reviews and won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. [52] That same year he starred in The Equalizer (2014), an action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by Richard Wenk, based on the television series of same name starring Edward Woodward. [53] He reprised his role in his first sequel, The Equalizer 2 (2018) and the third and final sequel The Equalizer 3 (2023).

In 2016, Washington starred in The Magnificent Seven , a remake of the 1960 western film of the same name, alongside Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett, and Peter Sarsgaard. Principal photography began on May 18, 2015, in north Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The film premiered on September 8 at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released in the United States in conventional and IMAX theaters on September 23, 2016. [54] In The Magnificent Seven, Washington plays Sam Chisolm ("the Bounty Hunter"), a duly sworn warrant officer from Wichita, Kansas. [55] His character was renamed from Chris Adams (played by Yul Brynner in the original film) to Sam Chisolm. [56] It is Washington's first Western film. [57] Washington did not watch Westerns growing up, as it was the end of the Western era in the movies. Moreover, he and his siblings were barred from going to the cinema by his father, a minister in a church. They grew up watching Biblical films instead, like King of Kings and The Ten Commandments , although he has said that he watched portions of the shows Rawhide and Bonanza . [57] [58] He did not view the original film in preparation, but has watched Seven Samurai . [57] Fuqua flew to New York City to negotiate with Washington, who accepted the offer. [59] [60]

Washington at the premiere of The Equalizer in 2014 The Equalizer 08 (15310534581).jpg
Washington at the premiere of The Equalizer in 2014

In 2016, Washington directed the film Fences , co-starring Viola Davis and Stephen McKinley Henderson and based on August Wilson's play of the same name, with a script by Wilson. Set in 1950s Pittsburgh, Washington plays a former Negro league baseball player working as a garbage collector who struggles to provide for his family and come to terms with the events of his life. The film was released on December 16, 2016, by Paramount Pictures. Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote, "Washington, as both actor and director, gets the conversation humming with a speed and alacrity that keeps the audience jazzed...Washington tears through it with a joyful ferocity, like a man possessed." [61] For his performance, Washington was nominated in the Best Actor category for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Academy Award. The film was nominated for three other Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and won Davis her first Oscar, in the Best Supporting Actress category.

The following year, Washington starred in the legal drama film Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017). Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote, "[He]'s a star player, styling out his character’s complicated and tricky mix of attributes...However contrived, this character is always fully and comfortably inhabited, and Washington brings off the funny moments". [62] While the film received mixed reviews, his performance was praised by critics and led to nominations for a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award, Washington's ninth Oscar nomination overall, and his sixth for Best Actor.

Beginning March 22, 2018, Washington starred as Theodore "Hickey" Hickman in a Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh . The production, directed by George C. Wolfe, began regular performances April 26 and ran for 14 weeks. [63] Washington received positive reviews with Alexis Soloski of The Guardian writing, "For most of it, Washington is playing Washington, letting his good looks and irrepressible charm do most of the character work, though the play’s most exciting moments are when he lets that charm falter (something he’s also been exploring in his recent film work, too) showing something uglier and more ravaged underneath." [64]

2020–present

In 2020, he produced the Netflix film adaptation of the August Wilson play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom starring Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. The film was directed by George C. Wolfe and received positive reviews. The following year he portrayed Deputy Sheriff Joe "Deke" Deacon in the crime thriller The Little Things acting opposite Rami Malek and Jared Leto. The film was released during the COVID-19 pandemic and was released in theaters and on HBO Max. Also in 2021, Washington portrayed the titular character in the 2021 film adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy Macbeth . [65] He received universal acclaim for his performance and was nominated for several awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. That same year, Washington directed the drama A Journal for Jordan , based on the memoir A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor by Dana Canedy. It received a wide theatrical release on December 25, 2021 [66] and received mixed reviews from critics. [67]

In 2023, Washington was cast in Ridley Scott's epic historical drama Gladiator II alongside Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and Derek Jacobi. The film is a sequel to Scott's Gladiator (2000). [68] In 2024, Washington served as a producer of The Piano Lesson , the Netflix film adaptation of the August Wilson play of the same name starring John David Washington, Danielle Deadwyler, and Samuel L. Jackson. [69] Washington was also cast as Carthaginian general Hannibal in an upcoming Netflix film; the decision was controversial in Tunisia. [70] [71]

In 2024, Washington was set to reunite with Spike Lee on the police procedural drama film High and Low , a remake of the 1963 Akira Kurosawa film of the same name. [72] The film will be a joint production with A24 and Apple TV+ and will also star Jeffrey Wright and Ilfenesh Hadera. [73] That same year, it was announced that Washington would return to Broadway portraying the title role in a revival of William Shakespeare's play Othello starring opposite Jake Gyllenhaal as Iago. The production will start in the spring of 2025 and will be directed by Kenny Leon, who previously directed Washington in the Broadway revivals of Fences and A Raisin in the Sun . [74] Washington announced in November, that he would be starring in Black Panther 3 , set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. [75]

Personal life

Marriage and family

On June 25, 1983, Washington married Pauletta Pearson, whom he met on the set of his first screen work, the television film Wilma. They have four children: John David, also an actor and a former football player; [76] [77] Katia, who graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in 2010; and twins Olivia and Malcolm. Malcolm graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in film studies, and Olivia played a role in Lee Daniels's film The Butler . Malcolm made his directorial debut with The Piano Lesson , with Denzel producing and John David starring in it. [78] In 1995, Washington and his wife renewed their wedding vows in South Africa with Desmond Tutu officiating. [79]

Religious beliefs

Washington is a Pentecostal Evangelical Christian and a member of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ, located in Los Angeles. [80] He has considered becoming a preacher. [81] He stated in 1999, "A part of me still says, 'Maybe, Denzel, you're supposed to preach. Maybe you're still compromising.' I've had an opportunity to play great men and, through their words, to preach. I take what talent I've been given seriously, and I want to use it for good." [82] In 1995, he donated US$2.5 million to help build the new West Angeles Church of God in Christ facility in Los Angeles. [83] [84] Washington says he reads the Bible daily. [85] Washington was baptized and received his ministry license from the Kelly Temple Church of God in Christ on December 21, 2024. [86]

Service and recognition

Washington has served as the national spokesman for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1993 [87] and has appeared in public service announcements and awareness campaigns for the organization. [88] In addition, he has served as a board member for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1995. [89] In 2006, for the organization's 100 anniversary, helped put together together with Daniel Paisner, a book that underscores the lesson: “If you want to change the world, start by changing the life of a child”. "A hand to guide me" features examples from leaders as they tell their life-changing stories of mentorship, when as youngsters they were guided by a caring adult, which shaped the rest of their life, including over 70 of America's leading personalities in theater, sports, business, and politics such as Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Whoopi Goldberg, Muhammad Ali, Yogi Berra, Toni Morrison, Cal Ripken Jr. and Colin Powell. [90]

In mid-2004, Washington visited Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) at Fort Sam Houston, where he participated in a Purple Heart ceremony, presenting medals to three Army soldiers recovering from wounds they received while stationed in Iraq. He also visited the fort's Fisher House facilities, and after learning that it had exceeded its capacity, made a substantial donation to the Fisher House Foundation; this program focuses on building and providing homes for military personnel and their families free of charge while they receive medical care. Washington's other charitable contributions include US$1 million to Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund in 1995 [91] and US$1 million to Wiley College to resuscitate the college's debate team. [92]

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) named Washington as one of three people (the others being directors Oliver Stone and Michael Moore) with whom they were willing to negotiate for the release of three defense contractors the group had held captive from 2003 to 2008. [93] That effort by FARC was unsuccessful. [94]

On May 18, 1991, Washington was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Fordham University, for having "impressively succeeded in exploring the edge of his multifaceted talent". [95] In 2011, he donated US$2 million to Fordham for an endowed chair of the theater department, as well as US$250,000 to establish a theater-specific scholarship at the school. He also received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Morehouse College on May 20, 2007 [96] and an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania on May 16, 2011. [97]

On October 11, 2021, the United States Army made Washington the 2021 Honorary Sergeant Major of the Army at the Annual Association of the U.S. Army conference for his work with the Fisher House Foundation (providing free homes for military families while receiving medical care). Sergeant Major of the Army Michael A. Grinston presented Washington with the award and said that Washington represented everything he was looking for in this year's honoree: humility, dedication to soldiers, and respect for the Army. [98] In 2022, Washington was supposed to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but it was delayed. [99] Consequently, he received it in 2025. [100]

Acting credits and accolades

Washington has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award and two Silver Bears. He has also received nominations for a Grammy Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Washington has also received numerous honorary awards such as the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award in 2007, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019. He was honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. He is also a 13-time NAACP Image Award winner with four consecutive wins in the Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture award category from 1993–1997 and again from 2000–2003. [101]

Over his career he has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances:

YearCategoryNominated workResultRef.
1988 Best Supporting Actor Cry Freedom Nominated [102]
1990 Glory Won [103]
1993 Best Actor Malcolm X Nominated [104]
2000 The Hurricane Nominated [105]
2002 Training Day Won [106]
2013 Flight Nominated [107]
2017 Fences Nominated [108]
2018 Roman J. Israel, Esq. Nominated [109]
2022 The Tragedy of Macbeth Nominated [110]

Notes

  1. ↑ Washington was supposed to receive the award in 2022 but had to skip the ceremony after testing positive for COVID-19. [4]

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Fences is a 1985 play by the American playwright August Wilson. Set in the 1950s, it is the sixth in Wilson's ten-part "Pittsburgh Cycle". Like all of the "Pittsburgh" plays, Fences explores the evolving African-American experience and examines race relations, among other themes. The play won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1987 Tony Award for Best Play. Fences was first developed at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's 1983 National Playwrights Conference and premiered at the Yale Repertory Theatre in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Wright</span> American actor (born 1965)

Jeffrey Wright is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Tony Award, and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. Wright began his career in theater where he gained prominence for his role in the Broadway production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America (1993), for which he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He reprised his role in the acclaimed 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation, earning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Ryan</span> American actress (born 1968)

Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress. She began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performances in Uncle Vanya (2000) and A Streetcar Named Desire (2005), and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Doubt: A Parable (2024).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John David Washington</span> American actor and football player (born 1984)

John David Washington is an American actor and former professional football player. He is the son of actor Denzel Washington. He started his career in college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Washington spent four years as a running back for the United Football League's Sacramento Mountain Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viola Davis</span> American actress and dancer (born 1965)

Viola Davis is an American actress and film producer. Her accolades include both the Triple Crown of Acting and EGOT. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2017. The New York Times ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2025.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colman Domingo</span> American actor, playwright and director (born 1969)

Colman Jason Domingo is an American actor, playwright, and director. Prominent on both screen and stage since the 2010s, Domingo has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Tony Awards. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Earl Jones</span> American actor (1931–2024)

James Earl Jones was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, he is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985, and was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.

John Douglas Thompson is an English-American actor. He is a Tony Award nominee and the recipient of two Drama Desk Awards, three Obie Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Lucille Lortel Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denzel Washington on screen and stage</span>

Denzel Washington is an American actor known for his performance on stage and screen. Washington made his feature film debut in Carbon Copy (1981). In 1982, Washington made his first appearance in the medical drama St. Elsewhere as Dr. Philip Chandler. The role proved to be the breakthrough in his career. He starred as Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the drama A Soldier's Story (1984). The film was an adaptation of the Off-Broadway play A Soldier's Play (1981–1983) in which Washington had earlier portrayed the same character.

<i>Fences</i> (film) 2016 film by Denzel Washington

Fences is a 2016 American period drama film directed and co-produced by Denzel Washington from a screenplay by August Wilson, based on his 1985 play. It stars Washington, Viola Davis, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jovan Adepo, Russell Hornsby, Mykelti Williamson, and Saniyya Sidney. It follows a working-class African-American father who tries to raise his family in the 1950s, while coming to terms with the events of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Tyree Henry</span> American actor (born 1982)

Brian Tyree Henry is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

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