Denzel Washington is a native of Mt. Vernon, NY, and graduated from Fordham University, where he majored in drama. He spent a year at San Francisco’s prestigious American Conservatory Theatre before beginning his professional acting career. Since then, Denzel’s unforgettable performances have garnered him two Academy® Awards, three Golden Globes, and countless other awards.
Denzel received his first Academy Award for the historical war drama Glory (1987) and his second for his portrayal of the corrupt cop in the crime thriller, Training Day (2001). Denzel won a Tony® Award for his performance in Fences, during his return to Broadway in 2010.
Denzel’s professional acting career began in New York, where he performed in theatre productions such as Ceremonies in Dark Old Men and Othello. He rose to fame when he landed the role as Dr. Phillip Chandler on the NBC long-running hit television series, St. Elsewhere. His other television credits include The George McKenna Story, License to Kill, and Wilma.
As Denzel crossed over into the world of film, he garnered critical acclaim for his portrayal of real life figures. He earned his first Oscar Nomination for Cry Freedom (1987), as South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. From there, he went on to portray Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X in Malcolm X (1992), boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter in The Hurricane (1999), football coach Herman Boone in Remember the Titans (2000), poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters (2007), and drug kingpin Frank Lucas in American Gangster (2007). A few of his other beloved credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (1993), A Soldier’s Story (1984), Crimson Tide (1995), Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), and Inside Man (2006).
In 2016, Denzel starred in the critically acclaimed film adaptation of August Wilson’s Fences. In addition to producing and directing the adaptation, Denzel reprised his original Tony Award-winning role alongside Viola Davis. The film received four Academy Award nominations including Denzel for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.” His other latest films include Unstoppable (2010) where he reunited with director Tony Scott for the fifth time, 2 Guns (2013) where he starred alongside Mark Wahlberg, and The Equalizer, an action thriller film directed by Antoine Fuqua (2014) of which he reprised his role in 2018 for The Equalizer 2, making it the first time Denzel has ever done a sequel. Released in 2023, he resumed his role in the last movie of the trilogy The Equalizer 3. In 2016, Denzel teamed up with Antoine Fuqua again for an exciting remake of The Magnificent Seven, which also starred Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke.
Denzel returned to the stage in 2018 when he starred in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, which was directed by George C. Wolfe. His performance garnered him a Tony award nomination.
He also recently starred in Dan Gilroy’s Roman J. Israel, Esq. for which he received multiple Best Actor nominations.
In 2016, he was selected as the recipient for the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards, cementing his legacy in Hollywood. He most recently was honored with the AFI Life Achievement award, one of the highest honors for a career in film.
Denzel recently produced Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for Netflix, directed by George C. Wolfe with cast including Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, and Colman Domingo. The Warner Bros thriller The Little Things recently starred Denzel alongside Rami Malek and Jared Leto.
Most recently, Denzel directed A Journal for Jordan starring Michael B. Jordan and helmed the Joel Coen directed The Tragedy of Macbeth alongside Frances McDormand, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Male Actor in a Leading Role.
Next up, Denzel is producing The Piano Lesson and will star in Gladiator 2 from director Ridley Scott and High and Low from director Spike Lee. Washington will also be making his long-awaited return to the stage in Othello alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
