Denzel Washington

Actor

Born December 28, 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York, USA

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation, with The New York Times declaring him the greatest actor of the 21st century in 2020. Over his career, he has received several accolades, including two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Washington has been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022. After training at the American Conservatory Theatre, Washington began his career in theatre, 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 two Academy Awards, his first for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and his second for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his performances 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).

Filmography

Here Comes the Flood

Denzel Washington: Falling Forward

Highest 2 Lowest

David King

Number One on the Call Sheet

Self

The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision

Self

The Making of Gladiator II

Self

Gladiator II

Macrinus

The Piano Lesson

Denzel Washington: American Icon

Self

Hollywood Black

Self (archive footage)

The Wait

The Equalizer 3

Robert McCall

Sidney

Self

Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act

Self (archive footage)

A Journal for Jordan

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Macbeth

The Little Things

Joe 'Deke' Deacon

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

Self (archive footage)

Giving Voice

Self

Denzel Washington: Reel Life

Self

The Equalizer 2

Robert McCall

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Roman J. Israel

Chasing Trane

John Coltrane (voice)

Fences

Troy Maxson

The Magnificent Seven

Sam Chisolm

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Self - Guest

Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter

Self

The Equalizer

Robert McCall

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Self

2 Guns

Robert 'Bobby' Trench

Circus Halligalli

Self

Flight

Whip Whitaker

Safe House

Tobin Frost

Unstoppable

Frank Barnes

The Book of Eli

Eli

Live from Studio Five

Self

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Walter Garber

We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial

Self

Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'

Self

The Great Debaters

Melvin B. Tolson

American Gangster

Frank Lucas

The Graham Norton Show

Self

Déjà Vu

Doug Carlin

Inside Man

Keith Frazier

The Reichen Show

Self - Guest

Grey's Anatomy

By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'

Self

The Manchurian Candidate

Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco

People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'

Self (archive)

Man on Fire

John W. Creasy

On Air with Ryan Seacrest

Self

Out of Time

Matt Lee Whitlock

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

Self

The Evolution of an American Filmmaker

Self

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Self - Guest

Antwone Fisher

Dr. Jerome Davenport

Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'

Self

John Q

John Quincy Archibald

Training Day

Alonzo

Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks

Remember the Titans

Coach Herman Boone

Straight from the Streets

Self

The Bone Collector

Lincoln Rhyme

The Early Show

Self - Guest

The Hurricane

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

The Siege

Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard

TRL

Self

He Got Game

Jake Shuttlesworth

Fallen

John Hobbes

Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special

Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)

The View

Self

The Preacher's Wife

Dudley

NBA at 50

Self - Host

Courage Under Fire

Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling

Devil in a Blue Dress

Easy Rawlins

Virtuosity

Parker Barnes

Crimson Tide

Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

King Omar (voice)

The Making of 'Crimson Tide'

Self

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!

Self (archive footage)

Philadelphia

Joe Miller

The Pelican Brief

Gray Grantham

Late Show with David Letterman

Self - Guest

Much Ado About Nothing

Don Pedro

Malcolm X

Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway

Narrator (voice)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Ricochet

Nick Styles

Mississippi Masala

Demetrius Williams

Rabbit Ears - John Henry

Narrator (voice)

Mo' Better Blues

Bleek Gilliam

Heart Condition

Napoleon Stone

Glory

Pvt. Trip

The Mighty Quinn

Xavier Quinn

American Experience

Narrator (voice)

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

Self

The George McKenna Story

George McKenna

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

Self

For Queen & Country

Reuben

Cry Freedom

Steve Biko

License to Kill

Martin Sawyer

Power

Arnold Billings

A Soldier's Story

Private First Class Peterson

St. Elsewhere

Philip Chandler

Wogan

Self

Carbon Copy

Roger Porter

Wetten, dass..?

Self

Flesh & Blood

Kirk

Flesh & Blood

Kirk

Coriolanus

Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier

CBS News Sunday Morning

Self

Wilma

Robert Eldridge, age 18

The American Film Institute Salute to ...

Self

Great Performances

Self

Tony Awards

Self - Presenter

The Oscars

Self

Today

Self

Golden Globe Awards

Self - Presenter