Denzel Washington
Acting
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).
A prominent leading man, Washington also acted in Mo' Better Blues (1990), Mississippi Masala (1991), Philadelphia (1993), Courage Under Fire (1996), Remember the Titans (2000), Man on Fire (2004), Inside Man (2006), American Gangster (2007), and The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023). Washington directed and starred in the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), and Fences (2016).
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 A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).
Media of
Denzel Washington
Photos (21)
Filmography of
Denzel Washington
David King
... 2025
... 2024
... 2024
Macrinus
... 2024
... 2024
Robert McCall
... 2023
Self
... 2022
Self (archive footage)
... 2022
Macbeth
... 2021
Joe 'Deke' Deacon
... 2021
Self (archive footage)
... 2021
Self (archive footage)
... 2020
Self
... 2020
... 2018
Robert McCall
... 2018
Roman J. Israel
... 2017
John Coltrane (voice)
... 2017
Troy Maxson
... 2016
Sam Chisolm
... 2016
Robert McCall
... 2014
Robert 'Bobby' Trench
... 2013
Whip Whitaker
... 2012
Tobin Frost
... 2012
Frank Barnes
... 2010
Eli
... 2010
Walter Garber
... 2009
... 2008
Melvin B. Tolson
... 2007
Frank Lucas
... 2007
Doug Carlin
... 2006
Self
... 2006
Keith Frazier
... 2006
... 2005
Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
... 2004
John W. Creasy
... 2004
Matt Lee Whitlock
... 2003
... 2003
Dr. Jerome Davenport
... 2002
John Quincy Archibald
... 2002
Alonzo
... 2001
Coach Herman Boone
... 2000
... 2000
Lincoln Rhyme
... 1999
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
... 1999
Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
... 1998
Jake Shuttlesworth
... 1998
John Hobbes
... 1998
Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
... 1997
Dudley
... 1996
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
... 1996
Self - Host
... 1996
Easy Rawlins
... 1995
Parker Barnes
... 1995
Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
... 1995
... 1995
Joe Miller
... 1993
Gray Grantham
... 1993
Don Pedro of Aragon
... 1993
Malcolm X
... 1992
... 1992
... 1992
Nick Styles
... 1991
Demetrius Williams
... 1991
Narrator (voice)
... 1991
Narrator (voice)
... 1990
Bleek Gilliam
... 1990
Napoleon Stone
... 1990
Pvt. Trip
... 1989
Xavier Quinn
... 1989
George McKenna
... 1988
Reuben
... 1988
Steve Biko
... 1987
Martin Sawyer
... 1986
Arnold Billings
... 1986
Private First Class Peterson
... 1984
Roger Porter
... 1981
Kirk
... 1979
Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
... 1979
Robert Eldridge, age 18
... 1977
Hannibal Barca
Robert McCall
Robert McCall
