Biography
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 (1982β1988) 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 (2014β2023). 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).
Filmography (121)
Highest 2 Lowest
2025
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward
2025
Number One on the Call Sheet
2025
Gladiator II
2024
Denzel Washington: American Icon
2024
The Making of Gladiator II
2024
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision
2024
Hollywood Black
2024
The Equalizer 3
2023
Sidney
2022
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act
2022
The Tragedy of Macbeth
2021
The Little Things
2021
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
2021
Giving Voice
2020
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020
The Equalizer 2
2018
Denzel Washington: Reel Life
2018
Chasing Trane
2017
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
2017
The Magnificent Seven
2016
Fences
2016
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
The Equalizer
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
2 Guns
2013
Circus Halligalli
2013
Safe House
2012
Flight
2012
The Book of Eli
2010
Unstoppable
2010
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
2009
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
2009
Live from Studio Five
2009
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'
2008
American Gangster
2007
The Great Debaters
2007
The Graham Norton Show
2007
Inside Man
2006
DΓ©jΓ Vu
2006
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
2005
The Reichen Show
2005
Man on Fire
2004
The Manchurian Candidate
2004
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'
2004
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
2004
Out of Time
2003
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
John Q
2002
Antwone Fisher
2002
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'
2002
Training Day
2001
Remember the Titans
2000
Straight from the Streets
2000
The Hurricane
1999
The Bone Collector
1999
The Early Show
1999
Fallen
1998
He Got Game
1998
The Siege
1998
TRL
1998
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
1997
The View
1997
Courage Under Fire
1996
The Preacher's Wife
1996
NBA at 50
1996
Devil in a Blue Dress
1995
Crimson Tide
1995
Virtuosity
1995
The Making of 'Crimson Tide'
1995
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
1994
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
The Pelican Brief
1993
Philadelphia
1993
Late Show with David Letterman
1993
Malcolm X
1992
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
1992
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway
1992
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Ricochet
1991
Mississippi Masala
1991
Rabbit Ears - Anansi
1991
Heart Condition
1990
Mo' Better Blues
1990
Rabbit Ears - John Henry
1990
The Mighty Quinn
1989
Glory
1989
ZDF-Mittagsmagazin
1989
The George McKenna Story
1988
For Queen & Country
1988
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
1988
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
American Experience
1988
Cry Freedom
1987
Power
1986
License to Kill
1986
A Soldier's Story
1984
Goldene Kamera
1984
St. Elsewhere
1982
Wogan
1982
Carbon Copy
1981
Wetten, dass..?
1981
Flesh & Blood
1979
Coriolanus
1979
CBS News Sunday Morning
1979
Flesh & Blood
1979
Wilma
1977
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
Great Performances
1971
Tony Awards
1956
The Oscars
1953
Today
1952
Golden Globe Awards
1944
Black Panther 3
Here Comes the Flood
American Gangster Special
Untitled Hannibal Film
English
EspaΓ±ol
Russian
