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Viola DavisΒ (/vaΙͺΛoΚlΙ/Β vy-OH-lΙ; born August 11, 1965)Β is an American actress and film producer.Β Her accoladesΒ include both theΒ Triple Crown of ActingΒ andΒ EGOT.Β TimeΒ named her one of theΒ 100 most influential people in the worldΒ in 2012 and 2017.Β The New York TimesΒ ranked her ninth on its list of the greatest actors of the 21st century (2020). Davis received theΒ Cecil B. DeMille AwardΒ in 2025.
A graduate ofΒ Juilliard, Davis began her career inΒ Central Falls, Rhode Island, appearing in small stage productions. She made herΒ BroadwayΒ debut in theΒ August WilsonΒ playΒ Seven GuitarsΒ (1996) for which she earned her first Tony nomination. She would later win twoΒ Tony Awards, both for Wilson plays. Her first win was forΒ Best Featured Actress in a PlayΒ playing the titular character Tonya, a woman grappling with trauma and loss inΒ King Hedley IIΒ (2001), followed by her second win forΒ Best Actress in a PlayΒ playing Rose Maxson, a working class mother inΒ FencesΒ (2010).
She won theΒ Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressΒ for reprising her role in theΒ 2016 film adaptation ofΒ Fences. She was Oscar-nominated for playing a complex mother inΒ DoubtΒ (2008), a 1960s housemaid inΒ The HelpΒ (2011) andΒ Ma RaineyΒ inΒ Ma Rainey's Black BottomΒ (2020). On television, she became the first black actress to win theΒ Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama SeriesΒ for her role as lawyerΒ Annalise KeatingΒ in theΒ ABCΒ legal drama seriesΒ How to Get Away with MurderΒ (2014β2020).Β Davis joined theΒ DCEUΒ playingΒ Amanda WallerΒ starting withΒ Suicide SquadΒ (2016). She has also starred in the crime dramaΒ Widows(2018), and historical action filmΒ The Woman KingΒ (2022).
Davis and her husband are founders of the production company JuVee Productions, and she is also widely recognized for her advocacy and support forΒ human rightsΒ andΒ women of color. She became aΒ L'OrΓ©al ParisΒ ambassador in 2019. The audiobook narration of her 2022 memoirΒ Finding MeΒ won her theΒ Grammy Award for Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording.
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