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).
Known for
Acting122
movieHighest 2 Lowest
2025
David King
movieGladiator II
2024
Macrinus
tvHollywood Black
2024
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Equalizer 3
2023
Robert McCall
movieSidney
2022
Self
movieWhoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act
2022
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Little Things
2021
Joe 'Deke' Deacon
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
2021
Self (archive footage)
movieChadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020
Self (archive footage)
movieThe Equalizer 2
2018
Robert McCall
movieRoman J. Israel, Esq.
2017
Roman J. Israel
movieChasing Trane
2017
John Coltrane (voice)
movieFences
2016
Troy Maxson
movieThe Magnificent Seven
2016
Sam Chisolm
tvThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Self - Guest
movieThe Equalizer
2014
Robert McCall
movie2 Guns
2013
Robert 'Bobby' Trench
movieFlight
2012
Whip Whitaker
movieSafe House
2012
Tobin Frost
movieUnstoppable
2010
Frank Barnes
movieThe Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
2009
Walter Garber
movieThe Great Debaters
2007
Melvin B. Tolson
movieAmerican Gangster
2007
Frank Lucas
movieDéjà Vu
2006
Doug Carlin
movieInside Man
2006
Keith Frazier
The Reichen Show
2005
Self - Guest
movieThe Manchurian Candidate
2004
Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
moviePeople Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'
2004
Self (archive)
movieMan on Fire
2004
John W. Creasy
movieOut of Time
2003
Matt Lee Whitlock
tvJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
Self - Guest / Self
movieAntwone Fisher
2002
Dr. Jerome Davenport
movieJohn Q
2002
John Quincy Archibald
movieTraining Day
2001
Alonzo
tvA Better Tomorrow
2001
Reggie Malone
movieRemember the Titans
2000
Coach Herman Boone
movieThe Bone Collector
1999
Lincoln Rhyme
tvThe Early Show
1999
Self - Guest
movieThe Hurricane
1999
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
movieThe Siege
1998
Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
tvTRL
1998
Self
movieHe Got Game
1998
Jake Shuttlesworth
movieFallen
1998
John Hobbes
movieMother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
1997
Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
tvThe View
1997
Self
movieNBA at 50
1996
Self - Host
movieCourage Under Fire
1996
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
movieDevil in a Blue Dress
1995
Easy Rawlins
movieVirtuosity
1995
Parker Barnes
movieCrimson Tide
1995
Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
tvHappily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995
King Omar (voice) / Humpty Dumpty / Crooked Man (voice)
movieSesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
1994
Self (archive footage)
moviePhiladelphia
1993
Joe Miller
movieThe Pelican Brief
1993
Gray Grantham
tvLate Show with David Letterman
1993
Self - Guest
movieMuch Ado About Nothing
1993
Don Pedro
movieMalcolm X
1992
Malcolm X
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
1992
Narrator (voice)
movieJammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway
1992
Narrator (voice)
tvThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Self - Guest
movieRicochet
1991
Nick Styles
movieMississippi Masala
1991
Demetrius Williams
Rabbit Ears - Anansi
1991
Narrator (voice)
movieRabbit Ears - John Henry
1990
Narrator (voice)
movieMo' Better Blues
1990
Bleek Gilliam
movieHeart Condition
1990
Napoleon Stone
movieGlory
1989
Pvt. Trip
movieThe Mighty Quinn
1989
Xavier Quinn
tvAmerican Experience
1988
Narrator (voice)
tvLIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Self / Self - Guest
movieThe George McKenna Story
1988
George McKenna
movieCry Freedom
1987
Steve Biko
movieLicense to Kill
1986
Martin Sawyer
moviePower
1986
Arnold Billings
movieA Soldier's Story
1984
Private First Class Peterson
tvSt. Elsewhere
1982
Philip Chandler
tvWogan
1982
Self
movieCarbon Copy
1981
Roger Porter
movieCoriolanus
1979
Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
movieWilma
1977
Robert Eldridge, age 18
tvThe American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973
Self / Self - Honoree
tvTony Awards
1956
Self - Presenter / Self - Winner / Presenter / Self - Nominee
tvThe Oscars
1953
Self
tvToday
1952
Self
tvGolden Globe Awards
1944
Self - Presenter / Self - Nominee
Untitled Hannibal Film
Hannibal the Great
Production13
movieThe Piano Lesson
2024
Producer
movieThe Equalizer 3
2023
Producer
movieA Journal for Jordan
2021
Producer
movieThe Equalizer 2
2018
Producer
movieRoman J. Israel, Esq.
2017
Producer
movieFences
2016
Producer
movieThe Equalizer
2014
Producer
movieSafe House
2012
Executive Producer
movieThe Book of Eli
2010
Producer
movieAntwone Fisher
2002
Producer
Directing5
movieA Journal for Jordan
2021
Director
movieFences
2016
Director
movieThe Great Debaters
2007
Director
tvGrey's Anatomy
2005
Director
movieAntwone Fisher
2002
Director
Crew1
movieThe Wait
2023
Thanks