Denzel Washington

Birth Name:  Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.    

Nickname/Stage Name: Denzel Washington

Birth Date:  December 28, 1954  

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller

Occupation(s): Actor, Director, Producer  

Years Active: 1975 till Present

Net Worth: $280 million
 

Personal life

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. was born in Mount Vernon, New York. His mother was a beauty parlor owner and operator who was born in Georgia and raised in Harlem, New York. His father was a native of Buckingham County, Virginia, an ordained Pentecostal minister, and a New York City Water Department employee. 

He married Pauletta Pearson, whom he met on the set of his first film, the TV film Wilma, on June 25, 1983. They have four children: John David (born July 28, 1984), an actor and former football player, Katie (born November 27, 1986), a Yale University graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in 2010, and twins Olivia and Malcolm (born April 10, 1991). 

Washington and his wife renewed their vows in South Africa in 1995, with Desmond Tutu officiating.

The actor is a devout Christian who has thought about becoming a preacher. He says he reads the Bible every day.

Education

Washington attended Mount Vernon's Pennington-Grimes Elementary School until 1968. His mother enrolled him in the private preparatory school Oakland Military Academy in New Windsor, New York.

From 1970 to 1971, he attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach, Florida. In 1977, he graduated from Fordham University with a B.A. in Drama and Journalism.

Returning to Fordham with a renewed sense of purpose that fall, Washington enrolled at the Lincoln Center campus to study acting, where he was cast in Eugene O'Neill's The Emperor Jones and Shakespeare's Othello.

He then went on to graduate school at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California, for a year before returning to New York to pursue a professional acting career.

Career

Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his screen-acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television film Wilma, and his first Hollywood appearance in the 1981 film Carbon Copy.

He shared a 1982 Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for playing Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the Off-Broadway Negro Ensemble Company production A Soldier's Play that premiered November 20, 1981.

His breakthrough came when he landed the role of Dr. Phillip Chandler in NBC's television hospital drama St. Elsewhere (1982 to1988). He was one of only a few African-American actors to appear on the show throughout its six-year run.

In 1992, Washington played one of his most critically-acclaimed roles, the titular character in Malcolm X. The following year, he portrayed the lawyer of a gay man with AIDS in Philadelphia.

He appeared in the Disney film Remember the Titans in 2000 and between 2003 and 2004, featured in a series of thrillers, including Out of Time and Man of Fire.

In 2007, he starred in Ridley Scott's American Gangster opposite Russell Crowe and directed the drama The Great Debaters with fellow actor Forest Whitaker.

Washington starred in and directed Fences in 2016, acting alongside Viola Davis. He played a detective searching answers in the 2021 crime drama The Little Things.

Awards 

NAACP Image Award (1987, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2017)

Film Critic Award (1989, 1992, 1996, 2001, 2002, 2016)

Academy Award (1990, 2002)

Golden Globe Award (1990, 2000)

MTV Movie & TV Award (1993, 2002)

Silver Bear Award (1993)

Golden Apple Award (1995)

Black Reel Award (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2013, 2017)

American Film Institute Award (2002)

Golden Plate Award (2005)

BAFTA Award (2007)

Tony Award (2010)

AARP Annual Movies for Grownups Award (2013, 2017)

San Sebastian International Film Festival Award (2014)

Cecil B. DeMille Award (2016)

Screen Actors Guild Award (2017)

Santa Barbara International Film Festival Award (2017)

Jupiter Award (2017)

Quotes

"Acting's like someone asking you for years to write the characters, but they write the book."

"I'm very proud to be black, but black is not all I am. That's my cultural historical background, my genetic makeup, but it's not all of who I am nor is it the basis from which I answer every question."

"I have to try and find a way to remain positive because those days are boring to me, really, just hanging off the side of a building, fighting or grunting."

Trivia

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (1995).

Named son Malcolm in honor of Malcolm X.

To prepare for his role as boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter in The Hurricane (1999), he worked out for a year with Los Angeles boxing trainer Terry Claybon.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World (1990).

Movies

Carbon Copy (1981)

A Soldier's Story (1984)

Cry Freedom (1987)

Ricochet (1991)

Malcolm X (1992)

Crimson Tide (1995)

The Siege (1998)

The Bone Collector (1999)

Training Day (2001)

Man on Fire (2004)

Deja Vu (2006)

The Book of Eli (2010)

2 Guns (2013)

Fences (2016)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020)

The Little Things (2021)