Denzel Washington
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 (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

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Graham Norton Show

Late Show with David Letterman

The View

Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globe Awards

Tony Awards
All Movies (88)
- Denzel Washington: Falling Forward2025
- Highest 2 Lowest2025 · as David King
- The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision2024 · as Self
- The Making of Gladiator II2024 · as Self
- Gladiator II2024 · as Macrinus
- Denzel Washington: American Icon2024 · as Self
- The Equalizer 32023 · as Robert McCall
- Sidney2022 · as Self
- Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act2022 · as Self (archive footage)
- The Tragedy of Macbeth2021 · as Macbeth
- The Little Things2021 · as Joe 'Deke' Deacon
- Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend2021 · as Self (archive footage)
- Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King2020 · as Self (archive footage)
- Giving Voice2020 · as Self
- Denzel Washington: Reel Life2018 · as Self
- The Equalizer 22018 · as Robert McCall
- Roman J. Israel, Esq.2017 · as Roman J. Israel
- Chasing Trane2017 · as John Coltrane (voice)
- Fences2016 · as Troy Maxson
- The Magnificent Seven2016 · as Sam Chisolm
- The Equalizer2014 · as Robert McCall
- 2 Guns2013 · as Robert 'Bobby' Trench
- Flight2012 · as Whip Whitaker
- Safe House2012 · as Tobin Frost
- Unstoppable2010 · as Frank Barnes
- The Book of Eli2010 · as Eli
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 32009 · as Walter Garber
- We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial2009 · as Self
- Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'2008 · as Self
- The Great Debaters2007 · as Melvin B. Tolson
- American Gangster2007 · as Frank Lucas
- Déjà Vu2006 · as Doug Carlin
- Inside Man2006 · as Keith Frazier
- By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'2005 · as Self
- The Manchurian Candidate2004 · as Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
- People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'2004 · as Self (archive)
- Man on Fire2004 · as John W. Creasy
- Out of Time2003 · as Matt Lee Whitlock
- The Evolution of an American Filmmaker2003 · as Self
- Antwone Fisher2002 · as Dr. Jerome Davenport
- Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'2002 · as Self
- John Q2002 · as John Quincy Archibald
- Training Day2001 · as Alonzo
- Remember the Titans2000 · as Coach Herman Boone
- Straight from the Streets2000 · as Self
- The Bone Collector1999 · as Lincoln Rhyme
- The Hurricane1999 · as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
- The Siege1998 · as Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
- He Got Game1998 · as Jake Shuttlesworth
- Fallen1998 · as John Hobbes
- Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special1997 · as Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
- The Preacher's Wife1996 · as Dudley
- NBA at 501996 · as Self - Host
- Courage Under Fire1996 · as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
- Devil in a Blue Dress1995 · as Easy Rawlins
- Virtuosity1995 · as Parker Barnes
- Crimson Tide1995 · as Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
- The Making of 'Crimson Tide'1995 · as Self
- Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!1994 · as Self (archive footage)
- Philadelphia1993 · as Joe Miller
- The Pelican Brief1993 · as Gray Grantham
- Much Ado About Nothing1993 · as Don Pedro
- Malcolm X1992 · as Malcolm X
- Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II1992 · as Narrator (voice)
- Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway1992 · as Narrator (voice)
- Ricochet1991 · as Nick Styles
- Mississippi Masala1991 · as Demetrius Williams
- Rabbit Ears - Anansi1991 · as Narrator (voice)
- Rabbit Ears - John Henry1990 · as Narrator (voice)
- Mo' Better Blues1990 · as Bleek Gilliam
- Heart Condition1990 · as Napoleon Stone
- Glory1989 · as Pvt. Trip
- The Mighty Quinn1989 · as Xavier Quinn
- The George McKenna Story1988 · as George McKenna
- Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute1988 · as Self
- For Queen & Country1988 · as Reuben
- Cry Freedom1987 · as Steve Biko
- License to Kill1986 · as Martin Sawyer
- Power1986 · as Arnold Billings
- A Soldier's Story1984 · as Private First Class Peterson
- Carbon Copy1981 · as Roger Porter
- Flesh & Blood1979 · as Kirk
- Coriolanus1979 · as Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
- Wilma1977 · as Robert Eldridge, age 18
- Black Panther 3—
- Here Comes the Flood—
- American Gangster Special— · as Self
- Untitled Hannibal Film— · as Hannibal the Great
All TV Shows (40)
- Number One on the Call Sheet2025 · as Self
- Hollywood Black2024 · as Self (archive footage)
- The Late Show with Stephen Colbert2015 · as Self - Guest
- Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter2015 · as Self
- The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon2014 · as Self
- Circus Halligalli2013 · as Self
- Live from Studio Five2009 · as Self
- The Graham Norton Show2007 · as Self
- The Reichen Show2005 · as Self - Guest
- On Air with Ryan Seacrest2004 · as Self
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show2003 · as Self
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self - Guest
- Jimmy Kimmel Live!2003 · as Self
- The Early Show1999 · as Self - Guest
- TRL1998 · as Self
- The View1997 · as Self
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child1995 · as King Omar (voice)
- Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child1995 · as Humpty Dumpty / Crooked Man (voice)
- Late Show with David Letterman1993 · as Self - Guest
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno1992
- ZDF-Mittagsmagazin1989 · as Self
- American Experience1988 · as Narrator (voice)
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark1988 · as Self
- LIVE with Kelly and Mark1988 · as Self - Guest
- Goldene Kamera1984 · as Self
- St. Elsewhere1982 · as Philip Chandler
- Wogan1982 · as Self
- Wetten, dass..?1981 · as Self
- Flesh & Blood1979 · as Kirk
- CBS News Sunday Morning1979 · as Self
- The American Film Institute Salute to ...1973 · as Self
- The American Film Institute Salute to ...1973 · as Self - Honoree
- Great Performances1971 · as Self
- Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Presenter
- Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Winner / Presenter
- Tony Awards1956 · as Self - Nominee
- The Oscars1953 · as Self
- Today1952 · as Self
- Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Presenter
- Golden Globe Awards1944 · as Self - Nominee