Denzel Washington, a two
time Academy Award-winner, is always
in search of new challenges; his varied film and
stage portrayals
bear this out. From Trip, an embittered runaway
slave in Glory, to
South African
freedom fighter Steven Biko in
Cry Freedom; from Shakespeare's tragic historical figure
Richard III to womanizing trumpet player Bleek
Gilliam in
Spike Lee's Mo' Better
Blues,
Washington has amazed and entertained audiences with a rich and colorful
array of
characters distinctly his own.
Most recently, Washington made his feature film directorial debut in December 2002 with Antwone Fisher. Based on a true story, the film won critical praise and was awarded the Stanley Kramer Award from the Producers Guild of America, as well as an NAACP Award for Outstanding Motion Picture and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Washington's performance.
One of Washington's most acclaimed roles to date was his Academy Award-winning tour-de-force in Training Day. The film opened number one at the box office with the highest weekend gross ($23.6 million) in his illustrious career. He was also recently seen in John Q. The film established an opening day record for President's Day weekend, grossing $24.1 million, and garnered Washington a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
In September 2000, Washington starred in Jerry Bruckheimer's box-office sensation Remember the Titans ($115 million domestic gross). Earlier that year, he starred in The Hurricane, reteaming with director Norman Jewison. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and an Academy Award nomination (his fourth) for his portrayal of Rubin Hurricane Carter.
In November 1999, he starred in The Bone Collector opposite Angelina Jolie. In 1998, he starred in Fallen for director Gregory Hoblit and in Spike Lee's He Got Game. He also reteamed with director Ed Zwick for The Siege, co-starring Annette Bening and Bruce Willis.
In the summer of 1996, Washington starred in the critically acclaimed military drama Courage Under Fire, again with his Glory director, Ed Zwick. Later that year, he starred opposite Whitney Houston in Penny Marshall's The Preacher's Wife. In 1995, he starred opposite Gene Hackman in Tony Scott's Crimson Tide; in the futuristic thriller Virtuosity; and as Easy Rawlins in Out of time director Carl Franklin's Devil in a Blue Dress (which Washington's Mundy Lane Entertainment produced with Jonathan Demme's Clinica Estetico).
Another of Washington's most acclaimed performances was his portrayal of Malcolm X in director Spike Lee's epic Malcolm X. The film was hailed by critics and audiences alike as One of the Best films of 1992. For his portrayal, Denzel received a number of accolades, including an Academy Award nomination for best Actor.
In addition to his accomplishments on screen, Washington took on a different type of role in 2000. He produced the HBO documentary Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks, which was nominated for two Emmys. He also served as executive producer on Hank Aaron: Chasing The Dream, a biographical documentary for TBS which was nominated for an Emmy Award. Additionally, his narration of the legend of John Henry was nominated for a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, and he was awarded the 1996 NAACP Image Award for his performance in the animated children's special Happily Ever After: Rumpelstiltskin.
A native of Mt. Vernon, New York, Washington had his career sights set on medicine when he attended Fordham University. But during a stint as a summer camp counselor he appeared in One of their theatre productions; he was bitten by the acting bug and returned to Fordham that year seeking the tutelage of Robinson Stone, one of the school's leading professors. Upon graduation, he was accepted into San Francisco's prestigious American Conservatory Theater, and following an intensive year of study in their theater program, he returned to New York.
Washington's New York theater career began with Joseph Papp's Shakespeare in the Park, and was quickly followed by numerous off-Broadway productions, including Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, When the Chickens Came Home to Roost (in which he portrayed Malcolm X), One Tiger to a Hill, Man and Superman, Othello, and A Soldier's Play, for which he won an Obie Award. Washington's more recent stage appearances include the Broadway production of Checkmates and Richard III, which was produced as part of the 1990 Free Shakespeare in the Park series hosted by Joseph Papp's Public Theatre.
Washington was discovered by Hollywood in 1979 when he was cast in the television film Flesh and Blood, but it was his award-winning performance onstage in A Soldier's Play that captured the attention of the Producers of the NBC television series St. Elsewhere, and he was soon cast in that long-running series as Dr. Phillip Chandler. His other television credits include The George McKenna story, License to Kill, and Wilma.
In 1982, Washington re-created his role from A Soldier's Play for Norman Jewison's film version, re-titled A Soldier's story. Washington went on to star in Sidney Lumet's Power, Richard Attenborough's Cry freedom (for which he received his first Oscar nomination), For Queen and Country, The Mighty Quinn, Heart Condition, Glory (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), and Spike Lee's Mo' Better Blues. Washington also starred in Ricochet and in Mira Nair's Mississippi Masala.
Additional film credits include Kenneth Branaugh's Much Ado About Nothing, Jonathan Demme's controversial Philadelphia with Tom Hanks, and The Pelican Brief opposite Julia Roberts, based on the John Grisham novel.
