Denzel Washington

Acting · 9.4 popularity

Age

Movies

Born: December 28, 1954
From: Mount Vernon, New York, USA

Biography

Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor. Known for his dramatic roles on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, an Actor Award, two Golden Globes, two Silver Bears and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a Grammy Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2020, The New York Times named Washington the greatest actor of the 21st century. He has also been honoured with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2016, AFI Life Achievement Award in 2019, the Honorary Palme d'Or in 2025, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. Films in which he has appeared have grossed over $5.1 billion worldwide. After training at the American Conservatory Theater, Washington began his career in theatre, acting in Off-Broadway performances. 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). Washington won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing an American Civil War soldier in the war drama Glory (1989) and for Best Actor for playing a corrupt police officer in the crime thriller Training Day (2001). He was Oscar-nominated for his roles 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). Washington has starred in other notable films, including The Pelican Brief, Philadelphia (both 1993); Crimson Tide, Devil in a Blue Dress (both 1995); He Got Game (1998); Remember the Titans (2000); Man on Fire (2004); Déjà Vu, Inside Man (both 2006); American Gangster (2007); Unstoppable, The Book of Eli (both 2010); The Equalizer trilogy (2014–2023), Gladiator II (2024), and Highest 2 Lowest (2025). Washington has also directed the films Antwone Fisher (2002), The Great Debaters (2007), Fences (2016), and A Journal for Jordan (2021). On stage, he has acted in The Public Theater productions of Coriolanus (1979) and The Tragedy of Richard III (1990). 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) and Othello (2025), Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (2014), and Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh (2018).

Works

88 films

Gladiator II

20246.6

The Equalizer

20147.3

The Equalizer 3

20237.3

Training Day

20017.5

Man on Fire

20047.5

The Equalizer 2

20186.8

American Gangster

20077.6

Safe House

20126.5

The Magnificent Seven

20166.5

Inside Man

20067.4

The Little Things

20216.4

Crimson Tide

19957.2

Fallen

19986.8

2 Guns

20136.5

Déjà Vu

20066.9

The Book of Eli

20106.8

Flight

20126.9

Remember the Titans

20007.7

The Bone Collector

19996.8

Highest 2 Lowest

20255.5

Unstoppable

20106.6

Glory

19897.5

Philadelphia

19937.7

John Q

20027.1

The Siege

19986.3

The Tragedy of Macbeth

20216.9

The Pelican Brief

19936.6

Malcolm X

19927.6

Out of Time

20036.4

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

20096.4

Fences

20166.9

The Manchurian Candidate

20046.5

The Hurricane

19997.4

Much Ado About Nothing

19936.9

Courage Under Fire

19966.6

He Got Game

19986.7

Ricochet

19916.1

Roman J. Israel, Esq.

20176.3

Virtuosity

19955.5

The Great Debaters

20077.3

Devil in a Blue Dress

19956.5

Here Comes the Flood

2026

Sidney

20227.0

Black Panther 3

2028

Cry Freedom

19877.0

The Preacher's Wife

19965.8

Antwone Fisher

20026.9

Mo' Better Blues

19906.5

Flesh & Blood

19795.9

Heart Condition

19905.7

Power

19865.8

The Mighty Quinn

19896.0

A Soldier's Story

19846.8

Mississippi Masala

19916.4

Carbon Copy

19815.9

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

20208.1

Chasing Trane

20177.3

The George McKenna Story

19886.3

Coriolanus

19795.0

For Queen & Country

19885.3

Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act

20228.5

Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend

20215.0

People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'

20044.8

Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!

19947.0

License to Kill

19865.7

Straight from the Streets

20007.3

Untitled Hannibal Film

2026

Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute

19886.5

The Making of Gladiator II

202410.0

Wilma

19776.6

We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial

20094.6

Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'

2008

The Making of 'Crimson Tide'

19959.0

The Evolution of an American Filmmaker

20037.3

By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'

20056.0

The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision

2024

Denzel Washington: Falling Forward

2025

Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special

19976.2

NBA at 50

19966.5

Denzel Washington: American Icon

20245.3

Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'

2002

Rabbit Ears - John Henry

1990

Giving Voice

20206.4

Denzel Washington: Reel Life

20186.5

American Gangster Special

2026

Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway

19928.0

Rabbit Ears - Anansi

1991

Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II

19927.5