Denzel Washington
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 28, 1954 (age 71)
- Birthplace
- 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).
Known For
Photos
Filmography
American Gangster Special
Movie · as Self
Untitled Hannibal Film
Movie · as Hannibal the Great
Training Day: Crossing the Line
Movie
Black Panther 3
Movie
The Take
Movie · as Christian Carter
Compassionate Release
Movie
Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage
Movie · as self
Highest 2 Lowest
Movie · as David King
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward
Movie
Number One on the Call Sheet
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Gladiator II
Movie · as Macrinus
Denzel Washington: American Icon
Movie · as Self
The Making of Gladiator II
Movie · as Self
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision
Movie · as Self
Hollywood Black
TV · as Self (archive footage) · 4 eps
The Equalizer 3
Movie · as Robert McCall
Sidney
Movie · as Self
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Whitney, a Look Back
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Movie · as Macbeth
The Little Things
Movie · as Joe 'Deke' Deacon
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Val
Movie · as Self (archive)
Giving Voice
Movie · as Self
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Equalizer 2
Movie · as Robert McCall
Denzel Washington: Reel Life
Movie · as Self
Chasing Trane
Movie · as John Coltrane (voice)
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Movie · as Roman J. Israel
The Magnificent Seven
Movie · as Sam Chisolm
Fences
Movie · as Troy Maxson
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
The Equalizer
Movie · as Robert McCall
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV · as Self · 1 ep
2 Guns
Movie · as Robert 'Bobby' Trench
Circus Halligalli
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Safe House
Movie · as Tobin Frost
Flight
Movie · as Whip Whitaker
The Book of Eli
Movie · as Eli
Unstoppable
Movie · as Frank Barnes
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Movie · as Walter Garber
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
Movie · as Self
Live from Studio Five
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'
Movie · as Self
American Gangster
Movie · as Frank Lucas
The Great Debaters
Movie · as Melvin B. Tolson
The Graham Norton Show
TV · as Self · 6 eps
Inside Man
Movie · as Keith Frazier
Déjà Vu
Movie · as Doug Carlin
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
Movie · as Self
The Reichen Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Man on Fire
Movie · as John W. Creasy
The Manchurian Candidate
Movie · as Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'
Movie · as Self (archive)
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Parkinson
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Out of Time
Movie · as Matt Lee Whitlock
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
Movie · as Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
TV · as Self - Guest · 2 eps
John Q
Movie · as John Quincy Archibald
Antwone Fisher
Movie · as Dr. Jerome Davenport
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'
Movie · as Self
Training Day
Movie · as Alonzo
Remember the Titans
Movie · as Coach Herman Boone
Straight from the Streets
Movie · as Self
The Hurricane
Movie · as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
The Bone Collector
Movie · as Lincoln Rhyme
The Early Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 2 eps
Fallen
Movie · as John Hobbes
He Got Game
Movie · as Jake Shuttlesworth
The Siege
Movie · as Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
TRL
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
Movie · as Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
The View
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Courage Under Fire
Movie · as Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
The Preacher's Wife
Movie · as Dudley
NBA at 50
Movie · as Self - Host
Devil in a Blue Dress
Movie · as Easy Rawlins
Crimson Tide
Movie · as Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
Virtuosity
Movie · as Parker Barnes
The Making of 'Crimson Tide'
Movie · as Self
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
TV · as King Omar (voice), Humpty Dumpty / Crooked Man (voice) · 1 ep
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
A Century of Cinema
Movie · as Self
Much Ado About Nothing
Movie · as Don Pedro
The Pelican Brief
Movie · as Gray Grantham
Philadelphia
Movie · as Joe Miller
Late Show with David Letterman
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Malcolm X
Movie · as Malcolm X
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
TV · as Self - Guest · 2 eps
Ricochet
Movie · as Nick Styles
Mississippi Masala
Movie · as Demetrius Williams
Rabbit Ears - Anansi
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
Heart Condition
Movie · as Napoleon Stone
Mo' Better Blues
Movie · as Bleek Gilliam
Rabbit Ears - John Henry
Movie · as Narrator (voice)
The Mighty Quinn
Movie · as Xavier Quinn
Glory
Movie · as Pvt. Trip
ZDF-Mittagsmagazin
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The George McKenna Story
Movie · as George McKenna
For Queen & Country
Movie · as Reuben
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Movie · as Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV · as Self, Self - Guest · 5 eps
American Experience
TV · as Narrator (voice) · 1 ep
Cry Freedom
Movie · as Steve Biko
Power
Movie · as Arnold Billings
License to Kill
Movie · as Martin Sawyer
A Soldier's Story
Movie · as Private First Class Peterson
Goldene Kamera
TV · as Self · 1 ep
St. Elsewhere
TV · as Philip Chandler · 137 eps
Wogan
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Carbon Copy
Movie · as Roger Porter
Wetten, dass..?
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Coriolanus
Movie · as Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
Flesh & Blood
Movie · as Kirk
CBS News Sunday Morning
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Flesh & Blood
TV · as Kirk · 2 eps
Wilma
Movie · as Robert Eldridge, age 18
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV · as Self, Self - Honoree · 1 ep
Great Performances
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Tony Awards
TV · as Self - Presenter, Self - Winner / Presenter, Self - Nominee · 1 ep
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 9 eps
Today
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee · 2 eps