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Denzel Jermaine Washington, Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor and occasional director.
Early life
Born in Mount Vernon, His parents' professions shaped His early ambition to go into show business: from his minister father he learned the power of performance, while hours spent in his mother's salon listening to stories gave him a love of storytelling. Unfortunately, when Washington was fourteen, his parents' marriage took a turn for the worse, and he and his older sister were sent away to boarding school so that they would not be exposed to their parents' eventual divorce.
Washington went on to college, attaining a B.A. in Journalism from Fordham University in 1977. He still found time to pursue his interest in acting, and after graduation he went to San Francisco, where he won a scholarship to the American Conservatory Theatre. Washington stayed with the ACT for a year, and, after his time there, he began acting in various television movies and made his film debut in the 1981 Carbon Copy. Although he had a starring role as the illegitimate son of a rich white man, Washington didn't find real recognition until he joined the cast of the long-running TV series St. Elsewhere in 1982. He won critical raves and audience adoration for his portrayal of Dr. Phillip Chandler, and he began to attract Hollywood notice. In 1987, he starred as anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom, and his powerful performance earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.
Early career
Washington's first acting role was in the 1977 made-for-television movie Wilma. He made his film debut in the 1981 film Carbon Copy. His big break came when he starred in the popular television hospital drama, St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1987. He was one of a few actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run. In 1987, after appearing in several minor television, film and stage roles, Washington starred as South African anti-apartheid campaigner Steve Biko in Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom, a role for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 1989, Washington won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing a defiant, self-possessed ex-slave in the film Glory. Also that same year, he gave a powerful performance as Reuben James, a Caribbean-born man who turned from a British Army paratrooper into a vigilante in For Queen and Country.
Career: 1990s
Washington played one of his most critically acclaimed roles in 1992's Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee. His performance as the Black Nationalist leader earned him an Oscar nomination. Both the influential film critic Roger Ebert and the highly acclaimed film director Martin Scorsese called the movie one of the ten best films made during the 1990s.
Malcolm X transformed Washington's career, turning him, practically overnight, into one of Hollywood's most respected actors. He turned down several similar roles, such as an offer to play Martin Luther King, Jr., because he wanted to avoid being typecast. The next year, in 1993, he took another risk in his career by playing Joe Miller, the homophobic lawyer of a man with AIDS in the movie Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks, although it was a big risk for Hanks to play a man with AIDS, critics agreed it was also a risk for Washington to play the homophobic Miller. During the early and mid 1990s, Washington became a renowned Hollywood leading man, starring in several successful thrillers, including The Pelican Brief and Crimson Tide, as well as comedies (Much Ado About Nothing) and romantic dramas (The Preacher's Wife).
While filming the 1995 film, Virtuosity, Washington refused to kiss his white female co-star, Kelly Lynch, during a romantic scene between their characters. During an interview, Lynch stated that while she wanted to, "[Denzel] felt very strongly about it. I felt there is no problem with interracial romance. But Denzel felt strongly that the white males, who were the target audience of this movie, would not want to see him kiss a white woman." Lynch further stated, "That's a shame. I feel badly about it. I keep thinking that the world's changed, but it hasn't changed quick enough". A similar situation also occurred during the filming of The Pelican Brief when Julia Roberts expressed in an interview her desire to have her character in the film engaged in a romantic relationship with Washington's character. And an additional occurrence was in the 1989 film "The Mighty Quinn" where Washington's Quinn character did not kiss Mimi Rogers' alluring Hadley character. However, in 1998, Washington starred in a scene of a sexual nature with actress Milla Jovovich, in Spike Lee's He Got Game.
In 1999, Washington starred in The Hurricane, a movie about boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, whose conviction for triple murder was overturned after he had spent almost 20 years in prison. Various newspaper articles have suggested that the controversy over the film’s accuracy may have cost Washington an Oscar for which he was nominated. Washington did receive a Golden Globe Award in 2000 and a 'Silberner Bär' (Silver Berlin Bear) at the Berlin International Film Festival for the role.
He also presented the Arthur Ashe ESPY Award to Loretta Claiborne for her courage. He appeared as himself in the end of "The Loretta Claiborne Story" movie.
Career: 2000s
In 2000, Washington appeared in the crowd-pleasing Disney film, Remember the Titans, which grossed over $100 million at the United States box office. He was nominated and won an Oscar for Best Actor for his next film, the 2001 cop thriller, Training Day, which was considered a change of pace for Washington, as he played a villainous character after many roles as a heroic lead. Some argue that Washington's win for his role in Training Day was the Academy's way of making up for its past indiscretion in failing to present him with the award for his role in The Hurricane which many people at the time felt he deserved. After appearing in 2002's box office success, the Health care-themed John Q., Washington directed his first film, a well-reviewed drama called Antwone Fisher, in which he also co-starred.
Between 2003 and 2004, Washington appeared in a series of thrillers that performed generally well at the box office, including Out of Time, Man on Fire and The Manchurian Candidate. His film, Inside Man, a Spike Lee-directed bank heist thriller co-starring Jodie Foster and Clive Owen, opened on March 24, 2006. His latest film, Deja Vu, was released in November 2006. He will be working with Russell Crowe in American Gangster.
Personal life
In 1983, Washington married actress Pauletta Pearson (now Pauletta Washington), whom he met on the set of his first screen role, Wilma. The couple has four children: John David (b. July 28, 1984, who signed a football contract with the St. Louis Rams in May 2006 after playing college ball at Morehouse); Katia (b. 1987), who is attending Yale University and twins Olivia and Malcolm (named after Malcolm X) (b. April 10, 1991). In 1995, the couple renewed their wedding vows in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu officiating.
Political Views
In 2007 Denzel Washington sent money to a Hollywood fundraiser for Barack Obama. Prior to that, it was rumoured that he was a Republican because of a 2004 interview with Katie Couric.
Selected filmography
Year Title Role Other notes
1981 Carbon Copy Roger Porter
1984 A Soldier's Story Pfc. Peterson
1986 Hard Lessons George McKenna
1987 Cry Freedom Steve Biko
1989 The Mighty Quinn Xavier Quinn
For Queen and Country Reuben James
Glory Pvt. Trip Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor
1990 Heart Condition Napoleon Stone
Mo' Better Blues Bleek Gilliam
1991 Ricochet Nick Styles
1992 Mississippi Masala Demetrius Williams
Malcolm X Malcolm X Was the star of the movie
1993 Much Ado About Nothing Don Pedro of Aragon
The Pelican Brief Gray Grantham
Philadelphia Joe Miller
1995 Crimson Tide Lt. Commander Ron Hunter
Virtuosity Lt. Parker Barnes
Devil in a Blue Dress Easy Rawlins
1996 Courage Under Fire Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling
The Preacher's Wife Dudley
1998 Fallen Detective John Hobbes
He Got Game Jake Shuttlesworth
The Siege Special Agent Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
1999 The Bone Collector Lincoln Rhyme
The Hurricane Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
2000 Remember the Titans Coach Herman Boone
The Loretta Claiborne Story Himself
2001 Training Day Detective Alonzo Harris Academy Award, Best Actor
2002 John Q John Quincy Archibald
Antwone Fisher Dr. Jerome Davenport also as director
2003 Out of Time Police Chief Matthias Lee Whitlock
2004 Man on Fire John Creasy
The Manchurian Candidate Major Ben Marco
2006 Inside Man Detective Keith Frazier
Déjà Vu Special Agent Doug Carlin
2007 American Gangster Frank Lucas
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