Denzel Washington

ActingDirecting

Born Dec 28, 1954 (age 71) · Mount Vernon, New York, USA

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).

Adds the top 10 unseen, by popularity

The Equalizer2014
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
The Book of Eli2010
as ⁨Eli⁩ · Producer
Training Day2001
as ⁨Alonzo⁩
Flight2012
as ⁨Whip Whitaker⁩
Inside Man2006
as ⁨Keith Frazier⁩
The Magnificent Seven2016
as ⁨Sam Chisolm⁩
American Gangster2007
as ⁨Frank Lucas⁩
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
as ⁨John W. Creasy⁩
as ⁨Doug Carlin⁩
as ⁨Macrinus⁩
as ⁨Joe Miller⁩
as ⁨Robert 'Bobby' Trench⁩
as ⁨Tobin Frost⁩ · Executive producer
as ⁨Frank Barnes⁩
as ⁨Lincoln Rhyme⁩
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
as ⁨Walter Garber⁩
as ⁨Coach Herman Boone⁩
as ⁨Joe 'Deke' Deacon⁩
as ⁨Troy Maxson⁩ · Director · Producer
as ⁨John Quincy Archibald⁩
as ⁨Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter⁩
as ⁨Malcolm X⁩
as ⁨Pvt. Trip⁩
as ⁨Gray Grantham⁩
as ⁨Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco⁩
as ⁨John Hobbes⁩
as ⁨Rubin "Hurricane" Carter⁩
as ⁨Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard⁩
as ⁨Roman J. Israel⁩ · Producer
as ⁨Matt Lee Whitlock⁩
as ⁨Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling⁩
as ⁨Macbeth⁩
as ⁨Don Pedro⁩
as ⁨Jake Shuttlesworth⁩
as ⁨Melvin B. Tolson⁩ · Director
as ⁨Parker Barnes⁩
as ⁨Dr. Jerome Davenport⁩ · Director · Producer
as ⁨David King⁩
as ⁨Easy Rawlins⁩
as ⁨Nick Styles⁩
as ⁨Dudley⁩
as ⁨Bleek Gilliam⁩
as ⁨Steve Biko⁩
as ⁨Private First Class Peterson⁩
as ⁨Xavier Quinn⁩
as ⁨Napoleon Stone⁩
as ⁨Demetrius Williams⁩
as ⁨Arnold Billings⁩
as ⁨Roger Porter⁩
as ⁨John Coltrane (voice)⁩
as ⁨Reuben⁩
Out Wed, Dec 13

Also directed

Director · Producer

Adds the top 10 unseen, by popularity

The Equalizer2014
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
The Book of Eli2010
as ⁨Eli⁩ · Producer
Training Day2001
as ⁨Alonzo⁩
Flight2012
as ⁨Whip Whitaker⁩
Inside Man2006
as ⁨Keith Frazier⁩
The Magnificent Seven2016
as ⁨Sam Chisolm⁩
American Gangster2007
as ⁨Frank Lucas⁩
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
as ⁨John W. Creasy⁩
as ⁨Doug Carlin⁩
as ⁨Macrinus⁩
as ⁨Joe Miller⁩
as ⁨Robert 'Bobby' Trench⁩
as ⁨Tobin Frost⁩ · Executive producer
as ⁨Frank Barnes⁩
as ⁨Lincoln Rhyme⁩
as ⁨Robert McCall⁩ · Producer
as ⁨Walter Garber⁩
as ⁨Coach Herman Boone⁩
as ⁨Joe 'Deke' Deacon⁩
as ⁨Troy Maxson⁩ · Director · Producer
as ⁨John Quincy Archibald⁩
as ⁨Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter⁩
as ⁨Malcolm X⁩
as ⁨Pvt. Trip⁩
as ⁨Gray Grantham⁩
as ⁨Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco⁩
as ⁨John Hobbes⁩
as ⁨Rubin "Hurricane" Carter⁩
as ⁨Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard⁩
as ⁨Roman J. Israel⁩ · Producer
as ⁨Matt Lee Whitlock⁩
as ⁨Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling⁩
as ⁨Macbeth⁩
as ⁨Don Pedro⁩
as ⁨Jake Shuttlesworth⁩
as ⁨Melvin B. Tolson⁩ · Director
as ⁨Parker Barnes⁩
as ⁨Dr. Jerome Davenport⁩ · Director · Producer
as ⁨David King⁩
as ⁨Easy Rawlins⁩
as ⁨Nick Styles⁩
as ⁨Dudley⁩
as ⁨Bleek Gilliam⁩
as ⁨Steve Biko⁩
as ⁨Private First Class Peterson⁩
as ⁨Xavier Quinn⁩
as ⁨Napoleon Stone⁩
as ⁨Demetrius Williams⁩
as ⁨Arnold Billings⁩
as ⁨Roger Porter⁩
as ⁨John Coltrane (voice)⁩
as ⁨Reuben⁩
Out Wed, Dec 13

Also directed

Director · Producer