Denzel Washington

 Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is famous for his performances on stage and screen. He is regarded as an actor who redefined the idea of "classic film fame". His numerous collaborations with Spike Lee and Antoine Fuqua are not unnoticed. In his nearly forty years, Washington has received numerous distinctions which include a Tony Award, two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and two Silver Bears. [2] In 2016, he won the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2020, The New York Times called him the greatest actor of the 21st century. [3] Washington was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2022 by President Joe Biden. He began his acting career in theatre and performed off-Broadway in shows like Shakespeare's Coriolanus. His first big break came in the medical drama St. Elsewhere (1982-1988). Washington's first film roles included Norman Jewison's A Soldier's Story (1984), and Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom (87). For his role as the character of Private Silas Trip in the Civil War drama Glory (1989) in which Washington was awarded his first Academy Award for Best Supporting actor. In the 90s, he established himself as an actor of note in varied films as Spike Lee's biographical epic Malcolm X (1992), Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare adaptation Much Ado About Nothing (1993) as well as Alan J. Pakula's legal thriller The Pelican Brief (1993) Jonathan Demme's drama Philadelphia (1993), and Norman Jewison's legal thriller The Hurricane (1999). Washington was nominated to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Alonzo Harris, a corrupt detective in the 2001 crime thriller Training Day. 5 Washington is still acting in various roles, including the football coach Herman Boone (2001), the poet and educator Melvin B. Tolson (2007, The Great Debaters (2006)), the drug kingpin Frank Lucas (2007), and an addicting airline pilot in Flight (2012).