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Denzel Washington
Image:Denzel Washington.jpg Denzel Washington at premiere of The Hurricane, 2000 Berlinale, photo by Michael Weiner <tr><td style="text-align:left;">Birth name</td><td>Denzel Obert Washington, Jr.</td></tr>
Born	December 28 1954 (age 53) Mt. Vernon, New York
Height	6 ft (1.83 m)
Notable roles	Pvt. Trip in Glory Malcolm X in Malcolm X Joe Miller in Philadelphia Alonzo Harris in Training Day
Academy  Awards	Best Supporting Actor, 1989 Glory Best Actor, 2001 Training Day

Denzel Jermaine Washington, Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American film actor and occasional director and stage actor.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early career 1.2 Career: 1990s 1.3 Career: 2000s 1.4 Personal life 2 Selected filmography 3 Academy Awards and nominations 4 Physical appearance and symmetry 5 Trivia 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Biography

A leading man of films and television in the 1980s and 1990s, Denzel Washington was born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. He was the middle child of the 3 children of a Pentecostal minister father and a beautician mother. After graduating from high school, Denzel enrolled at Fordham University intent on a career in journalism. However, he caught the acting bug while appearing in student drama productions and upon graduation he moved to San Francisco and enrolled at the American Conservatory Theater. He then had no difficulty finding work in numerous television productions. He made his first big screen appearance in Carbon Copy (1981) with George Segal. Through the 1980s he worked in both movies and television and was chosen for the plum role of Elliot Platt in NBC's hit medical series "St. Elsewhere" (1982), a role that he would play for 6 years. In 1989 he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Tripp, the runaway slave in Edward Zwick's powerful historical masterpiece Glory (1989).

[edit] Early career

Washington's first film role was in the 1975 made-for-television movie, Wilma. His big break came when he starred in the popular television hospital drama, St. Elsewhere. 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 theatrical films 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 black man who turned from British Army paratrooper to vigilante to situate the neighborhoods in England in For Queen and Country.

[edit] 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 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".<ref>quotes from Jet magazine, 1995</ref> 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. 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.

[edit] Career: 2000s

Image:Denzel Washington.jpeg 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 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. Some also argue that Washington only received the Academy Award for Training Day because it reinforced a stereotypical image of a violent, corrupt, black individual as opposed to the triumphant, heroic, and moral characters portrayed in The Hurricane, Malcolm X and Cry Freedom. 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 <ref>box office figures can be found at [1]</ref>. 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, entitled Deja Vu is currently in theaters.

[edit] 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. 1983), who signed a football contract with the St. Louis Rams in May 2006 after playing college ball at Morehouse [2]; Katia (b. 1987), who is attending Yale University, Olivia (b. 1991) and Malcolm (b. 1991) (named after Malcolm X). In 1995, the couple renewed their wedding vows in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu officiating.

[edit] Selected filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2007	American Gangster	Frank Lucas
2006	Déjà Vu	Doug Carlin
2006	Inside Man	Keith Frazier
2004	The Manchurian Candidate	Ben Marco
2004	Man on Fire	John Creasy
2003	Out of Time	Matthias Lee Whitlock
2002	Antwone Fisher	Dr. Jerome Davenport	also as director
2002	John Q	John Quincy Archibald
2001	Training Day	Detective Alonzo Harris	Academy Award, Best Actor
2000	Remember the Titans	Coach Herman Boone
1999	The Hurricane	Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
1999	The Bone Collector	Lincoln Rhyme
1998	The Siege	Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
1998	He Got Game	Jake Shuttlesworth
1998	Fallen	Det. John Hobbes
1996	The Preacher's Wife	Dudley
1996	Courage Under Fire	Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling
1995	Devil in a Blue Dress	Easy Rawlins
1995	Virtuosity	Lt. Parker Barnes
1995	Crimson Tide	Lt. Commander Ron Hunter
1993	Philadelphia	Joe Miller
1993	The Pelican Brief	Gray Grantham
1993	Much Ado About Nothing	Don Pedro of Aragon
1992	Malcolm X	Malcolm X
1992	Mississippi Masala	Demetrius Williams
1991	Ricochet	Nick Styles
1990	Mo' Better Blues	Bleek Gilliam
1990	Heart Condition	Napoleon Stone
1989	Glory	Pvt. Trip	Academy Award, Best Supporting Actor
1989	For Queen and Country	Reuben James
1989	The Mighty Quinn	Xavier Quinn
1987	Cry Freedom	Steve Biko
1984	A Soldier's Story	Pfc. Peterson
1981	Carbon Copy	Roger Porter

[edit] Academy Awards and nominations

• 1987 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Cry Freedom
• 1989 - Won - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Glory
• 1992 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Malcolm X
• 1999 - Nominated - Best Actor in a Leading Role - The Hurricane
• 2001 - Won - Best Actor in a Leading Role - Training Day

Awards
Preceded by: Kevin Kline for A Fish Called Wanda	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1989 for Glory	Succeeded by: Joe Pesci for Goodfellas
Preceded by: Russell Crowe for Gladiator	Academy Award for Best Actor 2001 for Training Day	Succeeded by: Adrien Brody for The Pianist

[edit] Physical appearance and symmetry

Denzel Washington is often cited as an example of human physical attractiveness due to the symmetry of his facial features.[3][4][5]

[edit] Trivia

• He is the second Black American performer to win an Academy Award in the category of Best Actor (for Training Day). The first being Sidney Poitier, who happened to receive an Honorary Academy Award the same night that Washington won for Best Actor. Both had previously received Academy Awards. Washington noted in his acceptance speech that he was always following in Poitier's footsteps - even when he won another Oscar, Poitier had done so too. However, Washington is the only actor of African descent to have won two Academy Awards in competitive categories, and to have the most acting nominations (five times) for a Black American performer.
• He has garnered much critical acclaim for his portrayals of several individuals who actually existed, including Steve Biko (Cry Freedom), Malcolm X (Malcolm X), Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (The Hurricane), and Herman Boone (Remember the Titans).
• At the age of nine, Denzel Washington's son John David Washington made a cameo appearance in the film Malcolm X as a student in a Harlem classroom. On May 1, 2006, John (age 22) signed with the St. Louis Rams of the NFL as an undrafted rookie free agent.
• His name is an ongoing use in the animated hit sitcom Proud Family.
• His name is shouted out while Lizzie and her mom are throwing pots in an episode of Lizzie McGuire.
• It is rumored that he is in talks with Peter Jackson in New Zealand to discuss his possible involvement in the upcoming movie based on the video game Halo. Although this hasn't been confirmed, many believe he will play the character Sgt. Johnson.
• Has refused to work with director Quentin Tarantino due to his overuse of the word "nigger" in his movies.
• The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia named Washington as one of three people (the others being directors Oliver Stone and Michael Moore) they want to negotiate with for the release of three defense contractors that the group has held captive since 2003.<ref>Colombian rebels ask Denzel Washington to help broker hostage exchange</ref>
• Denzel and his family recently visited soldiers at the Brook Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX. Denzel later made a sizeable donation to the Fisher Houses, small hotels that provide rooms for soldiers' families while the soldiers are hospitalized.
• In October 2006, he published a book entitled Hand to Guide Me, featuring actors, politicians, athletes, and other public figures recalling their childhood mentors. The book was published in commemoration of the Boys and Girls Club of America's centennial anniversary. Denzel had participated in the club as a child.

[edit] Notes

<references />

[edit] External links

• Denzel Washington at the Internet Movie Database
• Denzel Washington at the TCM Movie Database
• Denzel Washington at the Internet Broadway Databasear:دنزيل واشنطن

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