Denzel Washington, Denzel Washington biography, Denzel ...

Denzel Washington Biography:

Denzel Washington

Profile:
Famous as: Actor
Birth Name: Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.
Birth Date: December 28, 1954
Birth Place: Mount Vernon, New York, USA
Claim to fame: As Dr. Philip Chandler in TV series ?St. Elsewhere? (1982-1988)

Denzel Washington childhood photo

Biography:
Tall, strikingly handsome leading man of films and television in the 1980s and 1990s, Denzel Washington was born in 1954 in Mount Vernon, New York. With his acting versatility and powerful sexual presence, he 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 ?Dr. Chandler? 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).

Denzel Washington family photo

Early life:
Denzel Washington was born in Mount Vernon, near New York City, New York on December 28, 1954. His mother, Lennis ?Lynne?, was a beauty parlor-owner and operator born in Georgia and partly raised in Harlem. His father, Reverend Denzel Hayes Washington, Sr., a native of Buckingham County, Virginia, served as an ordained Pentecostal minister, and also worked for the Water Department and a local department store, S. Klein. Washington attended grammar school at Pennington-Grimes Elementary School in Mount Vernon until 1968. When he was 14, his parents? marriage fell apart and his mother sent him to a private preparatory school, Oakland Military Academy, in New Windsor, New York. ?That decision changed my life,? Washington later said, ?because I wouldn?t have survived in the direction I was going. The guys I was hanging out with at the time, my running buddies, have now done maybe 40 years combined in the penitentiary. They were nice guys, but the streets got them.? After Oakland, Washington next attended Mainland High School, a public high school in Daytona Beach, Florida, from 1970?71.

American Gangster movie still

Washington earned a B.A. in Drama and Journalism from Fordham University in 1977. At Fordham he played collegiate basketball as a freshman guard under coach P. J. Carlesimo. After a period of indecision on which major to study and dropping out of school for a semester, Washington worked as a counselor at an overnight summer camp, Camp Sloane YMCA in Lakeville, Connecticut. He participated in a staff talent show for the campers and a colleague suggested he try acting. Returning to Fordham that fall with a renewed purpose and focus, he enrolled at the Lincoln Center campus to study acting and was given the title roles in both Eugene O?Neill?s The Emperor Jones and Shakespeare?s Othello. Upon graduation he attended graduate school at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, where he stayed for one year before returning to New York to begin a professional acting career.

Career:

Early work:
Washington spent the summer of 1976 in St. Mary?s City, Maryland in summer stock theater performing Wings of the Morning, the Maryland State play. He also filmed a series of commercials in the Fruit of the Loom ensemble, as Grapes. Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Washington made his professional acting debut in the 1977 made-for-television film Wilma with his first Hollywood appearance in the 1981 film Carbon Copy. Washington shared a 1982 Distinguished Ensemble Performance Obie Award for playing Private First Class Melvin Peterson in the Off-Broadway Negro Ensemble Company production A Soldier?s Play which premiered November 20, 1981. A major career break came when he starred as Dr. Phillip Chandler in the television hospital drama St. Elsewhere which ran from 1982 to 1988 on NBC. He was one of only a few African American actors to appear on the series for its entire six-year run. Washington also appeared in several television, film and stage roles such as the films A Soldier?s Story (1984), Hard Lessons (1986) and Power (1986).

The Book of Eli movie still

In 1987 Washington starred as South African anti-apartheid political activist Steven Biko in Richard Attenborough?s Cry Freedom for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1989 Washington won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing a defiant self-possessed ex-slave soldier in the film Glory. Also that year he appeared in the film The Mighty Quinn, and as the conflicted and disillusioned Reuben James, a British soldier who, despite a distinguished military career, returns to a civilian life where racism and inner city life leads to vigilantism and violence in For Queen and Country.

1990s:
1991, Washington starred as Bleek Gilliam in the Spike Lee film Mo? Better Blues. In 1992, he starred as Demetrius Williams in the romantic drama Mississippi Masala. Washington was reunited with Lee to play one of his most critically acclaimed roles as the title character of 1992?s Malcolm X. His performance as the black nationalist leader earned him another nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. The next year he played the lawyer of a gay man with AIDS in the 1993 film Philadelphia. During the early and mid 1990s, Washington starred in several successful thrillers, including The Pelican Brief and Crimson Tide, as well as in comedy Much Ado About Nothing and alongside Whitney Houston in the romantic drama The Preacher?s Wife.

In 1998, Washington starred in Spike Lee?s film, He Got Game. Washington played a father serving a six year prison term who is propositioned by the warden to a temporary parole on the terms that he must convince his top-ranked high-school basketball player son (Ray Allen), into signing with the governor?s alma mater, Big State. The film also marked the third time that Spike Lee and Washington worked on a film together.

In 1999, Washington starred in The Hurricane a film about boxer Rubin ?Hurricane? Carter whose conviction for triple murder was overturned after he had spent almost 20 years in prison. A former reporter who was angry at seeing the film portray Carter as innocent despite the overturned conviction began a campaign to pressure Academy Award voters not to award the film Oscars. Washington did receive a Golden Globe Award in 2000 and a Silver Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival for the role. He also presented the Arthur Ashe ESPY Award to Loretta Claiborne for her courage and appeared as himself in the end of The Loretta Claiborne Story film.

Denzel Washington, Barbara Davis

2000s:
In 2000, Washington appeared in the Disney film Remember the Titans which grossed over $100 million at the United States box office. When Washington won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Movie in 2000, as he noted: ?No African-American has won best actor in the Golden Globes since Sidney Poitier, until I did?. That made him the first Black actor to win the award in 36 years. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor in his next film, the 2001 cop thriller Training Day as Detective Alonzo Harris, a rogue Los Angeles cop with questionable law-enforcement tactics. Washington was the second African-American performer to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, the first being Sidney Poitier who happened to receive an Honorary Academy Award the same night that Washington won. Washington holds the record for most Oscar nominations by an actor of African descent, along with Morgan Freeman since 2009. 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.[19] In 2006, he starred in Inside Man, a Spike Lee-directed bank heist thriller co-starring Jodie Foster and Clive Owen, and D?j? Vu released in November 2006.

In 2006, Denzel worked alongside multi-talented Irish off-rock band The Script on their new project combining music and Hollywood. The hybrid of genres was critically acclaimed but didn?t receive much mainstream attention due to a legal conflicts between The Script?s record label and Denzel?s studio commitments.

In 2007, he co-starred with Russell Crowe, for the second time after Virtuosity in 1995, in American Gangster. Washington directed and starred in the drama The Great Debaters with Forest Whitaker. Washington next appeared in the 2009 film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, a remake of the 1974 thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, directed by Tony Scott as New York City subway security chief Walter Garber opposite John Travolta.

Pauletta Washington, Denzel Washington, Steve Harvey and Marjorie

Return to theater:
Washington was last seen onstage in the summer of 1990 in the title role of the Public Theater?s production of Shakespeare?s Richard III and in 2005, after a 15-year hiatus, he appeared onstage again in another Shakespeare play as Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar on Broadway. The production?s limited run was a consistent sell-out averaging over 100% attendance capacity nightly despite receiving mixed reviews.

2010s:
In February 2009, Washington began filming The Book of Eli, a post-Apocalyptic drama set in the near future which was released in January 2010. Also the same year, he starred as a veteran railroad engineer in the action film Unstoppable, about an unmanned, half-mile-long runaway freight train carrying a dangerous cargo. The film was directed by Tony Scott, and was the fifth collaboration between the two, after previous films Crimson Tide (1995), Man on Fire (2004), D?j? Vu (2006) and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009). On June 13, 2010, Washington won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role in the play Fences. Washington co-starred with Ryan Reynolds in the 2012 film Safe House, and will star in The Matarese Circle.

Denzel Washington attends The 2010 Princess Grace Awards Gala

Personal life:
On June 25, 1983, Washington married Pauletta Pearson, whom he met on the set of his first screen work, the television film Wilma. The couple have four children: John David (b. July 28, 1984), who signed a football contract with the St. Louis Rams in May 2006 and is currently playing with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League;Katia (b. November 27, 1987), who graduated from Yale University with a Bachelors of Arts in 2010; and twins Olivia and Malcolm (b. April 10, 1991). In 1995, the couple renewed their wedding vows in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond Tutu officiating. Washington is a devout Christian, and has considered becoming a preacher.? He stated in 1999, ?A part of me still says, ?Maybe, Denzel, you?re supposed to preach. Maybe you?re still compromising.? I?ve had an opportunity to play great men and, through their words, to preach. I take what talent I?ve been given seriously, and I want to use it for good.? In 1995 he donated 2.5 million dollars to help build the new West Angeles Church of God in Christ facility in Los Angeles. Washington has served as the national spokesperson for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1993. As such, he has been featured in several public service announcements and awareness campaigns for the organization. In addition, he has served as a board member for Boys & Girls Clubs of America since 1995. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia named Washington as one of three people with whom they were willing to negotiate for the release of three defense contractors that the group had held captive from 2003 to 2008.

On May 18, 1991, Washington was awarded an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Fordham University, for having ?impressively succeeded in exploring the edge of his multifaceted talent?. In 2011 he donated $2 million to Fordham for an endowed chair of the theatre department, as well as $250,000 for a theatre-specific scholarship to Fordham. He also was awarded an honorary doctorate of humanities from Morehouse College on May 20, 2007. In 2008, Washington visited Israel with a delegation of African American artists in honor of the Jewish state?s 60th birthday. Washington is a fan of the New York Yankees. He is good friends with former manager Joe Torre. He is also good friends with comedians Jerry Seinfeld and George Wallace.

Denzel Washington attends an event

Filmography:
Flight (2013)
The Matarese Circle (2013)
Safe House (2012)
Journal for Jordan (2011)
Unstoppable (2010)
The Book of Eli (2010)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
American Gangster (2007)
The Great Debaters (2007)
Deja Vu (2006)
Inside Man (2006)
Man on Fire (2004)
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
Out of Time (2003)
Antwone Fisher (2002)
John Q (2002)
Training Day (2001)
Remember the Titans (2000)
The Hurricane (1999)
The Bone Collector (1999)
The Siege (1998)
He Got Game (1998)
Fallen (1998)
Mother Goose: A Rappin? and Rhymin? Special (1997) ? TM
The Preacher?s Wife (1996)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995) ? TV
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995)
Virtuosity (1995)
Crimson Tide (1995)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Philadelphia (1993)
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Malcolm X (1992) aka X
Ricochet (1991)
Mississippi Masala (1991)
Heart Condition (1990)
Mo? Better Blues (1990)
Glory (1989)
The Mighty Quinn (1989)
For Queen and Country (1988)
Cry Freedom (1987)
Power (1986)
The George McKenna Story (1986)
A Soldier?s Story (1984)
License to Kill (1984) ? TM
St. Elsewhere (1982) ? TV
Carbon Copy (1981)
Flesh & Blood (1979) ? TM
Wilma (1977) ? TM

Denzel Washington awards

Awards:
Academy Awards, USA
2002
Won Oscar
category Best Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day (2001)
2000
Got nomination for Oscar
category Best Actor in a Leading Role for The Hurricane (1999)
1993
Got nomination for Oscar
category Best Actor in a Leading Role for Malcolm X (1992)
1990
Won Oscar
category Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Glory (1989)
1988
Got nomination for Oscar
category Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Cry Freedom (1987)

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
2010
Got nomination for Saturn Award
category Best Actor for The Book of Eli (2010)

Acapulco Black Film Festival
1999
Got nomination for Acapulco Black Film Award
category Best Actor for He Got Game (1998)

AFI Awards, USA
2002
Won AFI Film Award
category AFI Actor of the Year ? Male ? Movies for Training Day (2001)

American Cinematheque Gala Tribute
2002
Won American Cinematheque Award

BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards
2007
Won Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film

Berlin International Film Festival
2000
Won Silver Berlin Bear
category Best Actor for The Hurricane (1999)
1993
Won Silver Berlin Bear
category Best Actor for Malcolm X (1992)

BET Awards
2012
Got nomination for BET Awards
category Best Actor
2010
Got nomination for BET Award
category Best Actor
2008
Won BET Award
category Best Actor
2006
Got nomination for BET Award
category Best Actor
2001
Won BET Award
category Best Actor for Remember the Titans (2000)

Black Reel Awards
2007
Got nomination for Black Reel
category Best Actor for Inside Man (2006)
2004
Got nomination for Black Reel
category Film: Best Actor for Out of Time (2003)
2003
Won Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Director for Antwone Fisher (2002)
2003
Got nomination for Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Actor for John Q (2002)
2003
Got nomination for Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Supporting Actor for Antwone Fisher (2002)
2002
Won Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Actor for Training Day (2001)
2001
Won Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Actor for Remember the Titans (2000)
2000
Won Black Reel
category Theatrical ? Best Actor for The Hurricane (1999)

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
2001
Got nomination for Blockbuster Entertainment Award
category Favorite Actor ? Drama for Remember the Titans (2000)
2000
Got nomination for Blockbuster Entertainment Award
category Favorite Actor ? Drama for The Hurricane (1999)
1999
Got nomination for Blockbuster Entertainment Award
category Favorite Actor ? Suspense for The Siege (1998)

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
2001
Won BSFC Award
category Best Actor for Training Day (2001)
shared with Brian Cox for L.I.E. (2001)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
2001
Got nomination for CFCA Award
category Best Actor for Training Day (2001)
1999
Got nomination for CFCA Award
category Best Actor for The Hurricane (1999)
1992
Won CFCA Award
category Best Actor for Malcolm X (1992)

Cognac Festival du Film Policier
1989
Won Cognac Festival du Film Best Actor
for For Queen and Country (1988)

Emmy Awards
2001
Got nomination for Emmy
category Outstanding Non-Fiction Special for Half Past Autumn: The Life and Works of Gordon Parks (2000) (TV)
shared with Cecil Cox (executive producer); Sheila Nevins (executive producer); Craig Rice (executive producer/d
1995
Got nomination for Emmy
category Outstanding Informational Special for Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995)
shared with Michael Tollin (executive producer/director/writer); Debra Martin Chase (executive producer); Brian

Golden Apple Awards
1995
Won Golden Apple
category Male Star of the Year
Golden Globes, USA
2008
Got nomination for Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture ? Drama for American Gangster (2007)
2002
Got nomination for Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture ? Drama for Training Day (2001)
2000
Won Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture ? Drama for The Hurricane (1999)
1993
Got nomination for Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture ? Drama for Malcolm X (1992)
1990
Won Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Glory (1989)
1988
Got nomination for Golden Globe
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture ? Drama for Cry Freedom (1987)

Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards
2002
Won KCFCC Award
category Best Actor for Training Day (2001)
1993
Won KCFCC Award
category Best Actor for Malcolm X (1992)
1990
Won KCFCC Award
category Best Supporting Actor for Glory (1989)

Lone Star Film & Television Awards
1997
Won Lone Star Film & Television Award
category Best Actor for Courage Under Fire (1996)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
2001
Won LAFCA Award
category Best Actor for Training Day (2001)

MTV Movie Awards
2008
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Best Male Performance for American Gangster (2007)
2008
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Best Villain for American Gangster (2007)
2002
Won MTV Movie Award
category Best Villain for Training Day (2001)
2002
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Best Line; (?King Kong ain?t got nuthin on me.?) for Training Day (2001)
1996
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Best Male Performance for Crimson Tide (1995)
1994
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Best On-Screen Duo for Philadelphia (1993)
shared with Tom Hanks
1994
Got nomination for MTV Movie Award
category Most Desirable Male for The Pelican Brief (1993)
1993
Won MTV Movie Award
category Best Male Performance for Malcolm X (1992)

NAACP Image Awards
2011
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for The Book of Eli (2010)
2010
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
2008
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for The Great Debaters (2007)
2008
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television) for The Great Debaters (2007)
2007
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Inside Man (2006)
2005
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Man on Fire (2004)
2004
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Out of Time (2003)
2003
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Antwone Fisher (2002)
2003
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for John Q (2002)
2002
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Training Day (2001)
2001
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Remember the Titans (2000)
2000
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for The Hurricane (1999)
1999
Got nomination for NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture for He Got Game (1998)
1998
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Performance in a Youth or Children?s Series/Special; For episode ?Mother Goose?. for Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995)
1997
Won NAACP Image Special Award
category Entertainer of the Year
1997
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture for Courage Under Fire (1996)
1996
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture for Crimson Tide (1995)
1996
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Performance in an Animated/Live-Action/Dramatic Youth or Children?s Series/Special (For episode ?Rumpelstiltskin?) for Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995)
1995
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Malcolm X (1992)
1994
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture for Mississippi Masala (1991)
1992
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Glory (1989)
1988
Won NAACP Image Award
category Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Power (1986)

New York Film Critics Circle Awards
1992
Won NYFCC Award
category Best Actor for Malcolm X (1992)

Online Film Critics Society Awards
2002
Got nomination for OFCS Award
category Best Actor for Training Day (2001)

People?s Choice Awards, USA
2008
Got nomination for People?s Choice Award
category Favorite Male Movie Star
2007
Got nomination for People?s Choice Award
category Favorite Male Movie Star
2004
Got nomination for People?s Choice Award
category Favorite Motion Picture Actor

PGA Golden Laurel Awards
2003
Won Stanley Kramer Award
for Antwone Fisher (2002)
shared with Todd Black

Satellite Awards
2007
Got nomination for Satellite Award
category Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for American Gangster (2007)
2003
Got nomination for Golden Satellite Award
category Best Director for Antwone Fisher (2002)
2002
Got nomination for Golden Satellite Award
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Training Day (2001)
2001
Got nomination for Golden Satellite Award
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Remember the Titans (2000)
2000
Got nomination for Golden Satellite Award
category Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for The Hurricane (1999)

Scream Awards
2010
Got nomination for Scream Award
category Best Science Fiction Actor for The Book of Eli (2010)

Screen Actors Guild Awards
2008
Got nomination for Actor Award
category Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for American Gangster (2007)
shared with Russell Crowe; Chiwetel Ejiofor; Josh Brolin
2002
Got nomination for Actor Award
category Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Training Day (2001)
2000
Got nomination for Actor Award
category Outstanding Performance by for The Hurricane (1999)

ShoWest Convention, USA
1997
Won ShoWest Award
category Male Star of the Year

Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
1997
Won SEFCA Award
category Best Actor for Courage Under Fire (1996)
1993
Won SEFCA Award
category Best Actor for Malcolm X (1992)

Sundance Film Festival
1993
Won Sundance Tribute to Independent Vision Award

Tony Awards
2010
Won Tony Award
category Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for ?Fences?

Women in Film Crystal Awards
2000
Won Humanitarian Award
shared with Pauletta Washington

Source: http://worldstuff.net/denzel-washington-biography.html

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