Denzel Washington
Known for: Acting
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).
Filmography
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014
Series
Late Show with David Letterman
Self - Guest
1993
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Guest
2003
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self
1988
Series
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
Self - Guest
1988
Series
Great Performances
Self
1971
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Winner / Presenter
1956
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
Series
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Series
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self - Guest
1992
Series
Wetten, dass..?
Self
1981
Series
American Experience
Narrator (voice)
1988
Film
Gladiator II
Macrinus
2024
Series
CBS News Sunday Morning
Self
1979
Series
St. Elsewhere
Philip Chandler
1982
Series
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
Series
Wogan
Self
1982
Film
The Equalizer
Robert McCall
2014
Series
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self
2015
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Film
The Equalizer 3
Robert McCall
2023
The Reichen Show
Self - Guest
2005
Series
Number One on the Call Sheet
Self
2025
Film
Training Day
Alonzo
2001
Film
Man on Fire
John W. Creasy
2004
ZDF-Mittagsmagazin
Self
1989
Film
The Equalizer 2
Robert McCall
2018
Film
Inside Man
Keith Frazier
2006
Film
The Magnificent Seven
Sam Chisolm
2016
Film
American Gangster
Frank Lucas
2007
Film
The Little Things
Joe 'Deke' Deacon
2021
Series
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
King Omar (voice)
1995
Series
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Humpty Dumpty / Crooked Man (voice)
1995
Film
Safe House
Tobin Frost
2012
Goldene Kamera
Self
1984
Film
Crimson Tide
Lt. Commander Ronald "Ron" Hunter
1995
Film
The Book of Eli
Eli
2010
Series
TRL
Self
1998
Film
Flight
Whip Whitaker
2012
Film
Fallen
John Hobbes
1998
Film
Déjà Vu
Doug Carlin
2006
Film
2 Guns
Robert 'Bobby' Trench
2013
Film
Remember the Titans
Coach Herman Boone
2000
Series
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
Self
2004
Series
Today
Self
1952
Film
Unstoppable
Frank Barnes
2010
Film
The Bone Collector
Lincoln Rhyme
1999
Film
Glory
Pvt. Trip
1989
Film
Philadelphia
Joe Miller
1993
Film
John Q
John Quincy Archibald
2002
Film
The Pelican Brief
Gray Grantham
1993
Film
The Siege
Anthony 'Hub' Hubbard
1998
Film
Highest 2 Lowest
David King
2025
Film
Malcolm X
Malcolm X
1992
Film
The Hurricane
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
1999
Film
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Macbeth
2021
Film
Out of Time
Matt Lee Whitlock
2003
Film
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
Walter Garber
2009
Film
Much Ado About Nothing
Don Pedro
1993
Film
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Roman J. Israel
2017
Film
Fences
Troy Maxson
2016
Film
The Manchurian Candidate
Major Bennett Ezekiel Marco
2004
Film
Courage Under Fire
Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel Serling
1996
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self
1973
Series
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Self - Honoree
1973
Film
He Got Game
Jake Shuttlesworth
1998
Series
Circus Halligalli
Self
2013
Series
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage)
2024
Film
The Great Debaters
Melvin B. Tolson
2007
Film
Ricochet
Nick Styles
1991
Film
Sidney
Self
2022
Film
Virtuosity
Parker Barnes
1995
Series
The Early Show
Self - Guest
1999
Film
Here Comes the Flood
Film
Devil in a Blue Dress
Easy Rawlins
1995
Film
Cry Freedom
Steve Biko
1987
Film
Black Panther 3
2028
Film
The Preacher's Wife
Dudley
1996
Film
Antwone Fisher
Dr. Jerome Davenport
2002
Film
Mo' Better Blues
Bleek Gilliam
1990
Film
Flesh & Blood
Kirk
1979
Film
Heart Condition
Napoleon Stone
1990
Film
Power
Arnold Billings
1986
Film
Carbon Copy
Roger Porter
1981
Film
The Mighty Quinn
Xavier Quinn
1989
Film
A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Peterson
1984
Film
Mississippi Masala
Demetrius Williams
1991
Film
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Coriolanus
Roman Soldier / Volscian Soldier
1979
Series
Flesh & Blood
Kirk
1979
Film
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
Self
2009
Film
Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute
Self
1988
Film
The George McKenna Story
George McKenna
1988
Film
Chasing Trane
John Coltrane (voice)
2017
Quentin Tarantino: From a Movie Buff to a Hollywood Legend
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
Self (archive footage)
1994
Film
People Like Us: Making 'Philadelphia'
Self (archive)
2004
Series
Live from Studio Five
Self
2009
Film
Whoopi Goldberg: The Winning Act
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
For Queen & Country
Reuben
1988
Film
License to Kill
Martin Sawyer
1986
Film
Wilma
Robert Eldridge, age 18
1977
Film
The Making of 'Crimson Tide'
Self
1995
Film
The Making of Gladiator II
Self
2024
Untitled Hannibal Film
Hannibal the Great
Film
Fallen Empire: Making 'American Gangster'
Self
2008
Film
Straight from the Streets
Self
2000
Film
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
Self
2003
Film
Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special
Humpty Dumpty / The Crooked Man (voice)
1997
Film
Denzel Washington: Reel Life
Self
2018
Film
Giving Voice
Self
2020
Film
Behind the Scenes of 'John Q'
Self
2002
Film
Denzel Washington: Falling Forward
2025
Film
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
Self
2005
Film
The Piano Lesson: Legacy and a Vision
Self
2024
Film
NBA at 50
Self - Host
1996
American Gangster Special
Self
Film
Denzel Washington: American Icon
Self
2024
Film
Rabbit Ears - John Henry
Narrator (voice)
1990
Rabbit Ears - Anansi
Narrator (voice)
1991
Film
Jammin': Jelly Roll Morton on Broadway
Narrator (voice)
1992
Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II
Narrator (voice)
1992